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 .

Forward Deployed Engineer

Truthsystems · San Francisco

About Truth Systems

At Truth Systems, we’re building the only trust and safety software any organization will ever need. A protection layer for every individual.

We’re laying that foundation with AI Governance. Our product Charter is an agent that monitors and flags misuse of AI in line with firm policies and client rules in real time. We’re building always-on, real-time systems that keep people safe and organizations compliant without slowing down their work.

We are:

  • Small and well-funded. We’ve raised $4M from world-class investors like Gradient Ventures, Lightspeed, The Legaltech Fund, Y Combinator, and Pear VC. We are currently a team of 4. We are hiring thoughtfully, with ~3 people in the next 6 months.

  • Intensely trustful + high ownership. We optimize for impact per person by requiring high ownership from each team member. We hire experts, ambitious problem-solvers, and generally unstoppable people, and we place a lot of trust in them. We prefer short (or no) meetings, full autonomy, and individualized schedules.

Your Mission

Over the next 12-18 months, you will embed with customers to help firms navigate and uncover risk surfaces within their organizations.

This role blends engineering and customer empathy. You’ll work directly with clients to understand workflows, translate them into software, and ensure successful adoption.

Outcomes

  • Customer integrations from 0 → 1. Lead deployments of our agents and backend systems in live customer environments. Deliver reliable, secure, and fast integrations.

  • Feedback-driven development. Translate client insights into product improvements and new features. Influence our roadmap through real-world usage.

  • Customer Partnership: Collaborate deeply with clients to identify their pain points, propose solutions, and deliver measurable value.

  • Travel for Deployment and Collaboration: Travel to meet customers across the U.S. (e.g., NYC, Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle, Ohio, and more) for implementations, feedback sessions, and training.

Competencies

  • Technical and hands-on: You’ve spent 1+ years building real products in production — shipping code, wrestling with weird APIs, and making things work in messy, real-world stacks.

  • Full-stack curious: You’re fluent in TypeScript/JavaScript (React or Next.js for lightweight UIs) and comfortable with at least one backend language like Python for integrations and automations.

  • Deeply empathetic (must be): Both our team and our customers require empathetic and low-ego people. Some of our users’ careers depend on our product being ‘right’, so trusting and listening to them is our most important skill.

  • Independent and process building (must be): We don’t have a lot of structure. You’ll build many processes and set standards yourself, and everyone we hire after you will follow them.

  • Adventurous: You’re comfortable with the unknown, love building new experiences, and don’t mind travel when it helps you get closer to the problem. Our team’s roots span 4+ continents — we like working (and learning) with people from everywhere.

Why Join Truth Systems

  • Autonomy: You’ll have full ownership of what you build. We trust you to make the right calls, set your own pace, and push projects from idea to production without red tape.

  • Output-focused, not input-focused: We care about impact, not hours. Now that is not to say there will not be days when hours don’t get long, but you’ll be judged by what you deliver and how it moves the needle — not how long you sit in front of a screen.

  • Cutting-edge meets meaningful: You’ll be working at the edge of AI — designing systems that redefine how humans interact with intelligence. At Truth Systems, we care deeply about helping knowledge workers trust AI and move them toward safer, more responsible, and transparent use.

Logistics

  • Salary: $170K–$250K

  • Equity: 0.3–1%

  • Location: In-person in San Francisco, with regular travel to customer sites across the U.S.

  • Perks: Meals, housing/relocation, equipment, and benefits included

  • Work Authorization: We cannot sponsor visas at this time

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