The short answer
Some employers, mostly larger ones and big job boards, use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to collect and search applications. Not every employer does. Designs with text in images, tables, text boxes or headers can be read out of order by some systems, so the practical answer is two files with the same facts: a designed one for people and a plain, one-column one for online portals.
What an ATS actually is
An applicant tracking system is software that collects applications, stores them and lets recruiters search and sort them. Job Help, a UK government service, and the University of Sheffield’s careers service describe them scanning applications for words that match the job description. Plenty of smaller employers, like a local café or shop, don’t use one at all: they read what you email or hand in.
When a system is involved, two things usually happen to your CV:
- It gets read by the software. The system tries to pull out your name, contact details, job titles, dates and skills, sometimes to fill in a form or profile.
- It gets searched. A recruiter looks for words like “food hygiene”, “Excel” or “safeguarding”, and the system shows applications that contain them.
How each system then sorts or filters candidates varies a lot, and nobody outside a company can honestly tell you exactly what its system does. The risk worth fixing is practical: if the software can’t read your text in the right order, your details can come out scrambled, and a search might miss you.
What can trip software up
Every system is different and nobody can promise a CV will read perfectly in all of them. These are the usual problem areas, and both Job Help and Sheffield mention most of them:
- Text inside images. If your name or skills are part of a picture, software can’t read them.
- Tables, text boxes and floating shapes, which can be read out of order or skipped.
- Complex columns, where the reading order jumps around.
- Headers and footers holding your contact details.
- Unusual section names. “My journey” is charming; “Experience” is findable.
- Icons in place of words, such as a little phone symbol with no label.
Before
Where I’ve been · What I bring · Stuff I’m proud of
After
Experience · Skills · Achievements
Why it works People and software both find standard headings faster. Save the personality for the content.
So why bother with design at all?
Because a person still decides whether to invite you to interview. When a hiring manager is reading a pile of CVs, a clear layout with your strongest evidence near the top is easier to take in than a dense wall of text. Design isn’t decoration when it puts what you did, and why it mattered, where the eye lands first.
So the answer isn’t picking one. It’s sending the right file to the right place.
When to send which
| Where you’re applying | Send |
|---|---|
| A large employer’s careers portal, or a job board that fills in a form from your CV | The plain, one-column version, in the format they ask for |
| An email to a hiring manager, a small business or a recruiter you’ve spoken to | The designed version |
| Printing it to hand in, or bringing it to an interview | The designed version |
| You can’t tell | The plain version for the upload, and the designed one for any follow-up email |
What makes a plain version plain
- One column, top to bottom, in reading order.
- Standard headings: Profile, Experience, Education, Skills.
- Your name and contact details in the body of the page, not in a header.
- Real text everywhere, no text in images.
- Dates in one consistent format, for example Mar 2025 to present.
- A common font such as Arial or Calibri.
- The same facts as your designed version. It’s a different layout, not a different story.
Keywords, honestly
People and software both look for the words in the advert. If the advert asks for something you’ve genuinely done, use the same words it uses: if it says “stock rotation” and your CV says “kept shelves organised”, add their phrase where it’s true. Don’t paste in skills you don’t have, and don’t hide words in white text. A person will read it, and so will the interviewer.
PDF or Word?
Use whatever the employer asks for. That’s the one rule that always applies.
If they don’t say, advice genuinely differs. A PDF keeps your layout exactly as you made it, which suits anything a person will read. Some UK careers services, including Job Help and Sheffield, suggest a Word file for uploads to tracking systems. Prospects notes that some systems don’t support PDFs and some recruiters ask for .docx. If you can’t tell, it’s completely fine to ask the employer which they prefer.
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In short
- Some employers use applicant tracking systems; many smaller ones don’t.
- Images, tables, text boxes, headers and unusual headings can confuse some systems.
- Keep two files with the same facts: designed for people, plain for portals.
- Use the advert’s words only for things you’ve really done.
- Send the format the employer asks for. If unsure, ask.
Want both versions without writing your CV twice?
CVBUFFED exports a designed PDF with real, selectable text, a plain one-column PDF for job portals, and an editable Word file, all from what you’ve written once. £12.50 once, no subscription.
Build my CVSources and further reading
- Getting through applicant tracking systems Job Help (UK Government)
- Applicant tracking systems University of Sheffield Careers and Employability
- How to write a CV Prospects
Checked against these sources on 14 November 2026. Rules and rates change: if something here looks out of date, tell us at hello@cvbuffed.com. How we check our guidance.