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 .

Learning Content Editor

Oboe · New York City

About Oboe

Oboe's goal is simple: teach one billion people one trillion things. We'll do that by building the world's first completely generalized AI-powered learning platform. Today, so much of our focus is spent on making machines smarter. At Oboe, we believe it’s time for machines to make humans smarter.

We’re a small but mighty team made up of builders who love learning, being challenged, and changing the world. If that kind of job appeals to you, we should talk.

The Role

We’re looking for an Learning Content Editor who will help define how Oboe teaches, across every subject, every format, and every vertical.

This is a hands-on role with a heavy emphasis on pattern recognition. You’ll review Oboe content, spot what’s working (and what’s not), and translate those insights into the rules and structures that help our AI produce clearer, more consistent, more engaging content at scale.

You won’t be manually polishing every piece. You’ll be shaping the underlying systems that generate millions of pieces.

You should be the kind of person who gets genuinely energized by diving into unfamiliar subjects. If we need to improve our geology content tomorrow, you should jump in, figure out what great geology content looks like (how to make it rock 🤘🪨 ), and bring that same curiosity the next day to accounting, French cinema, or quantum computing.

If you love clarity, frameworks, iteration, and learning, you’ll thrive here.

What You’ll Do

  • Help define the rules and structures that guide how Oboe’s AI produces content across formats (articles, podcasts, video scripts, quizzes, and more).

  • Review AI-generated outputs to identify patterns, strengths, and weaknesses — then translate those insights into updated guidelines and prompt improvements.

  • Refine Oboe’s editorial standards, tone rules, and teaching frameworks for consistency across all verticals.

  • Develop evaluation methods and scalable quality systems (checklists, examples, best practices) that help us assess content quickly and accurately.

  • Compare multiple AI-generated iterations and distill the patterns that consistently lead to strong content.

  • Work closely with the team to give structured and actionable feedback.

  • Surface insights about which formats work best for specific concepts or learning moments.

  • Jump into new subjects and formats with energy and flexibility as the product evolves.

You’ll Thrive in This Role If You Have… (Must Haves)

  • 3-5 years of experience in editorial work, content development, writing, or learning content.

  • Experience working across multiple content types (e.g., articles, books, podcasts, videos).

  • A love of challenges.

  • The ability to think naturally in patterns and frameworks (i.e. you enjoy turning qualitative findings into structured rules).

  • Experience experimenting with a variety of AI tools, an understanding of their strengths and limitations, and excitement about a future where AI can scale high-quality learning to millions.

  • Comfort in a fast-moving startup with evolving processes and plenty of ambiguity.

  • Organizational skills and the ability to manage a large volume of content consistently.

Nice to Haves

  • Experience with instructional design, curriculum development, or teaching.

  • Experience creating multimedia content (podcasts, video scripts, short educational content).

  • Familiarity with building or using editorial style guides and QA systems.

  • Interest in how different formats teach differently (audio, text, visual, interactive).

Oboe is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, genetic information, marital or partnership status, caregiver status, sexual and reproductive health decisions, height, weight, veteran or military status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.