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 Medical Physicist - Radiation Oncology

Billingsclinic · BILLINGS, MT, US

Join our outstanding team at the Billings Clinic Cancer Center to provide radiation physicist services for our patients in Radiation Oncology. Montana’s largest health system offers a collegial network of regional cancer specialists based at our tertiary referral center in Billing. This position joins two other physicists and working alongside three physicians and two dosimetrists. Under minimal direction, provides radiation physics services for the Radiation Oncology Department, participates in the supervision and performance of treatment planning, performs clinical quality assurance and related operational activities in clinic for physics division, plans and conducts in-service education and training programs for staff. Responsibilities include as appropriate, development/mentoring, coaching/ counseling, physician relationships, interdepartmental and intradepartmental activities, process improvement activities, customer relations, quality of service control. Assists with the development of objectives, policies and procedures relating to radiation therapy. Systems: Varian with Aria, Eclipse, Truebeam, Trilogy, Bravos HDR and Elekta Gamma Knife Perfexion Comprehensive Cancer Center with integrated cancer services under one roof Beautiful healing environment with a focus on high quality patient care, supported by a multidisciplinary team QOPI, CoC, FACT, CIBMTR, NAPBC and ACR-certified Teaching and research opportunities Mayo Clinic Care Network member Essential Job Functions • Supports and models behaviors consistent with Billings Clinic’s mission, vision, values, code of business conduct and service expectations. Meets all mandatory organizational and departmental requirements. Maintains competency in all organizational, departmental and outside agency standards as it relates to the environment, employee, patient safety or job performance. • Maintains the treatment planning system and supervises dosimetrists in the use of this system. (Information Systems, System Liaison) • Provides clinical leadership to staff and acts as a resource responding to clinical procedural questions and assisting with problem resolution and participating in orientation, education, and development of staff. (Leadership, Resource) • Performs quality assurance procedures and maintains accurate records on all therapy machines. (Quality/Regulatory, Quality Review) • Participates in acceptance testing and commissioning of new equipment. (Information Systems, Testing) • Assists with implementation and maintenance of policies and procedures. Practices process improvement principles to assess and improve the quality of the radiation oncology program. Assures compliance with regulatory standards Maintains competency in all organizational, departmental and outside agency environmental, employee or patient safety standards relevant to job performance. (Leadership, Policies Procedures) • Adheres to national patient safety goals and prevents, minimizes and/or corrects risks to patients, families, physicians and other members of the health care team. Investigates unusual occurrences and follows appropriate procedures. Provides consultation for patient care related concerns and acts as a patient advocate as needed. (core) • Participates in both short and long term planning for radiation oncology services. (Project Management, Planning) • Participates in teaching other health professionals, performs in-service for staff and assists the Radiation Oncologists with research protocols. • Participates in the development and implementation of an education plan that addresses individual, team and departmental needs. (Education, Staff, Coordinator-Core) • Maintains and displays an appropriate degree of clinical expertise and can perform dosimetrist duties. Acts as a resource for all levels of the health care team, other health care providers, patients and their families. (Leadership, Clinical Expertise) • Performs manual and computerized external beam treatment plans based on information collected during simulation and CT imaging. Performance will be evaluated by observation and input by the radiation oncologists. Performance will also be judged based on the basis of timeliness and quality of work. (Patient Care, Radiology) • Performs weekly quality assurance checks of the treatment charts. (Quality/Regulatory, Quality Review) • Identifies needs and sets goals for own growth and development; meets all mandatory organizational and departmental requirements. • Performs other duties as assigned or needed to meet the needs of the department/organization. • NRC Authorized Medical Physicist (AMP) Additional Duties Performs the duties required to support a quality high dose radiation (HDR) program. (Patient Care, Radiology) Performs the duties required to support a quality Gamma Knife radiosurgery program. • Staff Physicist additional duties including rotational coverage to outreach clinics