You spent hours making your resume look beautiful. Custom bullet points. Elegant dividers. That sleek pipe character separating your contact info.
Then you applied to 50 jobs and heard nothing.
Here's what probably happened: the ATS looked at your resume and saw this:
??? ??? ??? John Doe Ph?ne: (555) ???-1234 ??? Managed team of 10
Your design masterpiece became an unreadable mess.
TL;DR
- Standard bullets (• or -) and basic punctuation are ATS-safe
- Decorative symbols, fancy fonts, and complex formatting often break parsing
- Headers, footers, text boxes, and tables are high-risk elements
- Test your resume with an ATS-friendly scanner before submitting
- Scan your resume for ATS compatibility →
Why Special Characters Cause Problems
Cause of ATS parsing failures
Complex tables, text boxes, and special characters are the top reasons resumes get scrambled.
Source: Jobscan ATS research, 2024
Applicant Tracking Systems are essentially text parsers. They're looking for:
- Your name
- Contact information
- Job titles and companies
- Dates of employment
- Skills and keywords
When they encounter a character they don't recognize, three things can happen:
- The character disappears — "10+ years" becomes "10 years"
- The character becomes gibberish — "→" becomes "???" or "â†'"
- The entire section gets skipped — Your beautifully formatted skills section vanishes
None of these are good.
The Unsafe Characters List
Decorative Bullet Points (High Risk)
| ❌ Avoid These | ✅ Use These Instead |
|---|---|
| ★ ☆ ✦ ✧ | • (standard bullet) |
| → ➤ ➜ ▸ | - (hyphen) |
| ☑ ☐ ✓ ✗ | • or numbered lists |
| ⏺ ◆ ◇ ● | • (filled circle) |
| — (em dash) | - (hyphen) or – (en dash) |
Why This Matters
These decorative bullets might look identical in your Word document and on your screen. But ATS software often maps them to completely different character codes — or nothing at all.
Problematic Punctuation
| Character | Risk Level | Alternative |
|---|---|---|
| " " (smart quotes) | Medium | " " (straight quotes) |
| ' ' (smart apostrophes) | Medium | ' (straight apostrophe) |
| … (ellipsis character) | Low | ... (three periods) |
| – (en dash) | Low | - (hyphen) |
| — (em dash) | Medium | - or -- |
| (pipe) | Medium-High |
Symbols That Often Break
Avoid These Symbols
- 📧 📱 📍 (emojis)
- © ® ™ (legal symbols — usually unnecessary anyway)
- ¢ £ € ¥ (currency symbols — spell out "USD" or "EUR")
- ≤ ≥ ≠ (math symbols — use "less than," "greater than")
- ½ ¼ ¾ (fractions — use "50%," "25%")
Formatting Elements That Cause Issues
It's not just individual characters. Entire formatting structures can break ATS parsing.
Headers and Footers
The Problem
Many ATS systems skip header and footer content entirely. If your contact information is in the header, the ATS might not capture it — and the recruiter won't know how to reach you.
Solution: Keep all important information in the main body. Use regular text formatting for your name and contact details.
Text Boxes
Text boxes are essentially invisible containers. ATS often:
- Parse them out of order (your contact info appears at the end)
- Skip them entirely
- Scramble the content with the main text
Solution: Never use text boxes. Format everything as standard text.
Tables
Tables are tricky because:
- Some ATS read left-to-right, ignoring columns
- Some read top-to-bottom within each column
- Some just give up
| What You Designed | What ATS Might See |
|---|---|
| Marketing Manager | ABC Corp | 2020-2023 | Marketing Manager ABC Corp 2020-2023 |
| Skills: SEO | Content | Analytics | Skills: SEO Content Analytics (or scrambled) |
| Two-column resume layout | Content from both columns jumbled together |
Solution: If you must use tables for layout, keep them simple. But single-column layouts are always safest.
Multi-Column Layouts
Two-column and three-column resumes look professional, but they're parsing nightmares.
Warning
An ATS might read your left column first (all of it), then your right column. Your chronological work history becomes a confusing soup of unrelated information.
Solution: Use single-column layouts for ATS-heavy applications. Save the creative layouts for roles where you're handing the resume directly to a human.
Safe Formatting: What Works
Font Choices
ATS-Safe Fonts
- Arial
- Calibri
- Helvetica
- Times New Roman
- Georgia
- Verdana
- Cambria
Fonts to Avoid
- Decorative or script fonts
- Custom or unusual fonts
- Fonts with special characters (like webdings)
- Non-standard sizes (stick to 10-12pt for body, 14-16pt for headings)
Safe Bullet Points
The safest options:
- Solid circle: • (U+2022)
- Hyphen: -
- Asterisk: * (though less common)
To insert these in Word or Google Docs:
- Type
Alt+7on Windows for • - Use the standard bullet list button
- Just type a hyphen and space
Safe Section Dividers
Instead of fancy line graphics:
--- (three hyphens) ═══════════════════════ (avoid) •••••••••••••••••••••• (avoid) ________________________ (underscores work)
Simple horizontal rules created with section breaks or three dashes are universally compatible.
The File Format Question
.docx (Word)
Pros
- Most universally compatible with ATS
- Easy for recruiters to annotate
- Text is easily extractable
- Formatting is predictable
Cons
- Can look different on different computers
- Formatting may shift if fonts aren't installed
Pros
- Consistent appearance everywhere
- Formatting is locked in place
- Modern ATS handle PDFs well
- Harder to accidentally edit
Cons
- Older ATS may struggle to parse
- Some PDFs from image programs aren't text-based
- Can't be easily annotated
The Verdict
If the job posting specifies a format, use that.
If it doesn't:
- Apply with .docx for maximum ATS compatibility
- Or use a PDF created from Word/Google Docs (not Canva or InDesign)
- Never submit image-based PDFs (scan test: can you highlight the text?)
How to Test Your Resume
Before submitting, test your resume for ATS compatibility:
- 1
Copy-paste test
Copy your entire resume and paste it into Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac, plain text mode). If it looks scrambled, ATS will see the same thing.
- 2
Use an ATS scanner
Our Keyword Scanner checks both keyword matching and parsing compatibility.
- 3
Check the plain text version
In Word, save as .txt file and review. Every section should be readable.
- 4
Use our Bullet Point Generator
Create properly formatted experience bullets that are ATS-safe by design.
Before and After: Real Examples
Contact Info Section
Before (Risky):
JOHN DOE 📧 john@email.com | 📱 (555) 123-4567 | 📍 New York, NY linkedin.com/in/johndoe ★ github.com/johndoe
After (ATS-Safe):
JOHN DOE john@email.com | (555) 123-4567 | New York, NY linkedin.com/in/johndoe | github.com/johndoe
Skills Section
Before (Risky):
◆ Python ◆ JavaScript ◆ SQL ◆ React → Machine Learning → Data Visualization ☑ Agile ☑ Scrum ☑ JIRA
After (ATS-Safe):
Languages: Python, JavaScript, SQL Frameworks: React, Node.js Skills: Machine Learning, Data Visualization, Agile, Scrum Tools: JIRA, GitHub, AWS
Work Experience Bullets
Before (Risky):
➤ Led team of 10+ engineers ➤ Increased revenue by $500K+ ➤ Reduced costs by ≈25%
After (ATS-Safe):
• Led team of 10+ engineers • Increased revenue by over $500K • Reduced costs by approximately 25%
Quick Reference Checklist
ATS-Safe Resume Checklist
- Using standard bullets (• or -) only
- No emojis or decorative symbols
- Contact info is in the main body, not header/footer
- No text boxes or floating elements
- Single-column or simple two-column layout
- Standard fonts (Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman)
- Straight quotes instead of smart quotes
- File saved as .docx or text-based PDF
- Copy-paste test completed successfully
Your Move
Here's the thing: your resume can be both professional-looking and ATS-friendly. You don't have to sacrifice design for compatibility.
The key is knowing which elements are safe and which are landmines.
Stick to standard bullets, clean fonts, and simple layouts. Save the creative design for your portfolio or personal website — not the document that needs to survive a robot's first pass.
Check if your resume is ATS-compatible
Our Keyword Scanner analyzes your resume for parsing issues and keyword matches. Find out what the ATS actually sees.
Scan My ResumeRelated Resources
- Resume Abbreviations Guide — How to format credentials for ATS
- Hidden Keywords Myth Debunked — Why keyword tricks backfire
- Bullet Point Generator — Create ATS-safe experience bullets
- Resume Summary Generator — Craft a professional summary
- Resume Templates — Pre-built ATS-friendly designs
- AI Resume Builder — Build with ATS optimization built in
- Resume Examples — See proper formatting in context
Frequently Asked Questions
What characters should I avoid on my resume?
Avoid decorative bullets (★, →, ➤), pipes (|) in older systems, smart quotes (""), emojis, and symbols that aren't standard ASCII. Stick to basic bullets (•, -) and standard punctuation.
Can I use tables on my resume?
Use tables cautiously. Some ATS can parse simple tables, but many scramble the content. If you must use tables, test with an ATS scanner first. Single-column layouts are safest.
What's the best file format for ATS?
Word (.docx) is most universally compatible. Modern ATS also handle PDF well, but some older systems struggle with PDFs. When in doubt, submit .docx unless the job posting specifies otherwise.
Do headers and footers work with ATS?
Often no. Many ATS ignore content in headers and footers. Keep your contact information in the main body of the resume, not in header fields.
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