# Jobvite ATS Resume Format & Parsing Rules

> Jobvite accepts twelve file types for a resume, from PDF and DOCX to images and spreadsheets, but its own help centre says scanned or locked PDFs cannot be added and image files are not parsed.

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| System | Jobvite |
| Vendor | Employ Inc. |
| Also known as | Jobvite ATS |
| Rendered page | https://atsprep.com/ats/jobvite |
| This document | https://atsprep.com/ats/jobvite.md |

Jobvite's accepted-file list runs to twelve formats, the longest of any system in these guides, and then Jobvite says plainly that several of them will not be parsed. That gap is the whole story here. Being accepted only means the file is stored. Being parsed is what fills in your application and makes it searchable, and Jobvite is specific about which files fail that second step.

## Taking the file in

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Accepted file types | PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT, RTF, HTML, HTM, PNG, JPEG, JPG, GIF, XLSX |

Source: [Jobvite Help Center, file formats supported in Jobvite ATS](https://help.jobvite.com/s/article/File-Formats-Supported-in-Jobvite-ATS) (checked Oct 19, 2026)

## Autofill

Jobvite documents that an uploaded resume is used to populate application fields, and that what the candidate sees afterwards is a text-only preview of the parse. The parsed text is for search inside Jobvite; the recruiter receives the original file in its original format.

Jobvite also says that after uploading a resume to fill in the form, you may still need to use the Attach button to include it in your application.

Source: [Jobvite Help Center, job seeker application Q&A](https://help.jobvite.com/s/article/Job-Seeker-Application) (checked Oct 19, 2026)

## What Jobvite does differently

### Accepted is not the same as parsed

Jobvite lists PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT, RTF, HTML, HTM, PNG, JPEG, JPG, GIF and XLSX as supported, then names the files it expects to be non-parsable: images uploaded as a resume, and image-type PDFs. Jobvite says images are accepted through some application channels, so a file can be taken in and still arrive with nothing extracted.

Source: [Jobvite Help Center, file formats supported in Jobvite ATS](https://help.jobvite.com/s/article/File-Formats-Supported-in-Jobvite-ATS) (checked Oct 19, 2026)

### Scanned and locked PDFs fail at the upload

In its job seeker Q&A, Jobvite says you cannot add resumes that are scanned or locked PDFs, and asks for a Word document or an unlocked PDF instead. A password or an editing restriction on the PDF is enough to cause the problem.

Source: [Jobvite Help Center, job seeker application Q&A](https://help.jobvite.com/s/article/Job-Seeker-Application) (checked Oct 19, 2026)

### The preview is plain text, the recruiter gets your file

If your resume looks unformatted after upload, that is the text-only preview of the parse. Jobvite states the parsing is for internal search and that the recruiter receives your resume in its original format. A stripped-looking preview is normal; a preview with missing sections is the warning sign.

Source: [Jobvite Help Center, job seeker application Q&A](https://help.jobvite.com/s/article/Job-Seeker-Application) (checked Oct 19, 2026)

### Filling the form may not attach the file

Jobvite notes that uploading a resume to populate the application fields may not be enough on its own, and that you may still need the Attach button to include it with your application.

Source: [Jobvite Help Center, job seeker application Q&A](https://help.jobvite.com/s/article/Job-Seeker-Application) (checked Oct 19, 2026)

### The employer can narrow the list

Jobvite says a company's named support contacts can ask for any of the supported formats to be restricted. The full list is the most a Jobvite employer can accept, not a promise that every employer accepts all of it.

Source: [Jobvite Help Center, file formats supported in Jobvite ATS](https://help.jobvite.com/s/article/File-Formats-Supported-in-Jobvite-ATS) (checked Oct 19, 2026)

### Pasting a placeholder breaks the parse

One apply option lets you paste resume text. Jobvite says that if the text is very short, such as “N/A”, “None” or “No Resume”, the parser cannot handle it and outputs a file of special characters instead.

Source: [Jobvite Help Center, file formats supported in Jobvite ATS](https://help.jobvite.com/s/article/File-Formats-Supported-in-Jobvite-ATS) (checked Oct 19, 2026)

### The career page is often the employer's, run by Jobvite

Jobvite says most of its customers broadcast roles on the major job boards and use employer-branded career pages “Powered by Jobvite”. Jobvite itself is not a job board, so questions about an application go to the employer, not to Jobvite.

Source: [Jobvite Help Center, job seeker support](https://help.jobvite.com/s/article/Job-Seeker-Support) (checked Oct 19, 2026)

### The resume can be optional, and LinkedIn can stand in

On Jobvite's standard career site, first name, last name, email and resume are the default required fields, but the resume can be made optional. Where Apply with LinkedIn is enabled, candidates who attach their LinkedIn profile are not required to upload a resume. The same site can be embedded in the employer's own page through an iframe.

Source: [Jobvite Help Center, standard career site](https://help.jobvite.com/s/article/Standard-Career-Site) (checked Oct 19, 2026)

### No size limit or parser vendor is published

Jobvite's public help articles do not state a resume file size limit or name the parsing engine it uses. This guide leaves both blank rather than repeat figures that cannot be traced to Jobvite.

## What to do about it

### Send a text-based PDF or a DOCX

Both are on Jobvite's list, and neither is among the files it names as non-parsable. Skip the images, spreadsheets and HTML that the list also allows.

### Remove any password or editing lock

Jobvite names locked PDFs as a cause of failed uploads. Export a fresh, unprotected copy before you apply.

### Never upload a scan or a photo

Jobvite names image files and image-type PDFs as non-parsable. If you can't select the text in your PDF, it is an image, and should be exported again from the original document.

### Check the preview, then attach

Look for missing sections in the text-only preview, correct the form fields, and use the Attach button if the resume is not already listed with your application.

### Upload a real resume, not a placeholder

If a resume is required, paste or upload the actual document. Short placeholder text produces a garbled file on the employer's side.

## Questions

### What is Jobvite?

Jobvite is an applicant tracking system owned by Employ Inc. Employers use it to manage applications and host their career pages. Jobvite says it is not a job board and plays no part in hiring decisions.

### Does Jobvite read PDF resumes?

Yes, if the PDF contains real text. Jobvite says image-type PDFs are not parsable, and that scanned or locked PDFs cannot be added. A PDF exported from a word processor or resume builder, with no password, is fine.

### What file types does Jobvite accept for a resume?

PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT, RTF, HTML, HTM, PNG, JPEG, JPG, GIF and XLSX. Employers can ask Jobvite to restrict any of these, and the image formats are accepted without being parsed.

### What is the Jobvite resume size limit?

Jobvite does not publish one in its public help centre. If an upload fails, check first for the causes Jobvite does name: a scanned PDF or a locked PDF.

### Why did my resume fail to parse in Jobvite?

The causes Jobvite names are a scanned PDF, a locked PDF, an image file uploaded as a resume, an image-type PDF, and very short pasted text such as “N/A”. Re-export the resume as an unlocked, text-based PDF or as a Word document and upload it again.

### Why does my resume look unformatted after I upload it to Jobvite?

You are seeing a text-only preview of the parse. Jobvite states the recruiter still receives your resume in its original format.

### Can I apply on Jobvite without a resume?

Sometimes. Jobvite lets employers make the resume optional, and on career sites where Apply with LinkedIn is enabled, candidates who attach their LinkedIn profile are not required to upload a resume.

### How do I know if an employer uses Jobvite?

Jobvite says most of its customers use employer-branded career pages marked “Powered by Jobvite”. Its standard career site can also be embedded in the employer's own website, so the address bar may show the employer's domain. Look for the Jobvite label on the job or application page.

## Exporting from ATSPrep to Jobvite

ATSPrep exports a linear, single-column, parser-safe document. Against Jobvite's published list of accepted types:

- **PDF** — on Jobvite's accepted list
- **DOCX** — on Jobvite's accepted list

## The other guides

- [Greenhouse](https://atsprep.com/ats/greenhouse) — Greenhouse takes PDF, DOC, DOCX, RTF and TXT, and will not parse a resume larger than 2.5 MB. Its own support docs name what makes a parse fail: columns, contact details in a header, abbreviated job titles and more.
- [Oracle Taleo](https://atsprep.com/ats/taleo) — Oracle ships Taleo with a 1 MB default attachment limit and no resume parser of its own. Parsing only works if the employer has enabled a third-party partner integration, so behaviour differs from one Taleo site to the next.
- [SmartRecruiters](https://atsprep.com/ats/smartrecruiters) — SmartRecruiters accepts PDF, DOC, DOCX, RTF, JPG and PNG at 2 MB per file, and its CEO named Textkernel as the parsing engine, whose own documentation warns about PDFs more bluntly than any resume blog does.
- [Ashby](https://atsprep.com/ats/ashby) — Ashby accepts PDF, DOC and DOCX up to 50 MB but does not support Markdown. Its docs name the two reasons a resume fails to parse, and its better parser is an opt-in feature some employers never switch on.
- [Workable](https://atsprep.com/ats/workable) — Workable accepts PDF, DOC, DOCX, RTF, HTML and ODT for a resume, with a 5 MB ceiling, while other attachments on the same form are allowed four times that size.
- [Manatal](https://atsprep.com/ats/manatal) — Manatal takes PDF, DOC, DOCX and RTF, parses every resume the moment it lands with a parser it built rather than licensed, and keeps the original file where recruiters can open it.
- [SAP SuccessFactors](https://atsprep.com/ats/successfactors) — SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting parses resumes with Textkernel in 15 languages, takes resumes up to 5 MB, and says plainly that parsing is not always accurate. What SAP's own documentation says, with links.
- [BambooHR](https://atsprep.com/ats/bamboohr) — BambooHR takes uploads up to 20 MB in common formats including PDF, DOC and DOCX. Its help center does not describe resume parsing: recruiters open your resume as a document, and the application form is filled in by you.
- [Recruitee](https://atsprep.com/ats/recruitee) — Recruitee takes PDF, DOC, DOCX, ODT, RTF and TXT, plus JPG and PNG images of a CV. Its help centre says the parser needs a readable email address, which is usually missed in a header or footer, and that highly visual CVs are the most common reason a file cannot be read.
- [Workday](https://atsprep.com/ats/workday) — Workday's own careers site takes DOC, DOCX, HTML, PDF or TXT resumes up to 5 MB. Its documentation says parsing results vary with format and word order, and that images and image-based styles get in the way.
- [Lever](https://atsprep.com/ats/lever) — Lever takes resume files up to 10 MB and parses Word, PDF, RTF, WordPerfect, HTML and OpenDocument files, but not images. Its help centre is specific about when a parse fails, and most of the reasons are about how the file arrived rather than how it looks.
- [iCIMS](https://atsprep.com/ats/icims) — iCIMS extracts text from PDF, Word, RTF, plain text, HTML and OpenDocument resumes by default and fills profile fields from the file you upload. It does not publish a resume size limit.
- [JazzHR](https://atsprep.com/ats/jazzhr) — JazzHR takes PDF, DOC, DOCX, RTF, ODT and TXT resumes up to 5 MB. Its own support docs say a scanned resume is treated as an image: no name, no email, nothing searchable.
- [Breezy HR](https://atsprep.com/ats/breezy-hr) — Breezy HR takes DOC, DOCX, Pages, PDF, RTF and TXT resumes. Its docs say a scanned resume, or one in an unsupported language, is not parsed, and its AI review tools skip any resume that wasn't.
- [Personio](https://atsprep.com/ats/personio) — Personio parses PDF and DOCX CVs with Textkernel, if the employer has opted in. Its own help centre lists ten reasons a parse fails, from headers and tables to 8 pt text and skill bar charts.
- [Dayforce](https://atsprep.com/ats/dayforce) — Dayforce takes DOC, DOCX, PDF and RTF resumes up to 5 MB. Import Resume parses the file into your candidate profile, and uploading again overwrites what the last one filled in.
- [Pinpoint](https://atsprep.com/ats/pinpoint) — Pinpoint takes a CV as PDF or DOCX, and nothing else. Its software reads the CV on upload to write the candidate summary recruiters see first.
- [Comeet](https://atsprep.com/ats/comeet) — Comeet, now Spark Hire Recruit, takes PDF, DOC and DOCX resumes and parses them in 39 listed languages. Arabic and Korean are not among them, and a file that is not a true PDF may not even open.

## About ATSPrep

ATSPrep (https://atsprep.com) is a free resume and application workspace. Match experience to a posting, strengthen claims with evidence, and track the next action. Its PDF check shows text recovered by ATSPrep's extractor, not an employer's proprietary ATS or hiring decision.

- **Price:** free. Checking, importing, editing and downloading cost nothing, and downloads carry no watermark. Everything listed here is free.
- **Account:** none needed to check, import or edit a resume. A free sign-in is needed to download after the first file, to sync, and for more checks or more than 5 AI edits.
- **Your file:** parsed and exported inside the browser. The resume file itself is never uploaded.
- **Optional:** text leaves the browser only when you press a button: semantic match and AI edits (the lines involved), a job link (the link) and Pip voice calls (your speech). Never your contact details, and none of it is stored.
- **Connection:** some tools load on first use and need a connection to download. Local storage is not a cloud backup.
- **Accepts:** PDF, DOCX, TXT, Markdown, or pasted plain text.

Start here: https://atsprep.com/studio