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 .

We Are Toyota

Toyota UK · United States

We are Toyota

Outside of the Toyota head office with a garden
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Toyota’s success stems from vision and dedication to a set of common principles which were previously known as the ‘Toyota Way’. 

The Toyota Way has been integral to our business since 2001. In 2020, we reimagined our 10 values, developing a new set of behaviours that we call ‘Our 6C’s’. These underpin the Toyota philosophy for local translation at Toyota GB.

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Our recruitment process has been designed to assess how candidates align with our 6Cs.
 

CONSCIOUS INCLUSION (CHOICE) - At the very core/heart of the 6Cs is the drive to create happiness for all –customers and our people. We call this inclusivity and when we get it right people make a conscious choice to work with us or do business with us because they feel heard, valued and belonging to something amazing

COURAGE - Our courage will allow us to welcome competition and stand up for our beliefs with honesty and integrity

CURIOSITY - Our natural curiosity and thorough observation through feelings will foster imagination and be the basis for strong partnerships

CREATIVITY - Through creativity we will get better and continue our quest for improvement, so that we can shatter the impossible with new possibilities and truly innovate

COLLABORATION - In the world of One Toyota we aim to act for others, see things from each others perspectives by truly collaborating with people from diverse backgrounds, showing respect to people

COACHING - By coaching each other and feeling empowered to contribute, we will create room to grow and by thanking everyone along the way, we will champion everyone’s efforts

OneToyota Potential Model
Our recruitment process also assesses a candidate’s potential, looking at the future capability to meet the rapidly changing expectations of our customers.
OneToyota Potential Model