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 Design Manager

Engine · Remote - USA

About Engine

At Engine, we’re transforming business travel into something personalized, rewarding, and simple. For too long, managing travel and spend has been overwhelming and fragmented — we’re here to change that. We believe the future of travel should be seamless and powered by technology that delights customers at every step. That’s why we’re building a platform that brings together corporate travel, a powerful charge card, and modern spend management in one place.

To make this vision real, we’re looking for exceptional, mission-driven people to help redefine how businesses manage and experience travel.

More than 20,000 companies already rely on Engine to support over 1 million travelers and billions in annual bookings each year. Cash flow positive with rapid growth, we pair exclusive Engine-only rates, industry-leading rewards, and intelligent automation to help businesses save money while delivering world-class personalization and convenience.

Backed by Telescope Partners, Blackstone, and Permira, Engine has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing travel and fintech platforms in North America, with honors including the Deloitte Fast 500 and Built In’s Best Places to Work.

Engine is the fastest growing travel and spend platform for SMB. Design at Engine is made up of 25+ incredible designers, operators, and leaders driving product vision and shaping a design culture like no other.

As Product Design Manager for Travel, you own the end-to-end booking experience—from search through stay. You’ll lead a team of designers inside our Travel pillar and partner directly with Product, Engineering, and Data to shape strategy and ship high-impact work. This is a leadership role with real business accountability.

Successful leaders at Engine chase opportunities, have strong conviction, and hold a high bar for product excellence. If that sounds like you, let’s go.

Here’s what you’ll do:

Lead the design vision for Engine’s booking experience and make it smarter, faster, and more delightful. This experience is one of Engine’s biggest revenue drivers for our business and will have huge impact on our trajectory. 

  • Guide and mentor a talented team of 3-6 product designers while rolling up your sleeves when the work needs your hands.
  • Set the creative direction and uphold a high bar for clarity, craft, and consistency across all travel surfaces.
  • Turn insights, trends, and product goals into simple, intuitive experiences that our users love.
  • Work closely with partners across the company to move fast, solve real traveler problems, and ship high-impact work.
  • Champion design’s role in shaping strategy and driving meaningful business outcomes.
  • Use modern AI-native workflows (Cursor, Figma Make, MCPs, prototyping systems) to increase velocity and leverage.

Here’s what we’re looking for:

  • Mastery of the full product lifecycle, from shaping product strategy and guiding discovery to driving concepts and build-ready execution.
  • Strong design craft across visual, interaction, and UX, with a focus on clarity, utility, delight
  • Expertise in managing complex groups of stakeholders
  • People leadership experience in hiring, coaching, and elevating the team’s bar.
  • Proven ability to align and influence PMs, engineers, data, and executives.
  • Fluency in Figma, design systems, and emerging tools like Pencil / Cursor.
  • Clear, compelling storytelling, able to communicate the strategic why, not just the design.

Here’s what you get:

At Engine, extraordinary effort is met with extraordinary returns. We turn ambitious employees into industry leaders by providing: 

Unmatched growth: You’re surrounded by the best in the biz and we invest in our top performers.
Ownership and freedom: You're a driver, not a passenger, of our success.
Rebellious spirit: We never say no to a good idea and are willing to take smart risks.
Unconventional collaboration: We play by our own rules, have high standards and low ego.
The best you: We expect that everyone shows up as their true self, never self-sensor.

Outpace the ordinary at Engine.

The Engine Edge: Perks & Compensation
We believe in rewarding great work with great benefits:

  • Compensation: Competitive base pay tied to role and experience, with opportunities for bonuses, commissions, and equity.
  • Benefits: Check out our full list at engine.com/culture.
  • Environments for Success: Different roles have different needs in terms of the environments that drive success which is why we have a hybrid-hub model. Whether you are in one of our amazing offices or fully remote, we’ll make sure you have what you need to succeed.

Perks and benefits may vary based on employment type, location, and more.

We use Covey as part of our hiring and / or promotional process for jobs in NYC and certain features may qualify it as an AEDT. As part of the evaluation process we provide Covey with job requirements and candidate submitted applications. We began using Covey Scout for Inbound on January 13th, 2025. Please see the independent bias audit report covering our use of Covey here.

Ready to Build the Future of Work Travel?
Join us on our mission to transform how work travel works—for businesses, for travelers, and for the industry. Apply now and let’s make travel simpler, smarter, and more enjoyable—together.