Modern · Single column · ATS 5/5
Modern ATS CV template
The parser-proof member of the Modern family: one column, one rule, no graphics.
The design work here is in the spacing and the hierarchy rather than in ornament, which is why it reads as contemporary without dating the way a heavily styled CV does. It runs as one column with no photo, which is the combination most application portals and most UK, US and Irish employers prefer.
Live preview of the Modern ATS template, rendered at full page size with an example CV. The preview is the same code that generates your PDF.
The design
About the Modern ATS layout
Who it’s for
The readers and situations this layout was drawn for.
- Large-employer and government application portals
- High-volume online applications
- Recruiters who re-format your CV before sending it on
Key features
What is actually different about this template on the page.
- Strict single column with no graphics
- Icon-free contact line
- Ruled full-width section headings
- Comma-separated plain-text skills
ATS score 5/5 · Excellent
How this layout behaves in an applicant tracking system
It holds the full 5 out of 5 for a simple reason — no sidebar, no table, no text baked into an image. What you upload is very close to what the system reads back.
Headings are real headings and lists are real lists, so the boundaries between one role and the next survive extraction intact.
There is little left to fix here. If you want to see how the rest of the parser-safe range compares — and what a 5 out of 5 is actually measuring — the ATS CV templates page scores every layout on the same criteria.
- Reading order
- Single flow
- Headings
- Real text
- Tables
- None
- Images
- None
- Selectable text
- Yes
Scores are our own assessment of how a parser handles the layout — never a guarantee about one specific employer’s system.
In practice
Three situations Modern ATS is the right answer to
A large-employer application portal
You are uploading a PDF into a careers site that will index it before a recruiter opens anything. This layout is designed for precisely that first reader, so nothing is lost between the upload button and the recruiter’s screen. A typical example: Large-employer and government application portals.
A steady progression
One uninterrupted flow suits a history where the last three roles are the argument: a reviewer reads titles, dates and outcomes downward, without correlating a sidebar with the job it belongs to.
A UK, US, Canadian or Irish application
Employers in these markets discourage photographs outright — some screening teams remove them before a hiring manager sees the file, to keep the process defensible. Starting without one means nothing has to be removed. Modern ATS has no photo slot to remove, so the same file works in every market you send it to.
Make it yours
Customising Modern ATS
Accent colour
Modern ATS ships with #1f2937 as its accent. The accent drives headings, rules and any highlighted detail. A deep navy, a slate or a saturated brand colour all hold up — the hierarchy does not depend on the hue, so choosing is a taste decision rather than a legibility one.
Fonts and heading style
A humanist or geometric sans throughout gives the intended look. Setting a serif for headings only is the one substitution that changes the personality without breaking the spacing. Heading case — uppercase, capitalised or as typed — is a separate switch, and it changes the character of the page more than most people expect.
Spacing and density
Font size, line height, section spacing and page margins are all sliders. On a single column they behave predictably: reduce section spacing first, margins second, and only then the type size — a CV set below 9.5pt starts to look like an attempt to hide its length.
Sections and order
Summary, experience, education and skills carry the weight. Projects and certifications drop in without upsetting the rhythm, and anything you are not using can be hidden rather than left empty. Every section can be renamed, reordered or hidden, and Pro adds custom sections for anything the standard set does not cover.
Paper size and export
A4 or US Letter, switched in one control, with the layout re-flowing to the new page rather than being scaled to fit. The PDF is generated from the same code you see in the preview, so what you approve on screen is what downloads.
Modern ATS: common questions
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Keep exploring
- All modern templatesEvery design in the Modern family, side by side.
- One-column templatesThe full single-column range, across all six categories.
- CV templatesFormats, page counts and conventions by country and career stage.
- ATS CV templatesWhat a parser does with your file, and the layouts built to survive it.
- CV examplesWorked examples by role, with the wording and structure explained.
- Free CV templatesEvery template you can use and download without paying.
Start your CV with Modern ATS
Open it with the example content already in place, replace it with your own, and download a PDF when it reads the way you want. Switching to another template later keeps every word you have written.
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