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 .

Lifestyle Partnerships Manager

Substack · Los Angeles

Substack is building a new economic engine for culture, giving the brightest, most interesting and creative people on the internet the power of their own publishing platform. It empowers creators with financial autonomy, ownership and a direct connection to their communities. Substack’s model, based on direct subscriptions, has fueled an explosion of independent publishing and is revolutionizing culture.

As the Lifestyle Partnerships Manager, you will be responsible for developing, executing and managing strategic programs and initiatives to activate creators across the fashion and beauty industries, reach new audiences, and bring new subscribers into the Substack network. In this role, you’ll be a member of the Partnerships team, working on strategy, goals, events and partner management for your market.

The ideal candidate will be an innovative, creative thinker, with a deep interest in supporting creators, shaping culture and deeply connected within the fashion and beauty industries. They’ll be a self-starter who is ok with shifting priorities and eager to make an impact in a fast-paced, startup environment – able to execute ambitious strategy and goals. They will be comfortable interfacing with creators, industry leaders and talent management. They will possess experience managing programs that can scale across markets and regions.

This role reports to the Head of Lifestyle Partnerships and is based in Los Angeles New York City.

Responsibilities:

  • Creator acquisition across multiple lifestyle creator segments (fashion, beauty, food, health).

  • Relationship development with gatekeepers (agents, managers, editors, writers).

  • Display market leadership in the lifestyle creator economy.

  • Execute strategic programs for the market in service of activating creators and bringing new users to Substack.

  • Working cross-functionally with the communications, product, business operations, data and leadership teams to bring programs to the market on behalf of the Substack brand.

Requirements:

  • Excellent written, verbal, and diplomatic skills, with a sharp attention to detail.

  • Fluent with emerging trends, and comfortable advising on strategies for partners in support of launches and key initiatives.

  • Comfortable working with data, and using it to develop stronger strategies.

  • A voracious reader and subscriber to Substacks, with a keen sense of the evolving tech and media landscape.

  • The ability to work quickly and effectively while managing several projects under deadline.

  • 5-6 years of experience in fashion, beauty, food, publishing or tech industry.

Substack’s compensation package includes a market competitive salary, equity for all full time roles, and exceptional benefits. The salary range for this role is $130,000 to $150,000. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate experience and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above.

Substack is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or transgender status), age, national origin, veteran or disability status. We’re seeking people passionate about enabling independent expression and building a better business model for creators. If you want to see what media, communities, and content can become when unmoored from advertising models, and you have the skills and experience to contribute, we’d love to meet you.

Please see our Privacy Notice for details regarding Substack's collection and use of personal information relating to the application and recruitment process by clicking here.