Parsing errors are the silent killers of job applications. Your resume might contain perfect content, but if the ATS misreads it, the recruiter sees garbled information. Understanding common parsing errors and how to prevent them gives you a significant advantage.
Common parsing errors and their causes: Name extraction failure — your name is in a header, text box, or image, so ATS extracts the first body text line as your name (which might be your address or phone number). Contact info jumbling — phone and email are in a multi-column layout, causing them to merge or swap. Work experience misattribution — table-based layouts cause job titles from one role to be associated with dates from another. Missing skills — skills listed in a sidebar or text box are completely invisible to the parser. Date confusion — inconsistent date formats cause the ATS to miscalculate your experience duration.
How to detect parsing errors: Use an ATS parsing test tool that shows you exactly how the ATS interprets your resume. Resume-maker.in's ATS checker shows the parsed output — compare it against your actual resume to spot discrepancies. Alternatively, do the plain text test: copy all text from your PDF and paste into Notepad. If the plain text version is garbled or out of order, ATS will have the same problems.
Fixes for each error type: Name issues — put your name as the first line of the main document body in plain text. Contact info — list contact details on separate lines or with clear labels (Phone: xxx, Email: xxx). Experience errors — remove all tables and use simple text with consistent formatting. Missing content — remove all text boxes and sidebars, use single-column layout. Date issues — use one consistent format throughout (e.g., 'Jan 2024 - Present').