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 .

Marketing Associate 

Via · New York City

Via is using technology to transform transportation around the world. From changing a single person’s daily commute to reducing humanity’s collective environmental footprint — we’ve got huge goals.

As a Marketing Associate on the Demand Generation team, you will operate at the intersection of marketing and sales. You will support Via’s growth by generating meaningful engagement with our top prospects and customers. You will work closely with the commercial teams to create account plans, then focus on account penetration: creating buying committee maps, doing research, and conducting targeted engagement (email, phone, LinkedIn, etc.) to articulate the value of Via’s market-leading transit solution and facilitate meetings. 

This role requires excellent reporting skills, strong writing and storytelling capabilities, and facility with tools to scale research and outreach. You will play a critical part in the pursuit of our mission to create equitable and affordable access to public transit in communities around the world.

What You’ll Do:

  • Generate engagement and foster relationships with key accounts through multi-channel outreach. 
  • Research accounts and individuals within those accounts.
  • Become an expert on Via’s product portfolio, clearly conveying the right value proposition and capabilities to the right audience at the right time. 
  • Manage your own pipeline using our CRM tools and tech stack, with an eye towards prioritizing high value opportunities and improving processes for scalability.
  • Meet and exceed monthly and quarterly goals by consistently staying on top and ahead of quotas and KPIs.

Who You Are:

  • Minimum of 0-3 years of experience.
  • Background in ABM, B2B marketing, or as a BDR/SDR.
  • Excellent written and verbal communicator.
  • Detail-oriented and thorough, with the ability to effectively juggle multiple tasks and projects in a fast-paced environment.
  • Hungry to learn; you are excited to get to know the transit industry, the Via buying audience, and our product portfolio; you receive and implement feedback well.
  • Organized and independent; you’re both an individual contributor and a team player.
  • Passionate and resilient; you’re not deterred by setbacks and enjoy the process of building relationships over time.
  • Analytical: able to track campaign-related data and use it to improve campaigns.

Compensation and Benefits

  • Final salary will be determined by the candidate’s experience, knowledge, and skills. Salary reflected does not include equity or variable pay, where applicable
  • Salary Range: $65,000-$85,000 per year
  • We are proud to offer a generous and comprehensive benefits package, including free medical plans and 401K matching.

We’re Via, and we build technology that changes the way the world moves. We’re driven by a simple mission: to create modern and efficient public transportation systems that provide far greater access to jobs, healthcare, and education. With our best in class suite of products, we make transit thrive. 

Our teams of world-class engineers, data-scientists, product managers, operations specialists, marketers, transit experts and more bring cutting-edge AI-powered software and innovative technology-enabled operations to our partners across the globe. Founded in 2012, Via builds solutions to digitize, automate, and enable data-driven decision making for entire transportation networks; fixed-route buses, microtransit, paratransit, school buses, autonomous vehicles, and more. 

If you’re excited to be at the forefront of modernizing the future of transportation, are up for solving tough problems, and willing to become/already are a transit nerd, we are the place for you. Even if your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description for this role, we encourage you to apply. You may be just the right candidate for this or other opportunities. 

Ready to join the ride?

Via is an equal opportunity employer.

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