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 .

Manager, Data & Media Science

Known · New York, NY

WE HAVE CREATED A WORLD WHERE ART AND SCIENCE ARE BEST FRIENDS

Known is a modern marketing company engineered for the unprecedented opportunities and challenges facing marketers today. We are about 200+ people strong, pairing PhD data scientists with award-winning creatives, strategists, engineers and expert research teams to produce some of the most innovative and cutting-edge creative work in culture. We believe that when creative truly collaborates with science, strategy, and technology, amazing things can happen. 

Ad Age touted that “Known may be the ultimate example of a full-service agency,” and honored us with two prestigious recognitions this year: #3 on The A-List as one of the top agencies in the world, and Ad Age’s Data & Insights Agency of the year for the second year in a row. Without our incredible partnerships with our clients, spanning across the leading brands in finance, technology, entertainment, media, CPG, real estate, and many other categories, honors like this could not be possible, and also have helped us earn additional awards and recognitions over the years like: Emmys, Clios Entertainment and Sports Awards, Effies, Cannes Lions Awards, ProMax Agency of the Year, and Digiday’s Most Innovative Media Agency to name a few. 

SKEPTIC™, Known’s proprietary AI analytics and optimization platform, powers our full service agency and has received industry-wide recognition for innovation in marketing technology and analytics. In 2025, SKEPTIC was recognized by Fast Company as one of the Next Big Things in Tech. Additionally, Digiday recognized SKEPTIC as Best Marketing Analytics Platform (2023) and the Best AI Platform (2025). Together, these honors underscore SKEPTIC’s evolution into an award-winning platform now being licensed to enterprise marketers.

We couldn’t create this award-winning work without seeking out and hiring the best talent. What does it mean to be a Knowner? We are curious innovators, knowledge-hunters who are constantly challenging ourselves to do better and be better for our clients, for our team and for our world at large. Our offices around the U.S. are open and while most of our people work in a hybrid setting, we are a distributed workforce with a number of Knowners working remotely.

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT US, LET'S TALK ABOUT YOU

About the role:

Known’s Media Science team uses advanced analytics, machine learning, statistics, and algorithms to plan and optimize advertising dollars. We partner with our clients to translate their business goals into meaningful metrics, and buy media across all channels to drive those target outcomes.  

We are looking for a Manager, Data & Media Science to join the team and work alongside strategists, analysts, data scientists, and software engineers.  In this role, you will lead the data science arm of our media campaigns, owning the relationship with the client when it comes to optimization and data.  You will be in a primarily client-facing position with heavy project ownership and emphasis on communicating with executive stakeholders.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

  • Serve as the primary client point of contact on campaign optimization and data
  • Delight our clients with meaningful analyses, compelling stories, and beautiful slides
  • Own analytics, science, and optimization for our media campaigns
  • Work with other data analysts & scientists to deliver rigorous measurement, consistent campaign performance, and insightful reporting
  • Consult with agency and client leadership to set measurement frameworks, design experiments (A/B, incrementality, geo-testing), and evaluate campaign lift and ROI across channels
  • Stay current on industry trends in digital media, analytics, and privacy regulations

Seniority is flexible and subject to experience.

WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU HAVE

  • A degree from a well-regarded college or university, preferably a Masters or PhD.  STEM degrees are also preferred.  
  • 3+ years of hands-on experience doing quantitative analysis, modeling, optimization and/or statistics. Experience using Python and SQL.
  • 2+ years of experience directly communicating with senior stakeholders, managing relationships, and presenting decks to a variety of audiences, all on technical subjects related to the analytics, science, and application of data
  • A desire to work on advertising challenges that require flexibility in approach -- everything from data strategy, on-the-fly analytics, statistics, machine learning, and algorithms 
  • An ability to strategically translate business challenges into quantitative problems, and solve them by whatever means are most appropriate and effective, which may not always be strict machine learning
  • An eagerness to learn foundational knowledge and skills rapidly
  • A commitment to managing the quality & accuracy of analytics, ensuring high standards with your and others’ work
  • Experience across multiple digital (e.g., social, programmatic) and/or traditional (e.g., linear TV, OOH) media channels
  • Familiarity with major ad serving platforms (ex: Google Ad Manager, DV360, The Trade Desk)
  • Competence with campaign setup parameters, including: targeting, audience segmentation, tracking, attribution methodologies (multi-touch, last-click), and key digital metrics (impressions, clicks, conversions, viewability, etc.)
  • Experience with analytics and reporting platforms (ex: Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics), attribution and measurement systems (ex: CM360, Videoamp), and deriving actionable insights for optimization
  • Experience with local marketing or retail media is a plus

SOME OF OUR PERKS

  • Unlimited paid time off
  • 401k with company matching and no vesting period
  • Annual bonuses
  • Generous medical plan
  • Paid parental leave

ONE LAST THING TO ASK YOURSELF

All this might sound great, but you’re probably still wondering, “Would I be a good fit for Known?” or “Would Known be a good fit for me?” Our culture is propped up by four values that we aspire to every day: We are one team. We see the good. We never stop learning. There’s always a better way. At Known we are setting out to build something more than just a company. We are building a legacy filled with exceptionally talented people with a kaleidoscope of backgrounds, experiences, and origin stories who feel encouraged and empowered to bring their whole selves to work, and to partner with us in molding and shaping our culture through our values.

Known is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against employees or qualified job applicants on the basis of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or locally protected class.

The base salary for this position is $135K - $150K.

            This range is posted in compliance with state and municipal Pay Transparency laws. In addition to base compensation, this role is eligible to receive additional Known benefits.

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