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 .

CMO Associate

Improbable · London

Improbable is a Venture Builder and a pioneering technology company developing next-generation networked and digital infrastructure for the web3 economy. We are working with leaders to create businesses in AI transformation, the metaverse and web3. We both create businesses from scratch and invest in existing businesses.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in London, Improbable began as an ambitious experiment to enable vast, persistent, and interactive online worlds. Over the past decade, the company has evolved into a global leader in venture building, decentralised technology, digital assets, and blockchain-enabled infrastructure, empowering creators, brands, and communities to build and scale the next era of digital experiences.

At Improbable, you are surrounded by people who want to improve everything and everyone around them, and who compel you to improve yourself. We’re motivated by the fulfilment of solving hard problems to achieve something profound and transformative.

Your Mission

As CMO Associate, you will serve as the right hand to the Chief Marketing Officer, combining the strategic coordination of a Chief of Staff with deep marketing expertise and a builder’s mentality. You will work across two parallel tracks: supporting Improbable’s purpose-driven brand strategy, as well as partnering directly with venture founders to design and execute high-impact go-to-market strategies. This is a high-ownership, high-trust role for someone who thrives in ambiguity, brings both strategic thinking and executional excellence, and is genuinely energised by building the ventures of the future.

Your Opportunity:

  • CMO Partnership; Special Projects: Act as a trusted partner and force multiplier for

  • the CMO, driving strategic special projects, ensuring key priorities are executed, and

  • serving as a critical point of coordination across the marketing function. Own the CMO’s operating rhythm, including planning cycles, reporting, and cross-functional alignment.

  • Brand Strategy; Positioning: Support the execution of Improbable’s purpose-driven brand strategy, ensuring alignment with the company mission and the portfolio’s aspirations. Help craft cohesive narratives that connect venture achievements with Improbable’s broader market positioning, and develop frameworks for evaluating and articulating strategic value across the portfolio.

  • Go-To-Market Strategy: Partner with venture founders and marketing leaders to support them design and implement flexible GTM strategies tailored to each venture’s stage, from early concept to scaling. Provide market positioning support including opportunity analysis, target segmentation, and launch planning.

  • Performance Marketing; Growth: Help develop scalable, data-driven performance marketing solutions to support acquisition, engagement, and retention across ventures. Contribute to building playbooks and frameworks for demand generation, tailored for SaaS, PaaS, and web3 products. Help establish measurement tools and KPIs to ensure ROI across all performance campaigns.

  • Cross-Channel Campaign Execution: Support the design and execution of integrated marketing campaigns at both the venture builder level and across individual ventures,ensuring creative excellence, strategic coherence, and measurable impact.

  • Thought Leadership; Communications: Support content strategies that position

  • Improbable as a thought leader, showcasing innovations, market insights, and forward-looking commentary. Help develop and manage communication frameworks that elevate Improbable and its ventures within relevant ecosystems.

  • Executive Stakeholder Engagement: Partner with venture CEOs to shape compelling

  • brand positioning strategies. Drive synergy across ventures, identifying opportunities for collaboration and cross-portfolio storytelling. Support the cultivation of relationships with external stakeholders to extend Improbable’s influence and credibility in the market.

Why you're made for this:

  • Minimum 7 years of experience in a marketing leadership role within a fast-paced tech company, with a track record of driving measurable impact for the business.

  • Deep expertise in product marketing and go-to-market strategy, with a proven ability to translate complex, emerging technology into compelling, differentiated narratives.

  • Strong experience with performance marketing, demand generation, and building scalable marketing frameworks, including for SaaS, PaaS, and/or web3 products.

  • Demonstrated experience partnering with or supporting early-stage venture founders, with comfort operating in fast-moving, ambiguous environments.

  • A go-getter and self-starter mentality: a strategic thinker with a hands-on, entrepreneurial mindset who takes ownership and delivers results without needing to be told what to do.

  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills. You are able to craft clear, compelling narratives for diverse audiences, from founders and investors to technical and consumer audiences.

  • Prior experience in a marketing leadership, cross-functional leadership or Chief of Staff role is a strong plus. Prior experience in venture building, VC or PE constitutes and advantage.

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