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 .

Account Executive

Newsela · Remote - US

Individual Contributor Exempt RPL (Replacement)

Why You'll Love This Role: 

As an Account Executive you will be part of a regional sales team and the overall face of Newsela in the small-medium business market. You’ll be responsible for building relationships with key decision makers at the school district level in addition to selling Newsela’s suite of products to bring engaging reading content to districts. In your day to day, you will do everything from pipeline management and forecasting to designing lead generation campaigns and managing sales through the entire lifecycle. You will also become well-versed in your territory’s funding, state initiatives, demographics, and K-12 education landscape, which will help inform your overall sales strategy.

What You'll Be Doing:

  • As an individual contributor who is part of a regional sales team, you will have the opportunity to own your territory, manage the entire lifecycle of a sale, and build new business relationships that bring Newsela’s solutions to classrooms. You will take ownership of developing territory business plans, evaluating funding landscapes, and tailoring sales strategies to align with district initiatives.
  • In addition to achieving your own revenue targets, you will get to work with an enthusiastic, cross-functional team to catapult Newsela’s growth as we scale our national sales organization.
  • You’ll have the opportunity to meet in-person with school and district leaders, presenting solutions, negotiating terms, and securing agreements that bring Newsela into classrooms.
  • You will have a direct impact on the expansion and adoption of Newsela products, which will ultimately scale Newsela’s ability to bring engaging, culturally responsive learning content to K-12 classrooms nationwide.
  • You thrive in a role that requires significant autonomy, representing the company in the market, making recommendations that impact strategy and results, and managing priorities independently.
  • You’ll have the opportunity to exercise discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance, including evaluating customer needs, structuring tailored solutions, negotiating within established guidelines, and influencing revenue and business outcomes.

About You:

  • You bring 2+ years of hitting or exceeding your quota of selling SaaS products.
  • You have demonstrated expertise in seamlessly navigating multiple stakeholders to engineer the right solution for each customer.
  • You take a high volume / transactional approach to sales, and have proven experience building a book of business.
  • You are a self-starter who thrives in a fast-paced environment and can drive sales quickly to a close.
  • You might also have been a teacher at one point, or have a good grasp of pedagogy and can truly help connect the challenges in the classroom to the solutions Newsela is building.
  • You're adaptable to change and able to quickly learn new client bases, maintain high service standards, and meet established sales goals in a dynamic environment.
  • You’re excited by opportunities to connect face-to-face — this position involves regular travel to meet with customers and prospects, depending on business needs.

Compensation:

  • Base salary: $70,000 - $75,000
  • On-target commission (OTC): $70,000 - 75,000
  • On-target earnings (OTE): $140,000 - 150,000

All offers of employment are contingent upon the successful completion of a background check as part of our pre-employment process.

Why you’ll love working at Newsela:

  • Health & Wellness: Comprehensive medical benefits with employer contribution to premiums and to HSA accounts. Additional benefits such as pet insurance, free access to the Calm app, and more to help you stay healthy: mind, body, and soul. 
  • Work From Home: We are a fully remote company. We provide a monthly tech stipend to support your WFH needs!
  • Supporting ALL Families: Inclusive benefits to support you and your family, including parental leave, fertility support, adoption, and more! 
  • Financial Wellbeing: Invest in your future with our 401(k) plan, which includes a employer match to help you build long-term financial security.
  • Time Off: Flexible PTO plus 10 company holidays plus winter break (Dec 24th - Jan 1st).
  • Professional Development: Newsela offers an annual learning and development allowance to employees to attend external training sessions, classes, workshops, conferences, and educational materials to foster professional growth within their current role and career aspirations at Newsela.
  • Make A Difference: No matter your role or department, the work you do each day helps share the future of education and improves the lives of students and teachers.

About Newsela:

Newsela takes authentic, real world content from trusted sources and makes it instruction ready for K-12 classrooms. Each text is published at five reading levels, so content is accessible to every learner. Today, over 3.3 million teachers and 40 million students have registered with Newsela for content that's personalized to student interests, accessible to everyone, aligned to instructional standards, and attached to activities and reporting that hold teachers accountable for instruction and students accountable for their work. With over 15,000 texts on our platform and multiple new texts published every day across 20+ genres, Newsela enables educators to go deep on any subject they choose.

#LI-Remote

Final compensation will be determined based on the candidate’s individual skills, qualifications, and experience. Total compensation for this role also includes incentive stock options and benefits. 

This role will also will also be eligible for variable compensation. 

Base Compensation Range
$70,000$75,000 USD