Key Takeaways

  • 75% of U.S. employers use automated applicant tracking systems to screen resumes before a human reviews them (Harvard Business School & Accenture, 2021)
  • The most common ATS failures are missing keywords, incompatible formatting, and incorrect file types
  • ResumeGeni scores your resume across 8 parsing layers — modeled on the same steps enterprise ATS platforms like Workday, Greenhouse, and Taleo use to evaluate candidates

How ATS Resume Scoring Works

Applicant tracking systems parse your resume into structured data — extracting your name, contact info, work history, skills, and education — then score how well that data matches the job requirements. Many ATS rejections happen because the parser couldn't extract critical fields, not because the candidate wasn't qualified.

LayerWhat It ChecksWhy It Matters
Document extractionFile format, encoding, readabilityCorrupted or image-only PDFs fail immediately
Layout analysisTables, columns, headers, footersMulti-column layouts break field extraction
Section detectionExperience, education, skills headingsNon-standard headings cause sections to be missed
Field mappingName, email, phone, dates, titlesMissing contact info is a common cause of immediate rejection
Keyword matchingJob-specific terms, skills, certificationsKeyword overlap affects recruiter search visibility and ATS scoring
Chronology checkDate ordering, gap detectionReverse-chronological order is expected by most ATS
QuantificationMetrics, numbers, measurable outcomesQuantified achievements help human reviewers and some scoring models
Confidence scoringOverall parse quality and completenessLow-confidence parses get deprioritized in results

Frequently Asked Questions

Is ResumeGeni free?
Yes. ResumeGeni is currently in beta — ATS analysis, scoring, and initial improvement suggestions are free with no signup required. Full guidance and saved reports may require a free account.
What file formats are supported?
PDF, DOCX, DOC, TXT, RTF, ODT, and Apple Pages. PDF and DOCX are recommended for best ATS compatibility.
How is the ATS score calculated?
Your resume is processed through an 8-layer parsing pipeline that extracts structured data the same way enterprise ATS platforms do. The score reflects how completely and accurately your resume can be parsed, plus how well your content matches common ATS ranking criteria.
Can ATS read PDF resumes?
Yes, but not all PDFs are equal. Text-based PDFs parse well. Image-only PDFs (scanned documents) and PDFs with complex tables or multi-column layouts often fail ATS parsing. Our analyzer will flag these issues.
How do I improve my ATS score?
Focus on three areas: use a clean single-column format, include keywords from the job description naturally in your experience bullets, and ensure all sections (contact, experience, education, skills) use standard headings.

ATS Guides & Resources

Built by engineers with 12 years of experience building enterprise hiring technology at ZipRecruiter. Last updated .

Engineering Manager

Ansa · San Francisco

It’s time that payments work for merchants, not the other way around. Ansa is building a branded wallet solution to increase customer retention and unlock new growth opportunities.

Ansa helps innovative and growing companies by providing an enterprise-grade, white-label stored value wallet platform paired with incentive tooling. Our platform enables our customers to turn stored value and loyalty programs into a powerful growth engine that increases customer retention, drives repeat purchases, and boosts margins, all without the cost and complexity of building it in-house.

We’re seeking a dynamic Engineering Manager to lead our growing engineering team, build and scale high-availability payment infrastructure, and champion our core values. You’ll work hand in hand with our founder and CEO to define and shape our product roadmap, define and champion engineering excellence, and grow our organization! 

 
🤔 What you will be doing?
  • Lead a first-class engineering team, proactively identifying and addressing gaps as we scale.
  • Foster a supportive, collaborative, high-performance in-person culture.
  • Collaborate with leadership to set the direction for the broader eng team, balancing strategic and company scaling challenges with thoughtful long-term product & infra planning.
  • Own and expand recruiting efforts while maintaining a high technical bar.
  • Build diverse, inclusive teams and help team members grow through coaching, mentoring, and direct feedback.
  • Serve as a sounding board for architectural and strategic technical decisions.
  • Manage the day-to-day operations of the engineering team, unblocking progress.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to rapidly innovate and execute company priorities and maintain efficiency.

👋🏼 About you

  • 6+ years of software engineering experience, with significant experience in leading and scaling engineering teams during periods of high growth in early/mid-stage startups.
  • Have a proven track record in attracting, hiring, and nurturing top engineering talent, with 2+ years in people-management roles.
  • Possess deep knowledge of modern software development practices, architecture, and infrastructure, with a background in building and scaling complex, high-availability systems.
  • Can drive technical strategy and make informed decisions that balance immediate needs with future goals.
  • Demonstrate profound thoughtfulness around engineering culture, process, and identity.
  • Possess a clear and engaging communication style with a track record of navigating ambiguity, managing stakeholders, and building positive relationships across a broad, diverse organization.
  • Based in the SF Bay Area (or willing to relocate).

😊 Nice to haves 

  • Solid understanding of payments technology - payment acquiring, processing, and schemes; mobile, online, and offline payment platforms, models, and flows.
  • Experience working within fintech.

🎉 Our culture

We’re a small team with a big mission. That means we have to hold ourselves to a high bar, by design. With limited resources and high ambition, excellence in quality, communication, and ownership, ambition isn’t optional — it’s how we move forward.

  • Ownership — if you see it, you take it. We don’t wait to be told.
  • Nosiness — curiosity across boundaries, asking questions, stepping beyond scope to solve problems.
  • High agency — proactive and self-directed. You move the work, not the other way around.
  • Accountability — we do what we say, and communicate proactively
  • Relentless drive — we work with focused intensity and follow through, even when it’s hard.
  • Thoughtful execution — shipping work that’s not just fast, but intentional. Think about how decisions today will affect us down the road.
  • Pride in your craft — we sweat the details and take our work personally, because it reflects who we are.
  • Kindness and trust — we give each other respect, empathy, and the benefit of the doubt. We assume good intent and act like teammates.

🥞 Benefits

  • Stellar health, dental, vision insurance coverage, including fertility benefits and One Medical.
  • Unlimited PTO and observed local holidays.
  • We also offer 401(k), healthcare FSA, and dependent care FSA to fit your needs.