ATS-Friendly LaTeX CV

ATS-Friendly LaTeX CV is a LaTeX resume template built to produce PDFs that applicant tracking systems can parse correctly, because it uses a single column of plain text with no tables, multi-column blocks, or icon fonts.

What is ATS-Friendly LaTeX CV?

It is a LaTeX resume template repository that takes a filled-in main.tex file as input and compiles it to a PDF with a predictable reading order. The repo ships two self-contained language folders — en/ and pt-br/ — each with its own main.tex and compiled main.pdf, plus a README and a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. It targets software engineers and other technical professionals applying in the US, Europe, and at remote-first companies.

What makes ATS-Friendly LaTeX CV stand out?

• Single-column layout — no tables and no multi-column blocks, so an ATS never pairs a bullet with the wrong date or company when it reads the PDF.
• Reliable Unicode extraction — the cmap package plus a glyphtounicode mapping keeps copied text from coming out garbled.
• Key Technologies line — a \keytech macro prints a technologies line under each role for keyword matching.
• Visible link text — links render as readable addresses like linkedin.com/in/username, not bare labels such as LinkedIn.
• Centralized PDF metadata — title, author, and language are set from one place in the file.
• Convention-aligned content — no photo, age, marital status, or full home address.
• Small package set — geometry, titlesec, enumitem, xcolor, hyperref, and cmap only.
• Verified parser result — the English PDF was run through wolfresume's parser-test with Overall status PASS, 0 critical/warn/info findings, and 5/5 recruiter-scan signals visible.

How does ATS-Friendly LaTeX CV work?

Edit the USER CONFIGURATION block near the top of main.tex (name via \candidatename, accent color via \definecolor{accent}, entry spacing via \cventrysep and \cvblocksep), then build the PDF. Four macros keep formatting consistent: \cventry for a role or degree, \keytech for the technologies line, \skillrow for a Skills entry, and \cvsection for section headings. Build locally in VS Code with LaTeX Workshop (saving recompiles the PDF), upload the folder to Overleaf and click Recompile, or run latexmk -pdf main.tex from the command line.

Who should use ATS-Friendly LaTeX CV?

• Software engineers applying through Workday, Greenhouse, or Lever: submit a PDF whose text extracts in the correct order.
• LaTeX users who want a starting point: copy a \cventry block or delete a whole \cvsection block to restructure sections.
• Brazilian Portuguese applicants: use the pt-br folder, or copy a folder and translate main.tex while keeping macros and packages untouched.
• Anyone verifying parseability: run pdftotext -layout, pdffonts, and pdfinfo, or re-run the parser-test after editing.

Pros and cons

• The template is verified only as populated at the time of the parser test — re-run checks after you edit content.
• Structural parsing and keyword scoring are different signals; tools like Jobscan and Resume Worded score keyword match against a job description.
• The license is non-commercial: selling the template or derivatives is not permitted.

FAQ

Is ATS-Friendly LaTeX CV free?

Yes. It is released under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, which allows sharing and adaptation with attribution and share-alike terms. Commercial use, including selling the template or derivatives of it, is not permitted; the LICENSE file holds the details.

How do I check whether my PDF is ATS-readable?

Copy all text from the compiled PDF and paste it into a plain text editor — order must match the resume with no missing or garbled characters. For local checks, run pdftotext -layout main.pdf - for reading order and pdffonts main.pdf, where every font should show emb:yes and uni:yes.

Which ATS systems does this template target?

It is designed against software such as Workday, Greenhouse, and Lever, which can misread tables and multi-column layouts. A structural parser test on the English PDF reported Overall status PASS with zero findings.

Can I add another language?

Yes. Each language folder is self-contained with no shared includes across folders. Copy en/ or pt-br/, translate the content inside main.tex, and keep the macros and packages untouched.