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 .

ENGINEER/SCIENTIST

Naval Sea Systems Command · Dahlgren, Virginia

For the ND-03: Your resume must also demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the ND-02 pay band (GS-05 through GS-08 equivalency) in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector. Specialized experience must demonstrate the following: as a professional engineer or scientist applying basic systems engineering principles in support of engineering assignments to solve complex technical problems utilizing engineering techniques, procedures and methods. For the ND-04: Your resume must also demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the ND-03 pay band (GS-09 through GS-11 equivalency) in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector. Specialized experience must demonstrate the following: as a professional engineer or scientist applying systems engineering principles to research, analyze, interpret, evaluate and carry out difficult but conventional assignments. Examples of qualifying experience may include (1) experience with systems engineering analysis and design; (2) experience with agile development, data analytics and Model Base System Engineering (MBSE) tools, (3) knowledge of conventional systems engineering tools, and other available tools to execute assigned tasking. Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management website: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/files/all-professional-engineering-positions-0800.pdf https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1500/operations-research-series-1515/ https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1500/mathematics-series-1520/ https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1500/computer-science-series-1550/https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/1500/computer-science-series-1550/ This is an interdisciplinary position and may be filled by a General Engineer (0801-series), an Operations Research Analyst (1515-series), a Mathematician (1520-series), or a Computer Scientist (1550-series) depending upon the qualifications of the candidate. Applicants in positions with occupational series other than those listed (0801, 1515, 1520 and 1550) may apply; however, you must apply directly to the series listed in this vacancy that is most applicable to your qualifications. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, spiritual, community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment.
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