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 Member of Technical Staff

Harperinsure · San Francisco

The Problem

36 million businesses in America need insurance—it’s not optional. 77% are underinsured. 40% have no coverage at all. The distribution system failed them: too slow, too opaque, too confusing.

Over 90% of commercial insurance is still human-led. We’re building the inverse: 90%+ AI-led, pushing toward the higher 90s. Not by patching legacy workflows—by building AI that makes humans more effective, improves the customer experience, and eliminates friction at every step.

We’re adding ~1,000 customers per month. We’ve grown 100x since last year. We’re looking to do even more this year—and that’s why we’re hiring.

You’ll be one of the most senior engineers at Harper. That means you own systems end-to-end.

The Thesis

The difference between MTS and Senior MTS: you own outcomes, not tasks. You look at a business problem—“we need to 10x our quoting capacity”—and figure out what to build, build it, and make sure it works. You architect systems AND implement them. You mentor by building alongside people, not by reviewing PRs from a distance.

The Role

This isn’t a “tech lead who attends meetings” role. You make architectural decisions that stick, and ship code that directly generates revenue. No waiting for consensus—we don’t have time for consensus.

What You’ll Do

  • Own core AI infrastructure — LLM orchestration, prompt management, retrieval systems, structured output parsing

  • Design agent architecture — Define abstractions that let us ship new agents in days

  • Build evaluation that works — Systems that measure whether agents are getting better at closing deals

  • Architect decision trace capture — Make every AI judgment traceable

  • Own platform scale — Thousands of concurrent conversations, sub-second response times

You Might Be a Fit If…

  • You’ve owned production systems (not contributed to—owned; you got paged when it broke)

  • You architect AND implement—the best architecture comes from people who live with what they build

  • You’ve built AI systems in production (LLM applications, agent frameworks, RAG, voice AI)

  • You write code with AI (Cursor, Claude Code) and manage multiple sessions

  • You’re 3-6 years into your career

Requirements

  • 3-6 years software engineering experience

  • Production experience with LLM applications and AI systems

  • Strong architectural skills with hands-on implementation

  • Track record of owning systems end-to-end

  • Based in San Francisco or willing to relocate

Nice to Have

  • Voice AI or real-time systems experience

  • Experience building agent frameworks or evaluation systems

  • Prior startup experience

Compensation

  • Salary: $160,000–$230,000 + performance bonuses & equity

  • Location: San Francisco, in-office

Benefits

  • Health, dental, and vision insurance

  • Commuter benefits

  • Team meals and snacks

The Process

  1. 15-min founder call — Alignment on mission and pace

  2. If in SF: Super Day on-site

  3. If outside SF: Technical phone screen, then on-site

To Apply

If you want to own systems that run a real business and work with founders who will actually listen to you—send your resume and tell us about a system you’ve owned.