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 .

Senior Product Manager

Boloai · Palo Alto

About Us:

At Bolo AI, our mission is to use AI to make daily work faster, safer, and better for the heavy industry worker. We are building the next-generation agentic platform for heavy industries, starting with the Energy sector - enabling intelligent systems that reason, retrieve, and act across complex workflows spanning the field, office, and control center.

Role Overview:

We are seeking a Senior Product Manager to drive the vision, strategy, and execution of key AI-powered products at Bolo AI. You will work closely with engineers, designers, researchers, and business stakeholders to define product roadmaps, prioritize features, and deliver high-quality experiences that delight users and create measurable business impact.

Note: This role is based in the Bay Area, with at least 3 days per week in our Palo Alto office and travel for customer meetings, events, and strategic initiatives.

What You’ll Own:

  • Define and own the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for AI-driven solutions.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams (engineering, design, leadership) to ship impactful features on time.
  • Lead key customer engagements, understand customer data sets, workflows and pain points to ensure product features and capabilities align with business need
  • Translate customer and market insights into product requirements and user stories.
  • Establish clear metrics for success and drive data-informed decision making.
  • Partner with leadership to align product initiatives with company strategy.
  • Champion the voice of the customer, ensuring our products are intuitive, accessible, and high value.
  • Monitor AI/ML trends, competitive landscape, and emerging opportunities to inform product direction.

As an early-stage startup, no two days are the same. As a Bolo AI Product Manager, you can expect to:

  • Meet with our customers at our various offices to understand the critical questions they need to answer and locate their biggest pain points.
  • Deeply understand relevant datasets and workflows, and work with engineers to integrate the data into a stable and extensible pipeline.
  • Create and lead training sessions to ensure that the solution is meeting the needs of a range of users and is being used widely enough to have concrete impact on our partners' operations.
  • Present the results of our work and proposals for future work to audiences ranging from Engineers to C-suite executives.
  • Scope potential engagements across new users and determine business-need and prioritization.

Who We’re Looking For:

  • 6 - 8 years of product management experience, ideally in SaaS, AI/ML, or developer tools.
  • Proven track record of shipping successful products from ideation to launch.
  • Strong technical acumen, with the ability to engage in discussions with engineers and data scientists.
  • Experience defining and analyzing product metrics and using them to inform strategy.
  • Excellent communication, storytelling, and stakeholder management skills.
  • Customer-first mindset with a passion for delivering exceptional user experiences.
  • Start-up experience and being part of an early-stage team.
  • Bonus: Experience in applied AI/ML, LLMs, energy or heavy industry sectors, or related technologies.

What We Offer:

Bolo AI is a technology startup headquartered in Palo Alto, backed by True Ventures, Benchstrength, Accomplice, J Ventures, and Beat Ventures.  We offer competitive compensation, generous PTO, flexible working hours, an office in Palo Alto for in-person collaboration, and the following:

  • Competitive Compensation: A strong base salary
  • Ownership & Impact: Equity options so you can share in our success as we grow and shape the future together.
  • Hybrid Work Environment: Enjoy a flexible hybrid schedule—collaborate in person and work from home.
  • Growth & Opportunity: Join us at a pivotal stage where your contributions will have a direct impact on our journey. As we grow, so will your opportunities.
  • Culture of Respect & Collaboration: We live by humility, respect, and low ego. You’ll be part of a team that values your ideas and celebrates wins together.
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