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 of Solutions Engineering

Paddle · Boston

What do we do?

Paddle offers SaaS companies a completely different approach to their payments infrastructure. Instead of assembling and maintaining a complex stack of payments-related apps and services, we’re a Merchant of Record for our customers. That means we take away 100% of the pain of payments fragmentation. It’s faster, safer, cheaper, and, above all, way better.

We’re backed by investors including KKR, FTV Capital, Kindred, Notion, and 83North and serve over 3000 software sellers in 245 territories globally.

The Role:

We are looking for an experienced people leader to manage our Solutions team. This is a leadership role where your primary focus will be coaching and developing Solutions Engineers, building a positive partnership with the sales organization, and driving results for your region.

As a people leader first, you'll create an environment where your team can thrive - fostering psychological safety and setting clear expectations. You'll work closely with Sales leadership, Product, Engineering, and Solutions leadership to ensure your team has the support and direction they need to deliver incredible experiences for digital product companies.

What you'll do

  • Build a high-performing team that delivers exceptional results and drives regional revenue, creating an environment where people love the work and impact they're making

  • Be a role model who improves everything around you - from team processes to customer experiences to cross-functional collaboration

  • Own successful go-lives and revenue realization, ensuring your team delivers high-quality implementations that meet commitments and drive measurable value

  • Translate company objectives into clear priorities and measurable goals, ensuring your team understands how their work connects to Paddle's mission and success

  • Foster a culture where people feel safe to innovate, take ownership, and continuously raise the bar

  • Champion collaboration across teams and geographies, balancing regional needs with company-wide priorities to maximize impact

We'd love to hear from you if you:

  • Demonstrated leadership experience - whether through managing a team, leading a Solutions function, or mentoring others in customer-facing technical roles

  • Experience across the full customer lifecycle from pre-sales through go-live, with a track record of driving revenue realization

  • Deep understanding of both solutions engineering craft and what it takes to be a great people leader

  • Talent for simplifying complexity - breaking down ambiguous challenges into clear action and helping others do the same

  • Passion for coaching and developing people, with a track record of helping team members grow through honest, direct feedback

  • Data-driven approach to making decisions, setting measurable goals, and tracking team performance

  • Strong cross-functional partnerships and networks of trust across teams and geographies

Everyone is welcome at Paddle

At Paddle, we’re committed to removing invisible barriers, both for our customers and within our own teams. We recognise and celebrate that every Paddler is unique and we welcome every individual perspective. As an inclusive employer we don’t care if, or where, you studied, what you look like or where you’re from. We’re more interested in your craft, curiosity, passion for learning and what you’ll add to our culture. We encourage you to apply even if you don’t match every part of the job ad, especially if you’re part of an underrepresented group.

Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to better support you through the application process and in the workplace. We will do everything we can to support any accommodations needed. We’re committed to building a diverse team where everyone feels safe to be their authentic self. Let’s grow together.


Why you’ll love working at Paddle

We are a diverse, growing group of Paddlers across the globe who pride ourselves on our transparent, collaborative and respectful culture.

We live and breathe our values, which are:

Paddle Together

Paddle Simply

Paddle for Others

We offer a full suite of benefits, including attractive salaries, stock options, retirement plans, private healthcare and wellbeing initiatives.

We are a ‘digital-first’ company, which means you can work remotely, from one of our stylish hubs, or even a bit of both! We offer all team members unlimited holidays and 4 months paid family leave regardless of gender. We invest in learning and will help you with your personal development via constant exposure to new challenges, an annual learning fund, and regular internal and external training.