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 .

Content Producer – Internal AI Communications

Blinkux · Remote

Blink is the user experience firm for the world’s leading companies. We use evidence-driven design to create products that people use, love and remember. With studios in Boston, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle, Blink brings two decades of experience to research, design, and strategy for clients such as Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, NASA, Starbucks, and USAA.
 
This opportunity is a part of Blink's Embedded practice which supports long-term opportunities with some of Blink’s largest client partners. We’re looking for a content producer and strategist to join our global technology team—Engineering—at one of the world’s top alternative investment firms.
 
Duration: On-going
Location: Remote within the United States, EST timezone preferred. 
 
Blink is the user experience firm for the world’s leading companies. We use evidence-driven design to create products that people use, love and remember. With studios in Boston, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle, Blink brings two decades of experience to research, design, and strategy for clients such as Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, NASA, Starbucks, and USAA.
 
This opportunity is a part of Blink's Embedded practice which supports long-term opportunities with some of Blink’s largest client partners. We’re looking for a content producer and strategist to join our global technology team—Engineering—at one of the world’s top alternative investment firms.
 
Duration: On-going
Location: Remote within the United States, EST timezone preferred. 
 
Blink is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, veteran status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status or disability.

Overview

  • We’re looking for a content producer and strategist to support internal storytelling around the fast-moving and impactful deliverables within our client's Enterprise Solutions Engineering organization. This full-time, U.S.-based contract role focuses on editorial planning and content operations—helping scale a clear, intentional voice across internal channels.
  • You’ll join the Enterprise Solutions Engineering team within the client's global technology group, reporting to the Enterprise Solutions Engineering COO. You’ll help shape and drive the editorial calendar, working with their contract storyteller to bring content to life while owning everything behind the scenes, from asset planning to getting the right campaign in front of the right audience at the right time. This work is part of a firmwide innovation initiative with direct visibility at the highest levels.

    • About you

  • Have 3–6 years of experience in content strategy, editorial planning, internal comms, or digital content marketing
  • Bring a sharp editorial eye, strong voice and tone instincts, and a portfolio to match—you can craft headlines, summaries, and CTAs that are clear, smart, and substantial, and turn dry or complex topics into content people genuinely want to read
  • Are deeply organized—you take energy from being able to drive a calendar, align stakeholders, and keep projects on track
  • Have hands-on experience building targeted campaigns in tools like Pardot or Storyports—including content creation, automation flows, segmentation, and audience targeting
  • Are comfortable working across creative, comms, and tech teams—even as timelines shift or priorities evolve
  • Bonus if you’ve run internal campaigns or newsletters at a large company, especially in tech or finance

    • You Might Be a Fit If You…

  • See storytelling as an act of service and hold firm to the idea that the first gate for any piece of content is respecting your audience’s most valuable resource: their time
  • Can spot bloat, boredom, or nonsense in ideas or finished work and know how to fix it
  • Love bringing structure to creative processes, and take pride in keeping things moving
  • Understand that great content needs more than a writer; it needs a planner, advocate, and editor
  • Are hungry to help people understand and embrace one of the most transformative technologies of our time
    • View full listing