Top 10 Tips for an ATS-Compliant Resume in Australia in 2026

Many people struggle with writing their resume well, so if you find it hard, you are not alone.

Learn the latest approaches to writing an effective resume that gets you interviews.

Most people don’t enjoy talking about themselves, let alone writing about their achievements and marketing. Very few people haven’t been taught to write effective resumes and are using outdated formats that don’t work in our current job market.

Resumes also go through trends and while the core elements remain the same, you need to be up to date, and there are three key challenges to address.

Challenge 1: Choosing the right resume style and length for the country, experience and level of role. In Australia the ideal length is a 2-to-4-page resume and use a single column format. Typically, shorter 2-page resumes for early careers and back to 2-3 pages again for senior leaders. A two-column format can be more visually appealing for networking purposes.

Challenge 2: People using and overusing Generative AI to write their resumes can result in generic "AI slop". Whilst Gen. AI can help you with researching keywords, AI doesn’t know your skills, experiences or achievements, unless you spend time training it. But to train it you need to already know what your achievements are. This is where working with a career coach or resume writer can help you find and quantify those achievements you take for granted and write them in a powerful way to show your unique value to an employer.

Challenge 3: ensuring that your resume is optimised for, and compliant with, ATS. An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is software often used by employers to scan, sort, and filter resumes before they reach a human. Optimising your resume for ATS ensures it passes these automated screenings, known as ATS parsing, to be seen by a human and considered for the role. Simply put ATS parsing is getting past ‘the bots’ that determine whether you 'pass Go'.

About 70–80% of Australian companies use an ATS for recruitment, with adoption rising fast and up to 90% amongst large employers. Among small and medium businesses, usage is growing, with about 35% currently using ATS software as of 2025.

So, how do you format your resume for easy ATS parsing, to be seen by the hiring manager?

Here are 10 tips to help you create an ATS Compliant resume:

1.       Stick to Simple Formatting

• Avoid tables, columns, graphics, and text boxes. These make your resume harder to format, and anything in a text box is seen as a picture by the ATS and may not be read.

• Use bullet points, consistent font sizes, and standard fonts like Arial or Calibri, which are neat and easy to read. Avoid Times New Roman – as it is very old fashioned.

• Don’t use multiple fonts or dot point styles across the resume as this can be messy.

• Ensure that your word document is well formatted in A4, with at least 2cm margins and that content doesn’t bleed onto an otherwise empty page.

2.       Use Standard Section Headings

• Stick to conventional headings like: Career Summary, Work Experience, Education, Skills, Education, Certifications. This will make it easier to pass the bots.

• Avoid creative labels like “Career Journey” or “My Story” - ATS may not recognize them.

3.       Reverse Chronological Format

• The preferred format in Australia: write your most recent role first, then earlier positions.

• Write each job in the following way: first line: Job Title, Organisation, Location, Dates next lines: overview of the organisation and the role. Then provide your responsibilities and achievements in past tense starting with a verb.

4.       Include Dates with Months

• For work history, use full date ranges (e.g. “Jan 2022 – Dec 2023”) to help the ATS calculate your experience duration accurately.

• Leaving out the months can make people question why that information is missing.

• Align all the dates (for roles and qualifications etc.) on the right-hand side of the resume, this ensures a clean, consistent look throughout your resume.

5.       Quantify Your Achievements

• Write all your achievements in past tense starting with the verb, e.g. Managed, Delivered, Created, Improved etc.

• Highlight your quantifiable results so that the reader can see the value that you added, e.g., “Increased engagement by 35%”.

6.       Include a Core Skills Section

• Include 6-10 key skills aligned with the job ad or your ideal role, ideally in a bulleted list for easy parsing.

• These are your core competencies e.g. “Project Management”, “Leadership”, and “Marketing Communications”

• You can also include examples of how you have met these skills across your career.

7.       Incorporate Keywords Strategically

• Research your ideal role first, find out what the market wants across different job ads, create a list of common keywords and use them in your resume.

• Adjust your keywords, skills, and achievements to match each job description.

• Mirror the job ad language: include keywords and competency phrases like “stakeholder engagement” or “instructional design” or variations of them across the resume.

• Try to ensure that the keywords appear at least 3 times in your resume.

8.         Proofread for Accuracy

• Spelling and grammar errors can confuse the ATS parsing, so avoid these by using spell checks and tools like Grammarly or seek a peer/professional review.

• Make sure that you use language that is professional but still sounds like you.

• If you use AI to help you, make sure that you edit and change the language to match you.

9.       Avoid ATS “Hacks”

• Don’t use white font keywords or hidden text, as these can backfire on you and be flagged as using manipulation.

10.   Save as a Word Document (.docx)

• PDFs are sometimes misread by ATS systems, using Word is the safest format unless the job ad states otherwise.

• Ensure that your document is well formatted with 2cm margins.

• In fact, if a job ad specifically asks for a Word document, this can be a clue they use ATS.

How to identify ATS when applying

1. Online Application Portals: Where you must enter information into structured fields (education, work history, skills) and upload files (resume, cover letter) rather than email.

2. Application ID: The system assigns you a unique applicant ID or reference number.

3. No Direct Email: Application via website portal only, no option to contact a person.

4. Automated Screening: You’re asked pre-screening or “knockout” questions (e.g. eligibility, certifications, work rights) before you can continue.

5. Instant Confirmations: You receive an auto-generated confirmation email after submitting your application.

6. Automated Messaging: Automated emails about next steps or rejection messages.

7. Resume Parsing: Your resume is put into fields for review (e.g. education, experience) for you to verify.

8. Job Boards with ATS Integration: Job boards (SEEK, LinkedIn, Indeed) use their ATS or connect with employer ATS systems, which can include data from your job board profile.

9. Bulk Communication: Bulk status changes to many applicants shown in your dashboard.

How Career Coaching Can Help

This is just a summary of the basics to get your resume into a good, ATS compliant format. To take your resume to the next level it is beneficial to work with a qualified Career Coach.

A Career Coach helps you identify many more quantified achievements that articulate your value to an employer to secure a new role.

Most people have delivered thousands, if not millions of dollars’ worth of value to employers across their careers – and they don’t even realise it.

Identifying, quantifying and articulating your achievements to show your full value to employers can make all the difference in securing your next role.

If you would like proven career support with your job-hunting journey, reach out to Melita Long at www.careersonpurpose.com.au 

Melita Long is a Career and Executive Coach with more than 20 years’ experience guiding over 3,500 clients to achieve career success.

She works with mid-career professionals up to C-suite and Board level, has coached MBA students at Melbourne Business School and Macquarie Business School and worked for three Outplacement providers supporting people after redundancy.

Melita is a Professional Member of the Australian Career Development Association, a skilled career strategist, resume writer and personal branding expert, who helps clients identify and quantify their value and earn what they are worth.