Tech hiring — software engineering, data, DevOps, IT — runs through an ATS more consistently than most other fields, and the reviewer after that is usually reading fast, on a screen, often on a phone during a commute. The format that wins optimizes for both constraints at once.
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Single column, top to bottom | Two-column "designer" layouts |
| Standard section names: Experience, Education, Skills, Projects | Creative headers like "My Journey" |
| Reverse chronological order | Functional/skills-first format (reads as hiding gaps) |
| Plain text skills list | Skill "bars" or star ratings as graphics |
| 1 page for <8 years experience, 2 pages beyond that | 3+ pages |
A distinctive layout can catch a reviewer's eye for the two seconds it's on screen, but the downside is asymmetric: a resume that parses badly can be filtered out before any human sees the design at all. In tech hiring specifically, where volume is high and ATS usage is close to universal, the safer bet is a format that guarantees it gets read, not one that gambles on standing out visually.
CV Forge's Compact template is a single-column, reverse-chronological layout built specifically to be the safest option for ATS parsing, while Modern and Minimal stay available if you're sending a version directly to a human (e.g. a referral) where a little more visual structure works in your favor.
Free tier: 3 PDFs/month, watermarked. Pro removes the watermark and unlocks all three templates.