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 .

Sales Development Representative

Two Dots · San Francisco HQ

Join Two Dots to build a stronger financial system.

Every time someone applies for a mortgage, car loan, or apartment lease, they submit financial documents that humans use to build a financial profile about them. The quality of these financial profiles is a key input that regulates the body temperature of the economy.

Two Dots is building a better system to evaluate consumers consistently and fairly. We prevent fraud that humans can’t see, and we surface value in atypical applications that would otherwise be discarded.

Please note that we require all full-time employees to work from our office in San Francisco, CA.

Role overview: 

Reporting directly to our Co-Founder and CEO, Two Dots is looking for ambitious and highly motivated professionals with a strong work ethic, great personality and natural sales instincts to join our team as a Sales Development Representative. The ideal candidate will be eager to advance in our organization by demonstrating their ability to be tenacious self-starters every day. As an SDR, you will be a key part of our organization, driving Two Dots awareness and supporting our Sales team by generating pipeline and influencing closed won opportunities. 

Key Responsibilities:

  • Conduct outbound activities such as cold calling to prospect, educate, and develop target accounts

  • Drive conversion of leads into meetings booked, and follow up on inbound leads via email, LinkedIn, and phone calls

  • Partner with Account Executives to build and iterate on strategies 

Desirable Traits: 

  • If you’re a new grad, you’re someone who is hungry and eager to get a jumpstart on their career in a high growth, fast paced startup environment

  • If you have 1-2 years of experience, you’re someone who has tenure as a BDR/SDR and wants to take their career to the next level by joining a high growth company

  • Comfortable with rejection; you’re going to hear a lot of “No’s”

  • Personable and an expert communicator; you’re willing to go the extra mile to understand the needs of your customers and sell the Two Dots platform

  • Eager for personal and professional growth and ready to scale your career with Two Dots!

What you get in return:

  • An opportunity to revolutionize the real estate leasing industry and own projects that make a tangible impact

  • An environment with a work culture that is based on trust, ownership, flexibility and a growth mindset

  • A competitive salary, comprehensive equity package, and substantial benefits

  • Ability to grow into an account executive at a rapidly scaling AI company over time with good performance and hard work

Closing:

Two Dots is an equal opportunity employer. We aim to build a workforce of individuals from different backgrounds, with different abilities, identities, and mindsets. Even if you do not meet all of the qualifications listed above, we encourage you to apply!

Compensation is variable and is subject to a candidate’s personal qualifications and expectations. For this role, if you are a high performer you can expect to make $100k+ between base + commission, in addition to an equity package and full benefits. 

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