How SAP SuccessFactors reads your resume
SAP's own documentation names the parser behind SuccessFactors Recruiting: Textkernel. Parsing is a setting each employer turns on, it covers 15 languages, and SAP states that it is not always 100% accurate. The candidate can check the parsed fields and correct them before applying, and can skip the upload and type everything in by hand.
SAP SuccessFactors is a trademark of its owner. ATSPrep isn't affiliated with it.
Will SAP SuccessFactors read your file?
1.5 MB is well inside the published 5 MB limit.
- Made by
- SAP
- Parser
- Textkernel
- Accepts
- DOCX, PDF, TXT, TIFF, JPG, BMP, GIF
- ATSPrep exports
- PDF accepted, DOCX accepted
Source: SAP Help Portal, uploading multiple candidate resumes in batches
What SAP SuccessFactors pulls out, and what gets lost.
Your file goes in, SAP SuccessFactors fills the fields it recognises, and the line underneath types what its own documentation says goes missing on the way.
What SAP SuccessFactors accepts, with sources.
Every line below links to the page it came from. Where SAP SuccessFactors does not publish a detail, this guide leaves it out rather than guessing.
Accepted file types
Size limits
Uploads accepted up to 5 MB.
Parsing engine
Textkernel. Named in SAP's own resume parsing documentation as the third-party software that parses resume data. Parsing only happens where the employer has enabled it.
Form autofill
In the candidate profile, the applicant uploads a resume and sees an acceptance message once it has been parsed. The parsed data fills the designated profile fields.
SAP's test script then has the candidate check the parsed fields, fill in the required ones and pay attention to Country/Region. It also says every profile field can be filled in manually without uploading a CV.
What ATSPrep exports, and whether SAP SuccessFactors takes it
This is computed at build time by comparing our export formats to SAP SuccessFactors's published list. It is not written by hand, so it cannot drift out of date.
- PDFATSPrep exportAccepted by SAP SuccessFactors
- DOCXATSPrep exportAccepted by SAP SuccessFactors
SAP SuccessFactors takes both, so the choice is yours. PDF or DOCX: a simple rule for picking
What trips people up on SAP SuccessFactors
A resume with no country parses badly
SAP's batch upload page says the system can't parse resumes correctly when they are missing country or region information. Its test script tells candidates to pay attention to the Country/Region field after parsing. A resume that gives a city but no country is the one SAP itself warns about.
Source: SAP Help Portal, uploading multiple candidate resumes in batches · checked Oct 19, 2026Parsing is switched on per employer
Resume parsing is enabled in Provisioning under Company Settings, so not every SuccessFactors site parses. SAP also says candidates created through the API are not parsed, and that parsing isn't always 100% accurate, which it calls a known limitation.
Source: SAP Help Portal, configuring resume parsing · checked Oct 19, 2026Only 15 languages are parsed
SAP lists Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Polish, Romanian, Italian, Slovak, Czech, Russian, Portuguese and Chinese. A resume in any other language is outside what SAP documents as supported.
Source: SAP Help Portal, configuring resume parsing · checked Oct 19, 2026SAP's two format lists disagree
The batch upload page lists DOCX, PDF, TXT, TIFF, JPG, BMP and GIF. The candidate profile parsing page lists DOCX, PPT and TXT, plus TIFF, JPG, BMP and GIF images, and leaves PDF out. DOCX and TXT are the text formats on both lists. DOC and RTF are on neither.
Source: SAP Help Portal, working with resume parsing · checked Oct 19, 2026The 5 MB limit is a setting
SAP's resume batch upload page says resumes must be no larger than 5 MB. Across the platform, the maximum attachment size defaults to 5 MB and an administrator can raise it to 10 MB. A file over the limit gets an error and is not stored.
Source: SAP Help Portal, configuring document attachment settings · checked Oct 19, 2026The career site may be on the employer's own domain
SAP lets an employer choose a standard URL on an SAP domain, such as jobs.hr.cloud.sap.com or jobs.hr.sapcloud.cn with the employer's own subdomain, or a custom URL on its own domain, such as jobs.example.com. Only the standard URL shows that SuccessFactors is behind the page.
Source: SAP Help Portal, configuring the site URL for a career site · checked Oct 19, 2026Uploading again can overwrite your profile
If a candidate uploads a newer resume, SuccessFactors asks whether to keep the current profile or overwrite it with the newly parsed data. Overwriting replaces fields you may already have corrected by hand.
Source: SAP Help Portal, working with resume parsing · checked Oct 19, 2026
Formatting for SAP SuccessFactors
Go through your file before you apply and tick each one off. Your ticks stay in this browser, so the list is still here for the next SAP SuccessFactors job.
It is the one text format on both of SAP's lists. If the upload refuses it, use the format the form offers rather than guessing.
City and country together, in plain text, near your name. SAP names missing country information as a cause of bad parses.
That is the figure SAP publishes for resumes and the platform default for attachments. A text-based export is far below it.
SAP says parsing is not always accurate and asks candidates to review the parsed fields. Fix them there. Think twice before re-uploading, as that can overwrite your corrections.
All four checked. Good luck with this one.
Once it's sent, add the job to your tracker. You'll know which version went where, and when a follow-up is fair.
Read your resume back before SAP SuccessFactors does.
Guidance is worth less than evidence. Export a PDF from the Studio and the X-Ray re-opens that exact file and shows you the text a parser recovers from it, in reading order, with anything it dropped marked.
$0 forever · No watermark · No card · First download needs no account
SAP SuccessFactors and your resume
- What is SAP SuccessFactors?
- SAP SuccessFactors is SAP's cloud HR suite. Its Recruiting module runs career sites and job applications for many large employers, so applicants meet it when they create a candidate profile and apply on a company's careers page.
- Does SAP SuccessFactors read PDF resumes?
- SAP's batch upload page lists PDF among the resume formats. Its candidate profile parsing page lists DOCX, PPT and TXT plus image types, and does not mention PDF. If you want the format both pages agree on, send DOCX.
- What file types does SAP SuccessFactors accept for a resume?
- SAP's batch upload page lists DOCX, PDF, TXT, TIFF, JPG, BMP and GIF. The candidate profile page lists DOCX, PPT and TXT, plus TIFF, JPG, BMP and GIF images.
- What is the SAP SuccessFactors resume size limit?
- SAP says resumes must be no larger than 5 MB. The platform's maximum attachment size defaults to 5 MB and an administrator can raise it to 10 MB, so 5 MB is the safe number.
- Why did my resume fail to parse in SAP SuccessFactors?
- SAP documents a few causes. Parsing must be enabled by the employer. Resumes missing country or region information don't parse correctly. Only 15 languages are supported. And SAP says parsing isn't always 100% accurate. Check the parsed fields and correct them by hand.
- Does SAP SuccessFactors parse resumes in languages other than English?
- Yes, 15 in total: Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Polish, Romanian, Italian, Slovak, Czech, Russian, Portuguese and Chinese.
- Does a failed parse mean SAP SuccessFactors rejected my application?
- SAP's documentation does not describe it that way. Its test script says a candidate can fill in every profile field manually without uploading a CV at all. What matters is that the fields are right when you submit.
- How do I know if an employer uses SAP SuccessFactors?
- Look at the career site address. SAP documents two options: a standard URL on an SAP domain, such as jobs.hr.cloud.sap.com or jobs.hr.sapcloud.cn with the employer's subdomain in front, or a custom URL on the employer's own domain, such as jobs.example.com. A custom URL will not show SAP's name.
How the rest of them read a resume
- BambooHRBambooHR 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.16 file types
- JobviteJobvite 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.12 file types
- RecruiteeRecruitee 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.8 file types
- WorkdayWorkday'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.5 file types
Start from an example that SAP SuccessFactors can read.
Each one is a single-column document, scored by the same checks the Studio runs.