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 .

Postgraduate research

Sheffield University · United States

Postgraduate research courses

On

Getting started

There are different types of further study. These include:

  • Masters degrees, which exist in the full range of academic subjects
  • Vocational or professional diplomas/masters degrees, for example in teaching, law and nursing
  • Research degrees such as PhDs

If you really enjoy studying your subject, postgraduate study or research will allow you to deepen your knowledge and specialise in certain aspects of it. Meanwhile, gaining a postgraduate qualification may help you get into the career you have in mind, although this is not automatically the case.

For example, in some careers having a masters or PhD may be required or desirable, while some employers may relax their entry requirements for masters students. However, in many cases, a postgraduate qualification does not automatically give you an advantage over an undergraduate degree in the job market, or necessarily lead to a higher starting salary.

Before applying for further study, make sure to research the possible routes into the careers that interest you, so that you understand how postgraduate study might fit in with your career plans as well as how you can fund your studies.

Higher degrees by research

The degree of Doctor of Philosophy, usually shortened to PhD (or DPhil at some universities) is awarded primarily on the basis of a thesis, which is the product of an original research project.

To help find and apply for a PhD:

  • Search databases which list PhD opportunities
  • Contact your prospective supervisor(s) before applying to find out as much as you can about their project outline or, if you are submitting a research proposal, their specific areas of expertise. This discussion will also allow you to explore practical issues with them, such as whether they can offer you the time and support you will require a research student

Careers after a PhD

A PhD is often viewed as an apprenticeship for aspiring academics, but can also be a basis for employment in research, either in industry, government or the voluntary sector.

If you choose to do a PhD as the basis for an academic career, be realistic - each year, roughly half of those who obtain a PhD in the UK move into a research or teaching post in a higher education institution, but this is often on a fixed-term basis of one to three years.

Some estimates suggest that only about ten percent will eventually obtain a permanent academic position, although the actual number varies across different disciplines.

Key tasks

Find courses via databases such as:

Contact the institutions you are interested in to find out more about the course:

You may also want to ask about the careers that graduates from the course go on to do. If you are a disabled or dyslexic student, it’s a good idea to discuss your needs with the university you plan to apply to prior to making an application.

Find a PhD

Search for PhD opportunities at Sheffield and be part of our world-leading research.

Find a project or supervisor
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