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 .

Staff Systems Engineer

Atomicmachines · Emeryville or Santa Clara, California

Atomic Machines is ushering in a new era of micromanufacturing with its Matter Compiler™ technology. This full-stack technology enables new classes of micromachines to be designed and built by offering manufacturing processes and a materials library that is inaccessible to semiconductor manufacturing methods. It promises to unlock MEMS manufacturing for the many device classes frustrated by semiconductor methods and to open up entirely new product classes. The Matter Compiler™ technology fully realizes the digital manufacturing dream: bits and raw materials go in, and complete, functional micromachines come out.  The Atomic Machines team has also created an exciting first device – one that was only made possible by the existence of the Matter Compiler™ technology – that we will be unveiling to the world soon.
 
Our offices are in Emeryville and Santa Clara, California.

About This Role:

As a Staff Systems Engineer at Atomic Machines, you will be at the forefront of developing novel manufacturing hardware. You will collaborate with hardware development teams, electrical engineering teams, and our core platform infrastructure developers to specify and develop new software that connects our platform software architecture with new manufacturing hardware. This position offers opportunities for growth in leadership, technical expertise, and interdisciplinary engineering experience as Atomic Machines continues on its rapid growth trajectory.

What You’ll Do:

  • Rapidly learn the software and hardware architecture of our system, including distributed electromechanical components, system interfaces, and platform constraints.
  • Stay up to date with evolving system designs, reviewing documentation and collaborating with senior engineers to understand design intent across projects.
  • Assist with system decomposition and analysis, contributing to architectural discussions with guidance from senior team members.
  • Assist in prototype creation and integration. Work with process, device, mechanical, controls, and platform software teams to understand functional requirements assist in development and software creation that works with our hardware and platform systems.
  • Coordinate with Node Design Teams to identify and communicate platform features needed to integrate new devices into the overall system based on prototype efforts.
  • Support cross-functional development of system performance requirements, interface definitions, and validation criteria.
  • Help develop and maintain system models used for analysis, simulation based on early efforts.
  • Work hands-on with manufacturing robotics, supporting the design, test, and debugging of software coordinating a distributed network of devices.

This role may be based out of either office location, Emeryville or Santa Clara, California.

What You’ll Need:

  • A first-principles mindset — you question assumptions, break problems down to fundamentals, and prefer root-cause solutions over pattern-matching.
  • A broad understanding of hardware (mechatronics, optics, dynamics, custom electronics, sensors, actuators, etc.), as well as experience with software systems for controls, communication, signal processing, scheduling, and more.
  • Have architected platform systems with high levels of interdependency and complexity.
  • Experience relating to mechatronic testing plans to advise teams, including DAQs, load cells, torque transducers, pressure transducers, thermocouples, strain gauges, and others.
  • Strong expertise with hardware verification,  risk assessments, sensitivity analysis, gap analysis, training other technical staff as needed for aforementioned tools.
  • Experience accelerating development cycles measurably with systems tools.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Strong experience with text-based modeling tools and languages such as UML, SysML.
  • Experience programming in Python.
  • Experience with network APIs, such as gRPC, REST, or similar.
  • 7+ years of experience developing robotic systems, leading/representing the Systems role on large, complex systems.
  • A Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a similar field, or equivalent relevant industry work experience. 

The compensation for this position also includes equity and benefits.

Salary Range
$170,000$215,000 USD