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 .

Join Form Bio

Formbio · Remote

We are so excited you are interested in joining our team! Candidates are encouraged to apply even if they do not tick every box. If you are excited to empower science through innovation, we want to hear from you!

Science, at its core, is the noble pursuit of understanding how things happen, why they happen and how we might gain some measure of control over what happens. At Form Bio, we’re on a quest. And our singular role in that quest is to empower our community to fulfill their scientific potential. Our software platform is purpose-built to help push the fast forward button on research, to help scientific collaboration be more collaborative and to dispense with the wholly unscientific struggles of cumbersome, DIY IT work.

We’re not here to disrupt the scientific profession, we’re here to empower it. The potential and pursuit of truth is what empowers us. Put simply, Form was created to be a breakthrough for breakthroughs.  

We are HIRING!  JOIN the TEAM!  

**Are you focused on the future of science? Do you want to help scientists make the impossible possible and partner with the research world?  

**Do you believe in the potential of computational life sciences and are you curious how to accelerate and unlock opportunities for the greater good?  

**Are you passionate about harnessing collective talents across the scientific community to address the biggest challenges and opportunities in research, discovery and development?

**Do you want to join a transparent, collaborative, impactful and diverse team where you can do what you do best from anywhere? 

If you say YES to all of the above but don't see an opportunity currently posted that fits what you are looking for, please submit your CV and share with us how you can contribute to Form Bio's mission of empowering scientific discovery to help reach breakthroughs faster and more efficiently.  

Opportunity Areas: 

Engineering / Software Development

Product Management / Development

Bioinformatics 

AI / ML / Data Science

Sales / Business Development 

Client / Customer Success

Marketing / Communications 

Strategy / Strategic Relations

Finance / HR / IT / Administrative Support 

**These positions can be based out of the Austin, TX office** or anywhere remotely.  

What we're looking for:

  • Desire to work collaboratively as a member of multi-functional departments as well as make decisions collectively and independently
  • Self-motivated with desire to succeed and reach high caliber milestones
  • Detail-oriented and highly organized 
  • Ability to work independently, roll-up your sleeves mentality and adaptable to start-up environments with competing deadlines and multiple deliverables 
  • Must have the utmost integrity and understanding of confidentiality as positions require
  • Professional demeanor, strong interpersonal communication skills
  • Strong analytical, critical thinking and problem-solving skills
  • Solid verbal, written and communication abilities across mediums and audiences
  • High emotional intelligence and competence with building relationships across all levels and functional areas internally and externally
  • Comfortable in ambiguous situations and results focused 
  • Bachelor’s Degree in related discipline or equivalent experience in field
  • Prior experience with fast paced, early-stage, scaling organizations  

The team at Form Bio is committed, colorful, passionate, intelligent, collaborative, creative, experienced, scientific and world-class. That sounds like a lot to fit into one building. That’s why we are spread out across the US and support a remote first culture.   

Through it all, however, we maintain a culture of positivity, hope, happiness and the belief that we’re doing something formative.  

At Form Bio, we strive to create an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and team members without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information (including characteristics and testing), military and veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Form Bio believes that diversity is paramount to our success, and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.