ATS CV: Before & After

The same candidate — two very different outcomes. See how formatting choices affect whether your CV passes the Applicant Tracking System.

❌ Before ATS Score: 34%
👤

James Chen

📱 ✉️ 🌐 📍

Expertise

JavaScript
React
Python
AWS

Interests

Open source, Chess, Hiking

✨ My Professional Journey

I am a passionate coder who loves building things for the web. I thrive in fast-paced environments and I'm looking for my next exciting challenge.

💼 Where I've Made an Impact

Full Stack Wizard — TechFlow Solutions

  • Built cool stuff with React and Node
  • Worked on the team's main product
  • Helped with deployments

Junior Dev — PixelCraft Agency

  • Made websites for clients
  • Fixed bugs

🎓 Learning

BSc Computer Science, King's College London

⚠️ Why this fails ATS:
  • Two-column layout — parsers read left-to-right, mixing sidebar text with main content
  • Icons instead of text for contact details — ATS cannot read emojis or images
  • Skill bars — ATS sees nothing; no searchable keywords
  • Creative section headings ("My Professional Journey") — ATS looks for standard headings
  • Vague bullet points with no metrics
  • Photo placeholder wastes space and triggers bias concerns
✅ After ATS Score: 91%

James Chen

Software Developer
07891 234 567  •  [email protected]  •  London, UK  •  linkedin.com/in/jameschen  •  github.com/jameschen
Personal Statement

Software Developer with 4 years' experience building scalable web applications using JavaScript, React, and Node.js. Experienced in CI/CD pipelines, AWS cloud services, and agile development. Contributed to products serving over 200,000 monthly active users. Seeking a mid-level developer role where I can drive technical quality and mentor junior engineers.

Work Experience
Software Developer
TechFlow Solutions, London
Mar 2021 – Present
  • Developed and maintained a React/Node.js SaaS platform serving 200,000+ monthly active users
  • Reduced page load time by 40% through code splitting, lazy loading, and CDN optimisation
  • Built RESTful APIs handling 15,000 daily requests with 99.9% uptime
  • Implemented CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions, cutting deployment time from 45 minutes to 8 minutes
  • Mentored 2 junior developers through weekly code reviews and pair programming sessions
Junior Web Developer
PixelCraft Agency, London
Sept 2019 – Feb 2021
  • Delivered 18 client-facing websites using React, WordPress, and Shopify, on time and within budget
  • Resolved an average of 12 bugs per sprint, improving client satisfaction scores by 22%
  • Introduced automated testing (Jest), increasing code coverage from 15% to 72%
Education
BSc (Hons) Computer Science — First Class
King's College London • 2016 – 2019
Skills

Languages: JavaScript (ES6+), TypeScript, Python, SQL

Frameworks: React, Node.js, Express, Next.js

Tools: Git, Docker, AWS (EC2, S3, Lambda), GitHub Actions, Jira

Methodologies: Agile (Scrum), TDD, CI/CD, Code Review

References available upon request.

✅ Why this passes ATS:
  • Single-column layout — parsed cleanly top to bottom
  • Plain text contact details — every field is extractable
  • Standard section headings the ATS recognises
  • Keywords match the job description (React, Node.js, CI/CD, AWS)
  • Quantified achievements with specific metrics
  • No images, icons, or graphics that confuse parsers