Best Overleaf Resume Templates for ATS: 6 LaTeX Templates Compared

Overleaf's gallery has 36 pages of CV and résumé templates, and most of them were designed to look good in a PDF viewer, not to be read by an applicant tracking system. LaTeX output is usually clean text, so the risk isn't the format itself. It's the layout: two columns, icon-only contact lines and dates in a side column are what scramble in a parser.

This page compares the six LaTeX resume templates people reach for most, on the things that decide whether an ATS reads them correctly.

#The six templates compared

Star counts and licenses come from each project's GitHub page as of 16 October 2026. Stars measure popularity, not parse quality: the most-starred template here is not the safest one.

#Single-column templates: Jake's Resume and sb2nov

Jake's Resume says in its README that it is "Based off of sb2nov/resume", and the two share the features that matter for parsing. The sb2nov template describes itself as "A single-page, one-column resume for software developers", and its author wrote that most other templates "either focus on two columns, or are multiple pages long".

Both include \input{glyphtounicode} and \pdfgentounicode=1. Those two lines tell pdfLaTeX to store a Unicode mapping for each glyph, so ligatures such as "fi" and "fl" come out of the PDF as normal letters rather than a single unknown character. Without them, "profile" and "workflow" can extract as broken words, which also breaks keyword matching.

Jake's Resume aligns dates with LaTeX tabular* environments. In the compiled PDF that is just positioned text on one line, not a table object like a Word table, and it extracts in reading order. The Jake's Resume guide covers using it on Overleaf and a Word version with the same layout.

#Awesome-CV: single column, icons in the header

Awesome-CV is the most popular LaTeX resume on GitHub by stars. Its body is one column with coloured section headings, which parses well. The catch is the header: the class loads the fontawesome6 icon package and its sample shows phone, email and social profiles as icons with separators. An icon produces no useful text, so a parser may find your email address but not know it's an email address, or pick up stray symbols.

The fix is small. Keep the name block, but make sure your email, phone and city are written out as plain text, and drop the social icons you don't need. Its sample résumé runs to two pages, so trim it to one if you are early in your career.

#Two-column and side-column templates: AltaCV, Deedy, moderncv

AltaCV was created to recreate an Enhancv-style designed résumé, and its sample uses the paracol package with a 0.6/0.4 column split. Deedy Resume calls itself "two asymmetric column" in its README. Greenhouse lists "Resumes that have a columned layout" among the causes of a failed resume parse, so treat both as human-facing documents.

moderncv is single-flow, but every entry puts its dates in what the template source calls "the column with the dates" on the left. Most parsers cope, but dates can detach from the job they belong to. It ships several styles (classic, casual, banking and others), so test the one you choose rather than assuming.

Deedy's repository was last updated in September 2022, so expect to fix package issues on a current TeX Live.

For background on why one column is safer, see the single-column resume layout guide.

#Which template to pick for your situation

• Applying online for software, data or engineering roles: Jake's Resume. It's dense, one page, and the layout recruiters in those fields are used to seeing. The software engineer resume examples show what to put in each section.
• You want the original that Jake's was built on, or fewer custom commands: sb2nov. Its sections are Education, Experience and Projects, so add a Skills section if the postings you target list tools.
• Experienced hire who wants a little visual identity: Awesome-CV, with the contact icons replaced by text and the content cut to what fits the role.
• Academic CV, or a European application that expects a CV over a résumé: moderncv, after running the text check below. Academic portals often accept a CV as an attachment that a person reads, which lowers the parsing risk.
• Career fair handout, portfolio or email to a hiring manager: AltaCV or Deedy are fine here, because a person reads them. For portal applications, keep a single-column version too.

If you are torn between two, pick the one with fewer columns. A plain layout costs you little with a human reader, and a scrambled parse costs you the application.

#How to check any Overleaf resume before you send it

1. 1

   Compile with pdfLaTeX or XeLaTeX as the template expects

   Jake's Resume and sb2nov compile with pdfLaTeX. Deedy needs XeLaTeX. Use Overleaf's Menu → Compiler setting if the template doesn't compile.

2. 2

   Confirm the Unicode lines are present (pdfLaTeX)

   Search the preamble for \pdfgentounicode=1 and \input{glyphtounicode}. If a template lacks them, add both before \begin{document}.

3. 3

   Download the PDF and copy all its text

   Open it in a browser, press Ctrl+A (Cmd+A on a Mac), copy, and paste into a plain text editor.

4. 4

   Read the pasted text in order

   Your name and email should be on the first lines, each job title next to its employer and dates, and no words broken where "fi" or "fl" used to be. If a sidebar's text appears in the middle of a job, the layout is the problem.

5. 5

   Run it through a parser

   Upload the PDF to the free resume checker to see the parsed text and the keyword match against a posting. No signup.

#When LaTeX isn't the right tool

LaTeX gives you precise, consistent output, but some application portals only accept .docx, and editing per job means recompiling each time. If you need a Word file, the PDF vs DOCX guide explains when each format is safer, and the ATS-friendly resume templates roundup has free single-column .docx files. The Jake's Resume guide also has a Word version of that layout.

#Sources

• Overleaf, LaTeX templates — CVs and résumés
• GitHub, jakegut/resume (Jake's Resume)
• GitHub, sb2nov/resume
• GitHub, posquit0/Awesome-CV
• GitHub, moderncv/moderncv
• GitHub, liantze/AltaCV
• GitHub, deedy/Deedy-Resume
• Greenhouse Support, Unsuccessful resume parse

Frequently asked questions

Are LaTeX resumes ATS-friendly?

A LaTeX resume compiled to PDF is usually readable by an ATS, because the PDF contains real text. Problems come from layout (two columns, side columns for dates, icon-only contact details) and from missing Unicode mapping, which can break ligatures like fi and fl. A single-column template with pdfgentounicode set avoids both.

Is Jake's Resume the best Overleaf template?

For ATS parsing it is one of the safest, because it is single-column, plain and sets the Unicode mapping lines. It is designed for software and engineering roles; people in other fields may prefer a template with a summary section.

Can I use a two-column Overleaf template?

You can, but check the output first. Copy all the text from the PDF into a plain text editor; if the sidebar's text lands in the middle of your experience, use a single-column template for online applications and keep the two-column version for human readers.

Do I need to pay for Overleaf to use these templates?

No. All six templates here are open source and can be opened on a free Overleaf account.

Can I convert an Overleaf resume to Word?

Not cleanly. Converting a LaTeX PDF to .docx usually produces text boxes and odd spacing, which is worse for parsing. If a portal requires Word, rebuild the resume in a single-column .docx template instead.