Lever resume guide: what happens when you apply through Lever
Lever is common at startups and scale-ups. Its application page is short, and Lever combines the ATS with a recruiting CRM, so your profile can stay in the company's talent pool long after this role closes. A parseable resume and filled-in links help now and the next time a recruiter searches.
Last updated: October 2026 | Written by the MatchResume.ai team
Check your resume against the jobWho uses Lever
Startups and scale-ups
In Jobscan's 2025 sample of about 12,000 companies, 16.6% used Lever. Employers configure Lever differently, so treat this guide as what you are likely to see, not a promise for every company.
How applying through Lever works
- Job pages usually live on jobs.lever.co (or jobs.eu.lever.co) under the company name, or are embedded in the company's careers site.
- There is no account to create. One page asks for your resume, name, email, phone, current company and links such as LinkedIn, GitHub or a portfolio.
- The form may pre-fill name and contact fields from your resume. Check them before you continue.
- Employers add custom questions and an 'Additional information' box. That box works as a short cover letter.
What Lever does with your resume
Lever can parse most document formats
Lever's help center lists Word, PDF, RTF, WordPerfect, HTML and ODF files as parseable. Image files such as JPG or PNG cannot be parsed at all.
If you cannot select the text, Lever cannot read it
Lever's own test: open your PDF and try to highlight a line. If you cannot, the file is an image and parsing will come back empty.
Your profile outlives the application
Because Lever doubles as a CRM, recruiters can find you again for other roles by searching profiles. Plain-text skills and accurate titles keep you findable.
Where Lever applications go wrong
Empty link fields
At startups the hiring manager often clicks straight to LinkedIn, GitHub or a portfolio. Leaving those fields empty or pointing to an outdated profile wastes the easiest signal you have.
Skipping 'Additional information'
Two or three sentences connecting your experience to the role are read next to the resume. Generic text here reads worse than nothing.
Contact details that disagree
If the pre-filled fields picked up an old email or phone number from your file, recruiters may contact the wrong one. Fix the form and update the file.
The general rules (one column, standard headings, no tables or text boxes) apply here too. They are covered in ATS resume formatting: what to avoid.
Checklist before you click Submit
- Text-based PDF or .docx; highlight test passed
- Pre-filled name, email and phone checked
- LinkedIn, GitHub or portfolio links filled in and current
- Current company and title match your resume
- 'Additional information' written for this role
- Custom questions answered with the posting open
Test your resume before you apply
Upload your file to the free ATS resume parser to see the plain text and sections a parser gets out of it. Then paste the job description into the free ATS checker to see which requirements your resume does not cover yet.
Applying from a Lever job page? The MatchResume Chrome extension works on Lever postings, so you can match your resume without copying the job description.
FAQ
What file formats can Lever parse?
Lever's help center lists Word, PDF, RTF, WordPerfect, HTML and ODF. Images such as JPG and PNG cannot be parsed, and a scanned PDF behaves like an image.
Do I need an account to apply through Lever?
Usually not. Lever applications are a single page you submit without signing up.
Why does my Lever application keep my old details?
Lever keeps candidate profiles so recruiters can reach out about future roles. If your details changed, update them in the new application; the recruiter sees the latest submission.