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 .

FPGA Engineer

Grasshopperasia · Singapore

About Grasshopper

Grasshopper is a quantitative trading technology provider based in Singapore, and is the holding company of Grasshopper Asset Management. Our state-of-the-art technology, built from the ground up in-house, puts us at the forefront of developments in electronic trading. An unbroken record of consistency and profitability is underpinned by firm values of curiosity, empowerment and flexibility.

About the Role:

As we continue to grow, Grasshopper seeks a highly motivated FPGA Engineer to design, develop and optimise solutions for our automated trading system. You’ll work alongside traders and technologists while building, researching and implementing hardware that pushes the limits of performance and latency.

As a key member of the FPGA Team, you’ll:

  • Work with a culturally diverse tech team that designs, develops and optimizes FPGA solutions for automated trading systems
  • Work with traders to define requirements and come up with innovative, efficient and smart trading solutions
  • Embrace a learning and innovation culture; research on new technologies and new hardware platforms

We’d love for you to have:

  • Bachelors or Masters in Computer Science / Computer Engineering or the equivalent
  • 5 - 7 years of deep expertise in FPGA
  • Experience on SystemVerilog/Verilog programming
  • Strong experience on FPGA development tools (Altera or Xilinx) and simulation tools (Modelsim)
  • Demonstrated experience on Hardware-software codesign and High Level Synthesis
  • Good knowledge on network protocols, specifically Ethernet, ARP, IP, TCP and UDP
  • Good C/C++ knowledge
  • Skilled in scripting with Python, Bash, Tcl, and Perl to streamline technical operations.
  • Strong grasp of architectural frameworks, enabling you to critically assess and justify the selection of various tools and components.
  • Proven technical skills in FPGA design and implementation (industry experience is a plus, but not required).

What we offer:

  • 21 days annual leave
  • An opportunity to learn from experienced professionals, fostering mentorship opportunities and personal growth
  • Comprehensive Insurance Package with extended coverage for dependents
  • Well stocked pantry
  • Annual Dental & Wellness budget
  • Gym membership
  • Employee bonus referrals

What you can expect working at Grasshopper:

At Grasshopper, you will be working in a diverse and dynamic environment with a flat hierarchy. With over 100 employees and 15 nationalities working in an open office, communication is essential to performance. To keep our edge as the “small giant” of trading technology, we give employees a high level of autonomy and encourage them to get creative, take risks, make mistakes and learn from them. The sprint is on!

Grasshopper is an equal opportunity employer.

View full listing