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 .

Head of Marketing

Dakota · United States

About Us

Dakota is a stablecoin infrastructure platform powering modern financial products through regulated money movement, stablecoin orchestration, and cross-border settlement. We serve institutional clients — fintechs, payment service providers, marketplaces, and enterprises — through an API-first platform that abstracts the complexity of custody, compliance, settlement, and banking partnerships. Dakota has raised $16.5M from CoinFund, 6th Man Ventures, and Triton Ventures.

We are a remote first team across North America and Europe. We value high quality work, clear thinking and ownership.

Please note: Dakota is a remote-only, equal-opportunity employer. At this time, we are able to hire within the U.S., United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal.


About The Role

Dakota is at a stage where how we explain the product and how it shows up in real customer conversations matters as much as what we build. This role exists to make that repeatable.

We’re hiring a Head of Marketing to take ownership of how Dakota goes to market — defining positioning, shaping messaging, and building the foundations of a GTM motion that works in practice, not just on paper.

This is a founding marketing leadership role. You’ll work closely with the CEO and GTM leadership to set direction, make tradeoffs, and execute in a hands-on way. We’re not looking for someone to manage a large team or scale channels immediately. We’re looking for a leader who can decide what matters, test it, refine it, and then scale what’s working over time.

What You’ll Do

Define how Dakota is explained to customers

  • Define and evolve positioning, messaging and use cases that stand up in real sales conversations.

  • Clarify how Dakota’s products are differentiated and when they’re the right solution for a customer.

Build a content led GTM engine

  • Own what content is worth producing, why it exists, and how it supports customer understanding and conversion.

  • Create and iterate key assets while also using leverage- AI, contractors and partners- to increase speed and quality.

  • Set the bar for quality and relevance rather than sheer output volume.

Improve conversion and GTM effectiveness

  • Partner closely with sales and product to understand objections, stalled deals and increase buyer clarity.

  • Adjust messaging, use cases, and campaigns based on feedback from the field.

  • Scale activity once fundamentals are working, prioritizing signal before volume.

Lay foundations for scale

  • Establish lightweight workflows, metrics, and operating cadence so marketing can scale responsibly over time.

  • Use modern tools, including AI, to increase leverage without adding unnecessary processes.

Who You Are

You’re a strategic builder with strong judgment.

You likely:

  • Have been the first or early marketing hire at a startup, or owned a 0–1 GTM effort inside a larger company.

  • Have strong product marketing instincts and can operate across content, messaging, and GTM execution.

  • Are comfortable making decisions without perfect information and adjusting quickly when something isn’t working.

  • Have worked closely with sales and understand how marketing impacts real conversations and outcomes.

  • Can balance hands-on execution with setting direction and leading through influence.

  • Have managed a small team or led others before and can see yourself growing and developing people over time, without needing a large org or heavy process.

You don’t need fintech experience, but you should be comfortable marketing complex, trust sensitive, or regulated products.

How We Work

At Dakota, we value people who:

  • Strive for excellence

  • Practice extreme ownership.

  • Experiment fearlessly and learn quickly.

  • Stay close to customers.

  • Communicate clearly and directly.

What We Offer

  • Engaging problems that increase economic freedom globally

  • Competitive salary and equity

  • Employee-friendly equity terms (extended exercise)

  • Remote work, no commuting to the office

  • Paid co-working space/desk at an office

  • Health, dental, and vision insurance

  • Regular team events and off-sites