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 .

Manager, Brand Partnerships

Awalsme · London, England

The focus of the role will be developing new revenue streams from brands and agencies in order to generate tangible value back to the business, strategically leveraging brand relationships to aid and amplify the artist marketing around a project, and managing third party pitching agency relationships in the UK and EU. Candidate will be an integral part of Global Brand Partnerships team, responsible for both identifying UK and EU brand partnership opportunities relating to Sony Music artists and activities and delivering against these partnerships from end-to-end.

Achieving these objectives will require close collaboration with artists, managers, as well as the wider creative team.

As a team we meet in the London office from Monday – Thursday. *People may choose to work remotely on Fridays.  Join us in shaping the future of the music industry.

What you'll do:

  • Establishing through creative means new opportunities for consumer brands to engage with and invest in AWAL artists including but not limited to traditional sponsorships, event sponsorships, product placements, and marketing activations.
  • As a key member of the Brand Partnerships team, the candidate will forge relationships with brands and agencies, proactively seeking new opportunities, leading pitch meetings and driving revenue and marketing opportunities according to both individual and departmental commercial
  • Day-to-day project management is critical – candidate will be responsible for full life cycle of brand partnership projects, from paperwork right through to completion of campaigns and financial reporting as well as measurement of
  • Candidate will manage third party relationships across UK / EU who pitch the AWAL roster locally. Responsibilities include consistent communication and sharing of necessary information needed for them to pitch AWAL artists in their territory.
  • Continually maintaining and expanding departmental relationships with existing and new clients including but not limited to taking meetings, creating briefs, and progress reporting to manager on a regular basis
  • Developing and delivering presentations to high-level

Who you are:

  • Strong contact list of brands and agencies associating yourself with music and more broadly, entertainment.
  • Exceptional people skills which to lead project management, both internally and externally.
  • Exceptional project management skills.
  • Highly organized with a keen eye for detail.
  • Highly commercial with strong communication / presentation skills.
  • A good knowledge of music and popular culture.
  • Ability to think laterally and adopt a creative approach to any / every relevant business task.
  • Clear ability to problem solve technical, creative and relationship-based challenges.
  • Strong experience selling to brands and agencies in media, music, or entertainment industries.
  • Solid understanding of brand marketing challenges, planning and sales cycles and current trends in consumer behaviour.

What we give you:

  • An opportunity to fuel the creative journey on a global stage
  • A modern, diverse and innovative work environment, with offices that include collaboration areas, cafeterias, event spaces, and more
  • An investment in your learning & development
  • An excellent range of benefits, like private medical cover, a generous pension scheme, life assurance and income protection, plus loads of music biz perks.
  • There’s also time off over winter break  

As an active part of a culturally and socially diverse society, Sony Music’s aim is that our workforce is diverse and inclusive. Sony Music is an equal opportunity employer and supports workforce diversity.

We employ, retain, promote and otherwise treat all employees and job applicants according to their merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We apply this policy without regard to any individual’s sex, race, religion, origin, age, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition or disability.

Privacy Policy

Please click here to read our privacy policy before beginning the application process as you will need to agree to the terms of the policy before submitting your information.

Please note that applicants must be at least 18 years of age.