The two column CV problem
Designed CV templates look sharp and parse badly. Here is what actually happens to them.
Two column CV templates are everywhere because they look considered. A sidebar for skills and contact details, a main column for experience. On paper it reads well.
What the parser sees
Many parsers extract a PDF as a single stream of text in document order, which for a two column layout means alternating between the columns line by line. Your skills list ends up interleaved with your job history. The result is not unreadable to a human, but it is scrambled to a search index.
The failure is silent. Nobody tells you. Your CV simply performs worse than it should and you never learn why.
What to do instead
Keep one column. Use bold section headings a parser recognises: Professional summary, Technical skills, Professional experience, Education, Certifications. Put contact details as plain text lines at the top, not in a header.
You can still design it. Whitespace, typography and a restrained accent colour do more for readability than a sidebar ever did.
Keep two versions if you need to
If you are applying in markets where a photograph is expected, keep a version with one, and a clean single column version without for everywhere else. Photographs on a CV are normal in parts of the Gulf and continental Europe and an automatic problem in the US and UK.
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