ATS Template 2026
The single-column Word template with the coaching notes left in.
Regular price $10, now $1.
View the ATS Template 2026 →Template download
The plainest ATS resume template of 2026, on purpose
No tables. No text boxes. No columns, header or footer. The document is one straight run of paragraphs, which leaves a parser nothing to read out of order and no structure to guess at.
- Word .docx
- One page
- Zero tables or text boxes
- Education-first order
Regular price $10, now $1.
Launch pricePaid once. No account, no renewal. The download link shows on the next screen and arrives by email.
Why this one
Why plain wins here
Screening software reads a resume by finding headings it recognises and pulling the text underneath into fields. Everything this file leaves out is something that step can trip over.
Checked, not assumed
Open the .docx and look: the document body holds no tables, no text boxes, no multi-column section break, and both the header and footer are empty. Two-column layouts get read across the page, so a job title lands under the wrong employer. Nothing here can do that.
Education leads
Written for the case where the degree is your strongest line. Recent graduates, career changers, and anyone applying somewhere the credential gets screened before the history does. Move the block down if that isn't you; the rest of the file doesn't care.
Seven roles without looking scrappy
Internships, a research assistantship and a summer placement each get their own dated entry with two or three bullets rather than being folded together. Short tenures read as a continuous run that way, instead of as gaps you're apologising for.
A bold verb starting every bullet
Optimized, Directed, Conducted, Produced, Analyzed. A recruiter skimming the left edge of the page gets the shape of your record in about four seconds, which is roughly what the first pass is worth.
Skills grouped, not dumped
Six labelled groups rather than one comma run forty words long: languages, visualisation, statistics and machine learning, databases, methods, tools. Keyword matching finds the terms either way. A person can only scan the grouped version.
Step by step
How to fill it in
Open it and save a copy
Keep the original clean. You'll want to come back to it when the next posting needs different wording.
Set the contact line
Phone, email, LinkedIn, portfolio or GitHub, on one line under your name. Leave it in the body of the document.
Do education first
Degree, then institution and location in italics, then the date on the right. Honours go on the same line. Drop the GPA unless it's above 3.5 or the posting asks for it.
Keep each role as its own dated entry
Don't merge two short jobs at the same employer to save a line. Separate entries with real dates is what makes a run of internships read as progression.
Bold the first word of every bullet
Past tense, and a verb that says what you did rather than what you were responsible for. The bolding is doing real work here: it's the only formatting on the page, so it's the only thing a skim can catch.
Put a figure in the first bullet of each role
Rows processed, states covered, respondents surveyed, percentage moved. The template's samples all carry one, so an empty first bullet stands out badly next to them.
Rewrite the skill groups against the posting
Same six group headings, contents swapped for the tools you actually use and the posting actually names. Spell them the way the posting does.
Hold it to one page
When it overruns, cut the oldest entry to a single bullet before you touch the font size. Shrinking type to fit is the first thing a recruiter notices and the last thing that helps.
Export to PDF and run the checker
Select the text of a job title in the exported PDF to confirm it's real text, then put the file through the score checker.
Reach for this when
- Applying at volume through job portals and company career sites
- Recent graduates and career changers whose degree is the strongest line
- Histories made of internships, contracts and short tenures
Look elsewhere if
- Senior applicants who need a summary and a competency strip up top
- Anyone who wants the document to look designed
The three, side by side
Not sure this is the right one?
Each is a dollar and each does one job well. Browse all three, then read the table below for the detail, or see them together in word resume templates.
| ATS Template 2026 | Top ATS TemplateYou're here | Interview Template | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leads with | Work experience | Education | Summary and competencies |
| Layout | Single column, no tables | Single column, no tables | Single column, borderless tables |
| Written for | A rewrite from scratch | High-volume portal applications | The read across the table |
| File | Word .doc | Word .docx | Word .docx |
Questions
Before you buy
It says data analyst. Does it only work for that?
The sample content is a data analyst's because that role fills every section usefully. The structure has nothing analytics-specific in it. Replace the text and the skill group headings and it fits any field.
Can I move education below experience?
Yes, and you should once you're a few years in. Select the block and move it. Nothing else in the file depends on the order.
Is plain the same as boring?
On the page, mostly yes. The argument for it is that the first read is done by software and the second is a recruiter giving you a few seconds, and neither is scoring the design. Put the effort into the bullets.
Do I need an account?
No. Pay, and the download link appears on the next screen and arrives by email. It works for 30 days and up to 25 downloads.
Can I edit it?
That's what it is. Every line is placeholder text meant to be replaced. What you're buying is the structure: which sections appear, in what order, and how each bullet is phrased.
Is this the same as the resume builder?
No. This is a Word file you edit yourself, paid for once. The builder scores your resume as you write it and exports a PDF, and it's priced separately from $4.99.
Want the score as you write instead of a file to edit? Build it in the editor, or read the reasoning behind every layout choice.
Take the template
$10 normally, $1 while the launch price holds. One file, yours to keep.
Regular price $10, now $1.
Launch pricePaid once. No account, no renewal. The download link shows on the next screen and arrives by email.