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 .

General Application

Verisinsights · Remote Friendly

Welcome to Veris Insights' General Application! While this is not an open position, we're excited to connect with talented individuals who share our passion and vision. If you're enthusiastic about potentially contributing to our mission, we'd love to hear from you. Please submit your information so we can keep you updated about future opportunities that align with your experience and skill set. We look forward to potentially welcoming you to our team in the future!

The Team You’ll Join: Veris Insights is a market research consultancy firm dedicated to helping University Recruiting and Talent Acquisition leaders attract, engage, and retain top talent. Our membership, right now, consists of Talent leaders from over 200 Fortune 1000 companies. Every company we serve is invested in creating exceptional talent acquisition programs. It is our aspiration to be nothing less than the single, unequivocal best partner to every one of these leaders in that pursuit.

While we might not have your dream job open right now, we encourage you to apply to stay up to date on our open roles, or you never know, you might apply for a role that we didn't even know we needed. Whether it's a role within our Growth Team, Member Experience Team, Research Team, Strategy Team, or People Ops, we all share the following characteristics, so if they speak to you too, go ahead and apply!
Welcome to Veris Insights' General Application! While this is not an open position, we're excited to connect with talented individuals who share our passion and vision. If you're enthusiastic about potentially contributing to our mission, we'd love to hear from you. Please submit your information so we can keep you updated about future opportunities that align with your experience and skill set. We look forward to potentially welcoming you to our team in the future!

The Team You’ll Join: Veris Insights is a market research consultancy firm dedicated to helping University Recruiting and Talent Acquisition leaders attract, engage, and retain top talent. Our membership, right now, consists of Talent leaders from over 200 Fortune 1000 companies. Every company we serve is invested in creating exceptional talent acquisition programs. It is our aspiration to be nothing less than the single, unequivocal best partner to every one of these leaders in that pursuit.

While we might not have your dream job open right now, we encourage you to apply to stay up to date on our open roles, or you never know, you might apply for a role that we didn't even know we needed. Whether it's a role within our Growth Team, Member Experience Team, Research Team, Strategy Team, or People Ops, we all share the following characteristics, so if they speak to you too, go ahead and apply!
Please keep in mind: Research has shown that candidates from underrepresented backgrounds only apply to jobs when they meet 100% of the requirements vs. their majority counterparts, which apply at a much higher rate if they meet 50-60% of the requirements. So, with that being said, if you are interested in the role, we would love to hear how you can leverage your talents to be an awesome culture add.

Our Values & Culture, In Brief: Talent is in our DNA. It is what we study, who we serve, and the quality we most pride ourselves on internally. In order for our team members to be at their best, we provide individualized benefits and support. At the most basic level, benefits include unlimited PTO, health insurance benefits, and career development opportunities. We believe a well-rounded and diverse team is the key to our success. To provide the widest range of experiences and perspectives in our member service and internal culture, we never discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, or marital, veteran, or disability status. Please let our recruiter know if there are any accommodations we can provide for you to ensure an equitable and comfortable recruitment process.

We highly value diversity, equity, and inclusion, and this shows up in everything we do. Our research has a significant focus on the experiences of candidates from diverse backgrounds. Internally, we have Employee Resource Groups for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ employees, and Affinity Groups to support women and neurodiversity. Furthermore, we’ve established a Diversity Council to promote a workplace environment that is safe, respectful, and inclusive for all and acts as an active partner to People Ops and Leadership in service of our broader firm-wide DEI goals.

Service: A natural bent towards service and exceeding expectations.

  • Innovation and Growth Catalyst: Do you constantly seek ways to innovate and enhance current practices?
  • Collaborative Support Advocate: Are you proactive in offering support and expertise to colleagues?
  • Vocal Advocate for Improvement: Do you value respectfully speaking up and contributing to improvements?
  • Hunger for Excellence: An inarguable track record of high-performance - in everything they do.

  • Creative Milestone Achiever: Do you achieve milestones with creativity and innovative thinking?
  • Tactical Adaptability Integrator: Can you adapt quickly to changing environments while effectively executing your tasks?
  • Intrinsic Motivation Enthusiast: Are you driven by intrinsic motivation, viewing work as a continuous challenge?
  • Passionate Creator and Builder: Do you thrive on creating and building, channeling enthusiasm into projects?
  • Incisiveness: Notably high intellect - and the ability to apply it practically.

  • Data Insight Specialist: Are you skilled at extracting critical insights from data?
  • Active Listening Advocate: Do you commit to active listening to enhance collaboration?
  • Resourceful Problem Solver: Do you prioritize meticulous attention to detail in all tasks?
  • Presence: Striking magnetism - an immediate ability to inspire trust and instill confidence.

  • Authentic Connection Builder: Do you establish authentic connections through active listening and respect?
  • Humble Learning Advocate: Do you embrace a humble and learning-focused mindset?
  • Adaptive Communicator: Can you adapt your communication style effectively to your audience?