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 .

GTM

Sphinx · San Francisco

tl;dr: We’re automating onboardings in finance with AI agents that work on the browser. Demand is growing more than we can keep up, and we’re looking for a strategic generalist to work directly with our CEO, helping us scale across GTM, product, and operations. If you love building from zero to one, thrive in ambiguity, and get things done without asking for permission, we should talk.

Background

Before you can move money or open an account, someone has to make sure you’re not a criminal. That’s compliance – and it’s broken.

Sphinx builds AI analysts that work inside browsers, APIs, and internal systems just like humans — automating AML, KYC, KYB, and transaction monitoring end-to-end.

Banks and fintechs across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and LatAm use Sphinx agents to handle 90% of their manual work and cut costs by 4x.

Why Join Sphinx

  1. Massive, unsexy market: Banks spend $50B a year hiring thousands of analysts to review alerts and fill out reports by hand. The space has seen very little innovation, and customers complain about our most well-funded competitors weekly. It's not glamorous – until you realize you're building the intelligence layer that protects the entire financial system.

  2. Founder-level scope: You’ll work directly with the founders on everything that matters: sales, partnerships, product launches, operations, and growth strategy. If you’re thinking of becoming a founder yourself, this might be the fastest way to learn.

  3. Steep learning curve: You’ll learn how a hyper-technical company scales from 2 to 20 to 100 people, sitting at the intersection of AI, fintech, and enterprise operations.

  4. We have never lost a deal to a competitor: Yes you heard that right, we’ve won every RFP we’ve been in.

  5. Small team, big surface area: Our co-founders previously sold an AI company & have built ML systems that scaled to millions of users and closed deals with major banks. The rest of our team in SF includes PhDs, industry experts, and competitive coders.

  6. Zero startup bullshit: We’re not chasing hype or vanity metrics. We care about execution, quality, and customer trust – and we move fast.

What You’ll Work on

You’ll work directly with the CEO to shape strategy, improve operations, expand the product to new regions, scale the team & build the foundation for future hires across marketing, product, and customer success.

One week you might close a deal with a bank; the next, run a product launch, support a deployment, or manage a key partnership. This obviously won’t be week one, but we do expect you to be comfortable making difficult decisions by month one.

What We Look For

  • You don't wait for instructions: You identify what matters, break it down, and solve it end-to-end.

  • You have a high bar for execution: You care about precision. Whether it’s a client presentation, event plan, product launch, your work stands out.

  • You’re comfortable with ambiguity: You understand when information is limited, goals shift, priorities collide, and projects need to be delivered earlier.

  • You communicate with clarity: We move fast with minimal process. You need to articulate tradeoffs, communicate blockers, and make decisions with limited information.

  • You’re impact-obsessed: You want to see your work move the company forward – every day.

About the Interview

  • Intro call (fit & motivation)

  • Case Study

  • Short paid in-person trial

  • Offer 🎉

Compensation & Benefits

  • 🍽 Lunch, dinner and snacks at the office

  • 🏥 Comprehensive healthcare

  • 🏝️ Unlimited PTO

  • 🗺️ Annual offsite (last one in Mexico!)

  • ✈️ Paid relocation & one-month temporary housing

  • 💻 As many monitors as you can fit on a desk