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 .

Software Engineer II - Backend focused

Tripadvisor · Lisbon

The Tripadvisor Group connects people to experiences worth sharing, and aims to be the world’s most trusted source for travel and experiences. We leverage our brands, technology, and capabilities to connect our global audience with partners through rich content, travel guidance, and two-sided marketplaces for experiences, accommodations, restaurants, and other travel categories. The subsidiaries of Tripadvisor, Inc. (Nasdaq: TRIP), include a portfolio of travel brands and businesses, including Tripadvisor, Viator, and TheFork.

The Tripadvisor Experiences Engineering team is distributed across Europe and is responsible for Tripadvisor.com, the Tripadvisor mobile apps and all their supporting infrastructure. We run the systems that help operators build their businesses and those which enable third parties to utilise our inventory. We provide the tools which help our customer services team provide world class service to travellers and operators internationally.

We’re looking for a Software Engineer II to join our fast-growing team. This role is open to candidates based within a commutable distance (generally up to 2 hours) of one of our office hubs in Lisbon, Saldanha. We embrace flexibility in where and how work gets done and also value meaningful in-person moments to connect and collaborate. You can expect a remote-first working model with periodic in-person gatherings at your closest office for team connection, planning, or other key moments.

At Tripadvisor our Engineers are versatile and enjoy working on a variety of technical challenges. This is a backend focused full-stack position in which you will be working mostly on the backend with some front end projects from time to time. While you need to be hungry to learn, you don't need to be an expert at front end development right away - we can teach that part on the job and you won't be tested on it in interviews.

Within Tripadvisor we have a fun and friendly environment where the key objective is getting things done. Working closely alongside product managers and designers, our engineers are part of the full process from software design, to code, to test, to deployment and back again. Most of our engineers release code to production every few days and we have a daily release cycle.

Tripadvisor's web stack includes Java, React, TypeScript, GraphQL,Kubernetes, SQL and NoSQL databases, and runs on AWS. You don’t need to have experience with everything listed but you do need to be hungry to learn. You will need to have experience of a statically typed, object-oriented language such as Java, C# or C++

Perks of Working at Tripadvisor

  • Competitive compensation packages, including base salary, annual bonus, and more.
  • “Work your way” with flexibility to suit your lifestyle. We take a remote-friendly approach to collaboration, with the option to join on-site as often as you’d like in select locations. 
  • Flexible schedule. Work-life balance is ingrained in our culture by design. Trust and accountability make it work.
  • Donation matching. Give back? Give more! We match qualifying charitable donations annually.
  • Tuition assistance. Want to level up your career? We love to hear it! Receive annual support for qualified programs.
  • Lifestyle benefit. An annual benefit to spend on yourself. Use it on travel, wellness, or whatever suits you.
  • Travel perks. We believe that travel is employee development, so we provide discounts and more.
  • Employee assistance program. We’re here for you with resources and programs to help you through life’s challenges.
  • Health benefits. We offer great coverage and competitive premiums.

Our Values

We aspire to lead; We’re relentlessly curious;... want to know more? Read up on our values: 

  • We aspire to lead. Tap into your talent, ambition, and knowledge to bring us – and you – to new heights.
  • We’re relentlessly curious. We push beyond the usual, the known, the “that’s just how it’s done.”
  • We’re better together. We learn from, accept, respect, support, and value one another– and are creating something remarkable in the process.
  • We serve our customers, always. We listen, question, respond, and strive for wow moments.  

We strive for better, not perfect. We won’t get it right the first time – or every time. We’ll provide a safe environment in which to make mistakes, iterate, improve, and grow.

Our workplace is for everyone, as is our people powered platform. At Tripadvisor, we want you to bring your unique identities, abilities, and experiences, so we can collectively revolutionize travel and together find the good out there.

Application process

  • 30 minute call with a recruiter to learn more about the role
  • 1 hour technical coding interview with someone from the Tripadvisor Engineering team
  • Three one-hour interviews with members of the team, covering technical topics - including some coding - and what you would bring to Tripadvisor.

We strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all candidates. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please make sure to reach out to your individual recruiter or our team at [email protected].

 

#LI-Tripadvisor