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ATS guide

Resume headers and footers: will an ATS read them?

Not reliably, so keep your name and contact details in the main body. Greenhouse lists a name and contact information in the header, footer, or a text box among the reasons it may not read a resume, and Workday advises against personal information in the header and footer sections.[1], [2]

By Justin M., founder of BespokeJobs. Updated .

Sources last reviewed .

Numbered citations point to the sources listed below. Lines marked "Our advice" are BespokeJobs recommendations.

What the software makers document

  • Greenhouse: resumes with the name and contact information in the header, footer, or a text box can fail to parse. It also lists complex resumes with tables, headers, and footers.[1]
  • Workday: avoid personal information in the header and footer sections, and avoid text boxes.[2]
  • Oracle Taleo: its search documentation does not mention headers or footers.[3]

A header or footer is a special area at the top or bottom of every page, separate from the main text. It is different from a section heading such as "Education," which the vendors want you to keep.

What advisers say

Robert Half advises avoiding headers and footers, along with tables and columns, which it says can cause parsing errors.[4]

Enhancv says modern systems handle most layouts but still tells applicants to keep contact details in the body, not the file's header. It does not discuss footers.[5]

MIT does not mention headers or footers, but advises against placing information in tables or text boxes, which software may distort, ignore, or erase.[6]

Our advice

Our advice: type your name, email, phone number, and city as plain lines at the top of the first page, not in the header area.

Our advice: leave the header and footer empty. Nothing a recruiter needs should live there.

Our advice: after uploading, check the contact fields the application form filled in from your resume and correct any that are blank or wrong.

Common questions

Where should I put my contact information on a resume?

In the main body at the top of the first page. Greenhouse and Workday both warn against putting it in a header, footer, or text box.[1], [2]

Is it fine to put page numbers in the footer?

The cited sources do not address page numbers. They warn about contact details and other information in headers and footers, so keep anything a recruiter needs out of those areas.[1], [2], [4]

Check your resume

Upload your resume to see whether software can read its layout, headings, and contact details. It is free, needs no account, and we do not keep your file.

Check your resume

This page answers one question from the ATS guide. Read the full guide for the rest.

Sources

  1. 1
    Greenhouse: Unsuccessful resume parse

    Lists columns, tables, headers, footers, contact details in text boxes, image uploads, and files over 2.5 MB as parse problems.

  2. 2
    Workday: Resume REST API

    Accepts DOCX and text-based PDFs, and says to avoid column formats, text boxes, and personal information in headers and footers.

  3. 3
    Oracle Taleo Enterprise: Candidate advanced search with keywords

    Recruiter keyword search covers attachments in .doc, .docx, .pdf, .txt, .rtf, and other supported formats.

  4. 4
    Robert Half: ATS-friendly resume tips to outsmart the screening system

    Avoid tables, columns, headers, and footers; save as .docx; a PDF may also work.

  5. 5
    Enhancv: the state of resume parsing

    Argues modern systems read two columns and PDFs, and recommends a single column for Taleo and older SuccessFactors.

  6. 6
    MIT Career Advising and Professional Development: make your resume ATS friendly

    Word or PDF files are usually safe, follow the file type the system names, and avoid tables and text boxes.

Sources last reviewed .