AI-Friendly Resume Template (Free .docx) and Why It Works
An "AI-friendly" resume template is not a new kind of design. AI screeners such as Workday HiredScore, Eightfold and Phenom all work from the text a parser extracts from your file. So the template that serves them best is the one that parses perfectly: plain structure, real headings, nothing a machine has to guess at. Below is a free Word template built that way, followed by the reason behind each choice.
Download the template
ATS resume template — Classic (.docx). It is free, with no signup and no watermark. It opens in Microsoft Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice and Apple Pages.
The sections run Summary → Work Experience → Education → Skills. Each section contains placeholder guidance in square brackets (what to write and where the job's keywords belong), which you replace with your own content. If you are entry-level or changing careers, the ATS resume template for Word page has variants with a different section order.
What is inside the file
We opened the template's underlying Word XML to confirm its structure, so each claim below describes the actual file:
| Element | In the file | Why it matters for AI screening |
|---|---|---|
| Layout | One column; no section columns | Greenhouse lists columned layouts without clear sections as a parse failure |
| Tables | None | Greenhouse lists tables as a parse failure |
| Text boxes | None | Greenhouse lists contact info in text boxes as a parse failure |
| Images and drawings | None | Workday: 'use resumes that don't have images or image-based styles' |
| Header and footer | Not used; name and contact are the first lines of the body | Greenhouse lists contact info in headers or footers as a parse failure |
| Section headings | Word's built-in Heading 2 style: Summary, Work Experience, Education, Skills | Standard names in a real heading style mark section boundaries in the file itself |
| Bullets | Word's list feature (bullet numbering), not typed symbols | Each bullet is a clean paragraph when extracted |
| Font | Calibri, 11pt body; name in 20pt bold | A standard system font extracts as ordinary text |
| Margins | 0.75 inch on all sides | Leaves room for a full role line without wrapping |
| Role line | Title — Company, City, ST | Month 20XX – Present | Title, employer, location and dates stay together on one line |
Why each choice helps AI screeners
One column, top to bottom. Parsers read a document in order. A sidebar can be read before, after or in the middle of the main column, and that is how a job title ends up separated from its dates. Greenhouse's unsuccessful resume parse article names columned layouts without clear sections, tables, and contact information in headers, footers or text boxes as causes of failure.
Contact details in the body. Many templates put your name and email in Word's header, which looks tidy and sits on every page. Greenhouse names contact information in headers and footers as a cause of failed parses. The Classic template puts them in the first two lines of the body instead. Location is there too, because matchers use it: Phenom lists location as one of four Fit Score criteria, alongside skills, experience and title.
Real Heading styles. The four section titles use Word's Heading 2 style rather than bold body text. The section names are the standard ones parsers expect. Keep them; see ATS resume section headings if you need alternatives.
No images. No photo, no icons, no skill bars. Workday's resume parsing guidance says "for best results, use resumes that don't have images or image-based styles." Phenom's own blog notes that "image-heavy resumes or files scanned in as images" are hard for its NLP to parse (Phenom).
One line per role. Each role line holds the title, company, city and dates. AI matchers use these fields. Eightfold's vendor disclosure lists "titles, work experiences, education, skills" among its model's inputs. Keeping them together means none is orphaned.
A plain Skills line. Skills are separated by middle dots on one line, written as words. Skill bars and star ratings carry no text a parser can read.
Writing the Summary for an AI matcher
The template opens with a three-line Summary. For AI screening it does one job: state the facts a matcher looks for, early and in plain words. Phenom's Fit Score uses skills, experience, title and location. Eightfold's inputs include titles, experience, education and skills. Write the Summary so the first sentence carries a title and years, and the second carries the posting's core skills:
Supply Chain Analyst with 5 years in retail inventory planning. Skilled in SQL, Tableau, demand forecasting and SAP; cut expired stock 18% across 40 stores.
Use your real title (or the closest standard one), your real years, and only skills you can back up in the Experience section below. The numbers in the example are placeholders. A Summary that claims a skill your role bullets never mention is a mismatch a recruiter will notice, even if the matcher does not.
How to fill it in
Download and save a copy per job family
Keep one master copy and save a tailored copy for each type of role you apply for.
Replace the contact line
Name on line one; city and state, phone, email and LinkedIn URL on line two. Leave them in the body.
Write the role lines exactly in the template's pattern
Title — Company, City, ST | Month Year – Month Year. Use full job titles, not abbreviations.
Replace the bracketed guidance with bullets
Verb + what you did + result, two to four bullets per role, most detail on the latest role. Use the posting's exact terms where they are true for you.
Fill the Skills line from the posting
List the required tools and methods you genuinely have, in the posting's wording. The free keyword generator pulls them from a job description.
Check the parse before sending
Save as plain text in Word (File → Save As → Plain Text) and reopen it, or paste the file into the free resume checker. Contact details should appear first and each title should sit next to its dates.
What will break it
The template stays AI-friendly only as long as you keep its structure. These edits undo it:
- inserting a table to line up dates on the right
- adding a photo, logo or icons
- moving your name into Word's header "to save space"
- splitting Skills into a two-column block
- exporting to PDF from a design app as an image (a normal File → Save As → PDF from Word keeps the text selectable). Greenhouse's supported formats are .doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf and .txt; an image is none of those.
If you want dates right-aligned, use a right-aligned tab stop, not a table.
Sources
- Greenhouse — Unsuccessful resume parse
- Greenhouse — Supported formats for resumes, cover letters and other candidate uploads
- Workday — Concept: Resume Parsing
- Phenom — Fit Score
- Phenom — How to get the most from AI fit scores
- Eightfold — OFCCP AI vendor disclosure (PDF)
Frequently asked questions
- Is an AI-friendly template different from an ATS-friendly template?
- In practice no. AI screeners such as HiredScore, Eightfold and Phenom work from parsed resume text, so the template rules are the same: one column, real headings, no tables, text boxes, images, or header and footer content.
- Can I use this template in Google Docs?
- Yes. Open the .docx in Google Docs; it has no tables, text boxes or images, so the structure carries over. Download it back as .docx or PDF when you apply.
- Should I submit the template as PDF or Word?
- Either works if the PDF is text-based. Greenhouse, for example, lists .doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf and .txt as supported upload formats. Saving to PDF from Word keeps the text selectable; an image export does not.
- Why are there no colours or design elements?
- Graphics, icons and image-based styles are named as parsing risks by Workday and Greenhouse. The template leaves out all visual elements so nothing competes with the text a screener reads.