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 .

Business Development Representative

Stackline · Seattle

Stackline is the first full-funnel connected commerce platform for the world's most innovative brands. Business leaders, product innovators, performance marketers, and analysts trust Stackline as the single source of commerce truth. Fueled by our proprietary neural network, our market insights, revenue metrics, behavior analyses, and autonomous functionality create the actions that determine success or failure.
 
Founded in 2014 in Seattle, we have offices in Minneapolis, New York, Salt Lake City, and London. Since November 2020, Stackline has raised $180 million in strategic investments from Goldman Sachs Growth Equity and TA Associates.
 
Stackline is on a mission to fuel the future of commerce by bringing brands and customers closer together.

 

Are you ready to be at the forefront of driving business growth? As a Business Development Representative at Stackline, you will play a pivotal role in expanding our client base through prospecting, lead generation, and qualifying new opportunities. With your passion, tenacity, and data-driven mindset, you will develop compelling presentations that captivate potential clients and showcasing the undeniable value of our cutting-edge solutions. 

This is a hybrid role (4 days/week in office) at our Seattle or New York offices.

 

What You Will Do: 

  • Grow and manage a pipeline through prospecting, qualifying, and generating new prospective outbound lead opportunities.
  • Develop compelling presentations utilizing Stackline data to help prospective clients understand the value-add of Stackline solutions leading to booked appointments with Account Executives.
  • Collaborate with Account Executives and Sales Directors to prioritize strategic account lists within a defined segment.
  • Sit in on prospective client calls to capture prospective client needs.
  • Maintain a self-starter attitude while achieving and reporting on weekly, monthly, and quarterly key performance indicators (KPIs).
  • Assist clients in understanding Stackline solutions and capabilities, configuration, environment, and how they fit into current infrastructure and business processes.

 

Who We Are Looking For:

  • 1+ years of relevant sales or pipeline generation experience with proven track record for hitting goals.
  • 1+ years of experience with CRM software.
  • Ability to demonstrate value propositions in complex environments to a wide variety of individuals including technical and/or executive audiences.
  • Must have the ability and skills to develop relationships quickly, both internally amongst cross-functional teams and externally with prospective clients.
  • Demonstrate excellent written and oral communication.
  • Ability to stay organized while prioritizing and managing daily tasks.
  • Ability to efficiently work with and analyze data into meaningful insights.
  • Demonstrate understanding of sales performance metrics.
  • Demonstrate ability to manage "book of business" in an organized manner.
  • Ability to work in a fast-paced environment while maintaining focus on primary goals.
  • Ability to think big, solve problems, and are detail oriented.

 

Bonus Points If You Have: 

  • 2+ years of relevant sales or account management experience with proven track record for hitting goals.
  • 1+ years of ecommerce retail experience as a vendor or manufacturer to e-retailer (preferably Amazon).
  • Experience with presentation design maintaining brand identity.
  • Experience working cross-functionally with support teams.

 

Benefits and Perks 

It's important that each and every employee feels they are supported and can complete their life's best work today and in the future. As part of that, we are committed to doing our part in addressing pay gaps and discrepancies by providing pay transparency for all of our roles. Actual salaries are just one component of the compensation package and may vary above or below the range based on job-related knowledge, skills, experience, location, and performance. This is an hourly role based in Seattle and has a pay range of $33.65/hr - $38.46/hr (annualized at $70,000 - $80,000). Other rewards may include annual bonuses, short- and long-term incentives, and other team-specific awards. In addition we provide a robust benefits and perks package that includes:

  • Comprehensive benefit plans covering medical, dental, and vision
  • Fertility benefits
  • Company 401k plan plus matching
  • Company paid Life Insurance
  • 20 days annually of Paid Time Off
  • 9 Paid company holidays
  • 100% Paid Parental Leave - 20 weeks for birthing mothers and 12 weeks for all other parents
  • Summer Fridays early close at 2 pm
  • Fully stocked kitchen snacks with weekly fresh fruit

 

Stackline is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.