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 .

License Key Analyst

Ion · Dublin

The Role:

You will be part of the team that manages ION’s license key function, which is crucial in delivering ION solutions to our customers. As a member of the team, you will work internally with key stakeholders (sales, commercial, legal) to ensure correct and timely delivery of the license key, as well as helping to manage customer relationships through addressing and responding to customer queries.
The Role:

You will be part of the team that manages ION’s license key function, which is crucial in delivering ION solutions to our customers. As a member of the team, you will work internally with key stakeholders (sales, commercial, legal) to ensure correct and timely delivery of the license key, as well as helping to manage customer relationships through addressing and responding to customer queries.
About us

We’re a diverse group of visionary innovators who provide trading and workflow automation software, high-value analytics, and strategic consulting to corporations, central banks, financial institutions, and governments. Founded in 1999, we’ve achieved tremendous growth by bringing together some of the best and most successful financial technology companies in the world. 

•Over 2,000 of the world’s leading corporations, including 50% of the Fortune 500 and 30% of the world’s central banks, trust ION solutions to manage their cash, in-house banking, commodity supply chain, trading and risk.
•Over 800 of the world’s leading banks and broker-dealers use our electronic trading platforms to operate the world’s financial market infrastructure.

With 10,000 employees and offices in more than 40 cities around the globe, ION is a rapidly expanding and dynamic group.

At ION, we offer careers that provide many opportunities: To invent. To design. To collaborate. To build. To transform businesses and empower people around the world to do more, faster and better than before. Imagine what you can do and experience. This is where you can do your best work.
ION adheres to an equal employment opportunity policy that prohibits discriminatory practices or harassment against applicants or employees based on any legally impermissible factor.
Learn more at https://iongroup.com/. 

Key Responsibilities:

  • License key query management, ensuring a min response time of 24 hours
  • Daily license key management
  • Preparation of customer pricing simulations and financial analysis
  • Drafting and reviewing commercial proposals for customers
  • Dealing directly with customers and senior company management
  • Analysis of contractual terms in respect of internal and external queries
  • Assisting with the development of scalable commercial processes
  • Assisting with the integration of newly acquired companies 
  • Other Ad hoc work as required

    • Required Skills, Experience and Qualifications:

  • Commercially astute
  • Strong critical thinking skills
  • Attention to detail
  • Strong analytical skills
  • Self-motivated and hard-working individual who is goal orientated
  • Demonstrated ability to work under pressure and to deadlines
  • Intellectually curious
  • Ability to multi-task and adapt to a rapidly changing environment
  • Good interpersonal and communication (verbal and written) skills
  • Process orientated
  • Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office, particularly Excel and PowerPoint
  • Good to have – B2B / SaaS Sales experience, and Salesforce knowledge 
  • 1.1 or 2.1 degree in any field
  • 2+ years in experience in a fast-paced environment
    • View full listing