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 .

Lead Engineer, Identity Management

Sony Pictures Entertainment

The Lead Engineer, Identity Management is responsible for the design, engineering, and operational excellence of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s (SPE) enterprise Identity and Access Management (IAM) ecosystem, with a primary focus on Okta Identity Governance, Identity Lifecycle Management, Security Operations, and Identity Compliance initiatives.

This role leads the end-to-end engineering, configuration, and maintenance of SPE’s Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) platform, ensuring secure, compliant, and efficient management of digital identities across all user populations. The position requires deep expertise in Okta and its governance, access, and lifecycle capabilities, as well as the ability to define and enforce identity standards and policies that align with enterprise security and compliance objectives.

This role will be responsible for providing ongoing support, request fulfillment of the SPE’s IAM platform services, and provide escalation and support to internal application teams and IAM team members. This role also focuses on analyzing emerging authentication technologies to design and implement secure, intuitive, scalable, and reliable Access Management solutions that support SPE’s both internal and external users.

This role must have experience with Okta Identity Management platform.

Core Responsibilities

  • Lead the design, implementation, and operations of the Okta IGA platform, including lifecycle management (Joiner–Mover–Leaver processes), access governance, and compliance controls.

  • Partner with business and security stakeholders to develop and enforce identity governance policies, ensuring adherence to corporate, regulatory, and audit requirements.

  • Oversee access certification campaigns, entitlement reviews, and identity attestation processes to maintain least-privilege access and compliance posture.

  • Develop detailed architecture, standards, design, and implementation documentation.

  • Manage directory services, including user provisioning, synchronization, and role-based access control (RBAC) models.

  • Participate in or lead troubleshooting and incident resolution of complex high severity incidents.

  • Plan and manage project tasks, schedules, and resources related to Identity Access Management services.

  • Provide a technical expertise to various application teams in Identity Access Management and governance, to include Single Sign On, MFA, Identity Federation, Lifecycle Management, Enterprise Directory architecture and design, and resource provisioning.

  • Work with internal and external application support teams to extend the use of SPE’s enterprise Identity Access Management solutions via Okta platform.

  • Identify and evaluate complex business and technology risks, internal controls which mitigate risks, and related opportunities for internal control improvement.

  • Understand complex business and information technology management processes.

  • Responsible to install, integrate and deploy any Identity Management solutions.

  • Communicate to internal users and external partners aspects of both the IAM product and the implementation at the technical and functional level appropriate for the situation

  • Work with the Identity Access Management team to continue making enhancement to the SPE’s on-going Identity Access Management program.

  • Support efforts regarding audit findings, adherence to compliance and organizational change.

  • Responsible for working to resolve Okta system issues escalated within the service level agreement.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent applied experience

  • 8+ years of experience as an Identity Engineer/Architect or similar role

  • 8+ Years of direct experience with large scale enterprise level Identity Access Management (IAM) build and engineering.

  • 6+ years of experience with implementing IAM solutions.

  • 5+ years in software development (experience developing web applications), preferably in an agile SaaS environment.

  • Proven experience designing and managing Okta Identity Governance and Administration or equivalent enterprise IGA platforms.

  • Strong understanding of identity lifecycle automation, access governance, and compliance frameworks such as SOX.

  • Hands-on expertise with Okta Workflows for automating identity processes and integrations.

  • Experience integrating Workday (or other HR systems) as a source of truth for identity lifecycle management.

  • Experience in security and implementation of best practices such as least privilege, Privileged Access Management, passwordless authentication, etc.

  • Expertise in SSO, MFA, Federation, and directory integration (Active Directory, LDAP, and SCIM-based provisioning).

  • Hands-on experience with scripting and automation (e.g., PowerShell, Python, or REST APIs) for identity orchestration.

  • Knowledge of emerging authentication technologies and protocols.

  • Okta certified professional a plus.

  • Critical thinking, strategic planning, and process management skills.

  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

  • Excellent presentation and group dynamics skills.

  • Proven excellence in client/partner relationship management with other Sr. leaders in IT.

  • Proactive at finding solutions to complex problems.