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 .

Senior Process Engineer

Vulcanelements · Research Triangle, NC

Vulcan Elements is manufacturing American rare-earth permanent magnets for a secure, resilient future. With a focus on national security and economic resiliency, we serve critical industries such as defense, aerospace, and automotive powering a high-technology future. Vulcan Elements is building a team of ambitious professionals committed to Mission Focus, Technical Excellence and Transparency.

As a Materials & Process Engineer on the Engineering team, you will develop the processes and equipment required for scaling advanced metallurgy processes.

Responsibilities

· Operate safely in a pilot manufacturing and R&D facility working hands-on with molten metals and reactive materials.

· Lead the materials and process development for an advanced metallurgy process.

· Optimize process parameters to achieve target quality and performance requirements, study process windows and develop bounding setpoints for processes

· Design and engineer the systems required for scale-up from laboratory to pilot and commercial production. Conduct materials engineering characterization work both internally and at outside laboratories as required, review data and iterate rapidly.

· Oversee development work at partner facilities as needed.

· Complete minor equipment modifications, equipment/tool design, and oversee fabrication contractors as required to achieve desired process outcomes.

· Contribute to the development of core equipment technology, including development of next generation processes and equipment for production

· Work with the engineering and leadership teams to transition technology from pilot to commercial scale

Responsibilities and tasks outlined are not exhaustive and may change as determined by the needs of the business

Qualifications

· Direct experience with metallic materials processing, high-temperature processes, specialty chemical/metallurgy processes, preferably at an industrially relevant scale.

· Preferred experience with system engineering and PLC controls.

· Direct experience optimizing both manufacturing processes and material compositions to achieve desired outcomes.

· Proficient in materials characterization techniques and tools

· Hands on with equipment and material

· Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities.

Desired qualifications are likely to have been obtained by at least a Bachelor's Degree, or likely a Master's Degree, in Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering, industrial Engineering, or related engineering/science discipline, and at least five years of industry experience

 

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