ATS guide
Greenhouse resume format checker
Greenhouse is recruiting software that many employers use. Its support team publishes a page on why a resume may not parse. Below is what that page says, with the link, followed by a checklist you can apply to your own file.
What Greenhouse says
- A resume uploaded as an image instead of a .docx or .pdf file is described as a formatting problem for parsing. Source
- Resumes larger than 2.5 MB cannot be parsed. Source
- Graphics, photos, word art, tables, headers and footers, text boxes and multi-column layouts are listed among formats that can cause parsing problems. Source
- Contact details placed in a header, footer or text box are listed as a problem. Source
- Unclear sections, company names without identifiers such as Inc. or LLC, incomplete job titles and letter spacing are also listed. Source
- When parsing fails, the candidate is not rejected. The recruiter sees a message that the resume has only been attached, and the details are entered manually. A partial parse needs to be checked and corrected. Source
Sources last read on 28 Oct 2026. Vendors change their help pages, so check the links for the latest.
A checklist for your file
- Save as a text-based .docx or .pdf, not a photo or scan of a printout.
- Keep the file well under 2.5 MB.
- Use one column. Put your name, email and phone in the main body, not in a header, footer or text box.
- Avoid tables, graphics, photos and decorative fonts.
- Use plain section names such as Experience, Education and Skills.
- Write each employer in full, with the company type if it has one, and give complete job titles.
Questions
Does Greenhouse reject resumes automatically?
Its help page says that when a resume cannot be parsed, the candidate is not rejected. The resume is attached and the details are entered by hand. How an employer then screens candidates is their own process.
Is a PDF or a Word file better for Greenhouse?
The help page names .docx and .pdf as the expected file types. What matters is that the file is text-based and simply laid out.
Can Resumetics tell me how my resume will parse in Greenhouse?
No. We are not connected to Greenhouse and cannot run its parser. Our check gives an estimated fit score against current job postings in India and flags layout and wording issues from the same kinds of problems listed above.
Resumetics is not affiliated with Greenhouse. Names are used only to describe what the vendor's own help pages say. Employers set up and use these systems in their own ways, and we cannot know how any one employer screens. Our fit scores are estimates from current job postings in India.