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 .

Vendor Manager

Mintel · London

The Vendor Manager is responsible for the oversight of Mintel’s vendor partners, as well as continuing to develop our vendor management program. This role is ideally suited for someone with experience managing and nurturing multiple vendor relationships in a largely digital environment.

Qualities needed for this role are excellent communications skills, highly organized, great attention to detail, creativity, persistence, ability to work with people across a wide variety of jobs levels and backgrounds.

This is a Hybrid role based out of our London Headquarters.

What You Will Be Doing:

  • Continue to improve and strengthen our relationships with vendors
  • Administration support and workflow management of our internal procurement platform
  • Oversight of 10 – 15 key relationships
  • Identify potential vendors and conduct research to determine the best options for Mintel
  • Negotiate renewal contracts with vendors
  • Support internal stakeholders in resolving any issues with the vendors
  • Produce regular management reports on key performance indicators for executive leadership
  • Traveling nationally/internationally to vendor sites as needed (10% or less travel time)

What We Are Looking For:

  • Commercially-minded: You are easily able to identify improvement opportunities and you can comfortably and enthusiastically pitch your new ideas to leadership. You thrive on making a lasting impact on an organization.
  • Knowledgeable in Vendor Management: You have significant experience with vendor management, project management or business development.
  • People Smart: You are able to easily adapt to different personalities and levels within an organization.
  • Committed to Personal Growth: You are committed to continuous learning and growth, constantly pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone to develop your skillset.
  • Naturally curious: You are naturally curious and great at navigating external conversations, asking second and third level questions to get at the heart of a products challenges and goals.
  • Humble: You are humble, yet confident. You willingly admit when you need help, and you know how and when to utilize the resources and people around you. You are also willing to share your own knowledge for the benefit of the team.
  • Self-Directed: You take initiative to solve problems and uncover opportunities, and you are eager to take ownership and accountability for the success of the programs you develop. You have proven ability to balance big-picture thinking with daily details and deliverables.
  • Great Communicator: You have extremely polished verbal and written communication skills, and can adapt your communication style to suit each client and internal business partner.
  • Tech-savvy: You are quick to learn new technologies and also have deep experience with Microsoft’s suite of tools. MS CoPilot or AI experience is a bonus.
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