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 .

Optical Engineering Intern

Seurat · Wilmington, MA

About Seurat

Seurat is transforming manufacturing for people and our planet by delivering a scalable additive manufacturing solution to fundamentally change how products are made. Seurat’s proprietary Area Printing process, developed at Lawrence Livermore National Labs (LLNL), allows metal components to be manufactured at price points and quality levels that compete directly with conventional manufacturing techniques, enabling the reshoring of supply chains and promoting the decarbonization of industry. Seurat has raised over $180M and is backed by leading venture partners like Capricorn, NVentures (NVIDIA), True Ventures, General Motors Ventures, Denso, Porsche SE, SIP global partners, Honda, Xerox Ventures/Myriad Venture Partners, Cubit Capital, Siemens Energy, and Maniv Mobility.

We are currently seeking a talented and team-oriented  Engineering Intern to join our team for the summer. The ideal candidate will be a hands-on person working towards a degree in Optical Engineering or Opto-Mechanical Engineering or similar. This is a great opportunity to be part of a world class design team, creating the fastest 3D metal printer in the world! 

Job Responsibilities:

  • Assist Optical engineers to align production optical systems.
  • Work with Optical engineers to conduct optical experiments.
  • Work with Optical engineers evaluating the performance of complex optical setups.
  • Design optical subsystems, alignment tools, or metrology hardware
  • Assist engineers on documentation.

Qualifications:

Required:

  • Working towards a degree in Optical Engineering, Opto-Mechanical Engineering or similar.
  • High energy self-motivated team player with strong desire to learn.
  • Good written and verbal communication skills.
  • Excellent organizational skills.
  • Experience with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Preferred:

  • Hands on “tinkerer” person having worked on optical alignments
  • Experience with optical design software especially Zemax
  • Experience with Mechanical CAD software especially SolidWorks
  • Experience with Python or Matlab for image processing
  • Some knowledge of optoelectronics or data acquisition

 

Massachusetts Salary Range

Salary Range
$27—$29 USD

Seurat Technologies is an Equal Opportunity Employer that values employees with a broad cross-cultural perspective. We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond. All applicants will receive fair and impartial treatment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, legally protected physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, status in the U.S. uniformed services, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information or on any other basis which is protected under applicable federal, state or local law.

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