Two-column CVs with sidebars look good on screen and frequently parse badly. When an applicant tracking system flattens a two-column layout into text, the columns interleave — your job titles end up mixed with your skills list, and the recruiter searching the database never finds you. A single column avoids that entirely.

The section headings here are deliberately plain: Summary, Experience, Skills, Education. Parsers look for exactly these strings. Creative headings such as “My journey” confuse the software and help no human either.

Getting the most out of it

• Write bullets that start with a verb and end with a number. “Managed reporting” tells a hiring manager nothing; “Rebuilt weekly reporting for 12 branches, cutting preparation from 6 hours to 40 minutes” tells them your scale and your standard.
• Keep it to one page under five years of experience, two pages beyond that.
• Put your three most relevant bullets at the top of your most recent role, and reorder them for each application rather than rewriting the CV.
• Leave off your photo, date of birth and full street address unless the norm in your country requires them.

The full method is in our guide to writing a resume, and what actually matters in ATS formatting separates the real rules from the myths.