12 Hidden Reasons Your Resume Gets Rejected in India

1. Two-column template

Canva and Word two-column templates look pretty but ATSes read them left-to-right and merge your skills into your bullets. Convert to one column.

2. Icons + graphics for skills

Skill bars, star ratings, and infographic pie charts are invisible to ATSes. Use plain text.

3. File name that says "final_final_v3"

Recruiters skim file names. Use Firstname_Lastname_Resume.pdf.

4. Scanned PDF

If your resume is a scanned image saved as PDF, no ATS can read it. Export text-based PDF from Word/Docs.

5. Non-standard section headings

"Where I've Worked" instead of "Experience" — categorization fails. Stick to standard headings.

6. Header/footer with contact info

Many ATSes skip headers and footers. Put contact info in the body.

7. Inconsistent date formats

Pick one: MMM YYYY. Consistency across all rows.

8. No metrics anywhere

Without numbers, the ATS ranks you low on impact and the recruiter skims past.

9. Buzzword salad in the summary

"Passionate, dynamic, results-driven professional" → junked. Replace with specifics.

10. Skill list that does not match the JD

If the JD says AWS and your resume says cloud technologies, keyword match fails.

11. Missing location

Indian recruiters filter by city (Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurugram, Hyderabad).

12. LinkedIn URL that leads to an empty profile

Recruiters click through. An empty or mismatched LinkedIn destroys credibility.

The fix

Run your resume through Resume Truth — it flags every silent killer above and shows fixes in 60 seconds. Free preview.