How ATS Parsers Read Location, Remote and Relocation Details on Resumes

Applicant tracking systems usually convert a resume's location line into structured fields such as city, state or region, and country, rather than treating it as free text. Remote and relocation preferences are often stored separately as flags or notes, so they may not be captured from the resume alone. Vague entries like a bare 'Remote' with no city, or multiple cities crowded onto one line, can confuse field extraction and cause a candidate to be filtered out. The article recommends a plain 'City, State, Country' line with clear wording about remote or relocation next to it, and avoiding icons, tables, and graphics. It also notes that configurations vary across vendors such as Greenhouse, Workday, Lever, iCIMS, and Taleo, so candidates should also complete the application's own preference questions consistently with their resume.