Images, Icons and Graphics on a Resume: Do They Hurt?

Ask one question of every graphic: if you deleted it, would the reader lose any information? A colored heading or a divider line carries none, so nothing is lost if the parser ignores it. A phone icon used instead of the word "Phone", a bar showing how well you know Python, or a logo used instead of a company name all carry meaning. When the parser skips them, that meaning disappears from your candidate record.

What happens to graphics when an ATS reads your resume?

An ATS extracts the characters in your file and works with that text. Graphics fall into a few groups:

• Pictures (photos, logos, screenshots, charts saved as images) are usually skipped. Any words inside them are lost.
• Drawn shapes (bars, circles, lines, boxes) carry no text, so they are ignored. A skill bar becomes just the skill name, or nothing if the name was part of the image.
• Icon fonts (the small phone, envelope or map pin symbols in many templates) are technically characters. A parser may turn them into empty boxes, question marks or random letters, sometimes stuck to the front of your phone number or email.
• Text placed on top of graphics may come out fine, out of order or not at all, depending on how the file was built.

Exactly what happens varies by system. The safe assumption is that only real, selectable text survives. For how parsing works overall, read how an ATS reads a resume.

Which resume graphics cause the most problems?

The table lists common elements, what a parser typically gets from each, and a plain alternative.

Skill bars and ratings

Skill bars have two problems. The parser cannot read the level, and a person cannot interpret it either, because four dots out of five in Excel means something different to everyone. Ratings can also invite a test in the interview of whatever you rated highest. Group your skills in text, and show the important ones at work in your experience bullets.

Contact icons

Contact details matter most, because they are how a recruiter reaches you. If your email is typed as real text and the icon sits separately, the email usually survives, sometimes with a junk character in front. If the whole contact line is an image, or sits in the page header, it may not come through at all. A plain line works everywhere:

City, Country | name@example.com | +[country code] [number] | portfolio.example.com

Logos and photos

A logo image is invisible to the parser. If your employer's name appears only in its logo, your record shows a job with no company. Always type the name.

Photos are mostly a question of local convention. In the US and the UK, photos are usually left off resumes. In parts of continental Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere, a photo on a CV is more common. For the ATS, a photo is just an image it ignores, though placing it in a box beside your name can disturb the reading order of the text around it. When the posting gives instructions, follow them. Our guide to the difference between a CV and a resume covers more of these regional conventions.

Can a designed resume still parse well?

Yes, if the design is made of text rather than pictures. These usually parse without trouble:

• Colored headings and job titles
• Bold, italic and a few different font sizes
• A thin line under each heading
• Plenty of white space
• A standard, readable font

Problems tend to come from how the file is made, not from the design itself. Some design tools export text as shapes or images, place each block in a separate text box, or build layouts on several columns that a parser reads in the wrong order. The result can look perfect on screen and still come out as fragments.

When is a graphic resume worth it?

There are situations where visual design earns its place:

• Design and creative roles. For a graphic designer, visual quality is evidence. Even then, many employers ask for a resume in their system plus a portfolio link. Keep the resume readable and let the portfolio show your design skills.
• Portfolio websites and personal sites. No parser is involved, so use as much design as the work calls for.
• Direct handoffs. A printed copy at a career fair, or a PDF emailed straight to a person, is read by eyes first. It may still be uploaded into the employer's system later.

A practical approach is to keep two versions: a plain, text-first resume for online applications and a designed one for direct contact. Make sure both contain the same facts.

How do you check whether graphics are hurting your resume?

Run a copy-paste test on the exact file you plan to send.

1. Open the PDF, select all the text and copy it.
2. Paste it into a plain text editor.
3. Look for missing contact details, empty boxes or odd symbols, skills with no context, missing company names and sections out of order.
4. Fix each problem in your original document, not in the PDF.
5. Export again and repeat the test.

If you cannot select the text at all, the whole page is probably an image, and that problem is bigger than any icon. See whether an ATS can read PDF resumes for how the way a PDF is made affects this.

How can Nextrova help check a resume with graphics?

The ATS resume checker runs parse checks on your uploaded PDF or Word file and shows what an applicant tracking system can read from it, so you can see whether icons, bars or images are costing you information. Your first check is free and needs no account. Nextrova is not a resume builder and has no templates, so any layout changes happen in your own editor.

Related questions

Is color safe on a resume?

Yes. Colored text is still text, so it parses normally. Keep the contrast high so the resume stays easy to read on screen and in print.

Are divider lines OK?

Drawn lines are generally ignored by parsers and do no harm. Avoid making lines out of repeated typed characters such as underscores, which can show up as clutter in the extracted text.

Should I remove my photo because of the ATS?

The ATS mostly ignores the photo, so the decision is about local norms and the employer's instructions rather than parsing.

Do icons work better in a Word file than a PDF?

It depends on how they were added. Inserted images are skipped in both formats. Typed labels are the safer choice either way.