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 .

Software Development Engineer

Zillow · United States

About the team

Zillow Group is on a mission to revolutionize the real estate process and make it easier for buyers, sellers, and renters. Our goal is to provide a seamless experience from start to finish, helping you find, finance, and move into your dream home. We are taking an "Integrated Mortgage" approach, ensuring that every step of the journey is connected and hassle-free.


The Zillow Home Loans (ZHL) engineering team as a whole plays a crucial role in achieving our ambitious goals and delivering an exceptional customer experience. We are connectors, leaders, and dedicated collaborators, working together to streamline the real estate transaction process and create a delightful and trustworthy journey for our customers. We work on every part of the stack, and collaborate with stakeholders across Zillow to make mortgages a transparent and seamless piece of the housing super app.


The ZHL GNOME team is responsible for building and maintaining core databases, APIs, and infrastructure that power the ZHL Task Platform. This platform is the underlying technology that enables task-based workflows at every step of the mortgage lifecycle, simplifying and accelerating the development of operator and borrower experiences. Central to our platform is the OODA loop - Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. As data changes on the loan, we run client-maintained rules that can create the next action to be done.

About the role

As a Software Development Engineer, you’ll lead the delivery and ongoing support of projects from end-to-end. In addition, you will:

  • Contribute to the design of new features.

  • Review the code of your peers.

  • Advocate for standard methodologies.

  • Facilitate engineering discussions.

  • Mentor junior engineers.

  • Participate in an inclusive, energetic and highly multi-functional team.

This role has been categorized as a teleworker position. Teleworkers do not have a permanent corporate office workplace and instead work from a physical location of their choice, which must be identified to the Company. Employees may live anywhere in the USA, with availability to travel within the country, as we recommend attendance at occasional office events.

In addition to a competitive base salary and benefits, this position is also eligible for bonuses depending on factors such as experience, performance and location.

This role has been categorized as a Remote position. “Remote” employees do not have a permanent corporate office workplace and, instead, work from a physical location of their choice, which must be identified to the Company. U.S. employees may live in any of the 50 United States, with limited exceptions.In California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington state, and Washington DC the standard base pay range for this role is $136,300.00 - $217,700.00 annually. This base pay range is specific to these locations and may not be applicable to other locations.In Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont the standard base pay range for this role is $129,500.00 - $206,900.00 annually. The base pay range is specific to these locations and may not be applicable to other locations.In addition to a competitive base salary this position is also eligible for equity awards based on factors such as experience, performance and location. Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance and location. Employees in this role will not be paid below the salary threshold for exempt employees in the state where they reside.

Who you are

Wondering if we're the right team for you? You'll excel in this team if you thrive on autonomy, seek out persistent problems, implement effective solutions quickly, and you are:

  • Bringing 3+ years of software development experience with ES6, React, Typescript, and GraphQL to power our web and mobile web applications and Python, NodeJS, and Go for APIs and services.

  • Experienced in a range of persistence strategies including relational and non-relational databases.

  • Highly skilled with multiple modern development technologies used to design, deliver, debug, and maintain front-end user interfaces and back-end software systems.

  • Recognized as a technical leader on your team for several years and have an impact beyond your team.

  • Passionate about setting standard methodologies and raising the bar for systems design, testing, code quality, and maintainability - not only for the team but for the entire engineering organization!

Preferred Qualifications

  • 3+ years of experience with Typescript, Go, or other strongly typed languages

  • Experience scaling relational databases, such as Aurora Postgres

  • Experience building internal platforms at scale

  • Experience in API design (GraphQL or REST)

  • Experience building distributed systems and microservices

  • Experience in Mortgage or Regulated Fintech

Get to know us

At Zillow, we’re reimagining how people move—through the real estate market and through their careers. As the most-visited real estate platform in the U.S., we help customers navigate buying, selling, financing and renting with greater ease and confidence. Whether you're working in tech, sales, operations, or design, you’ll be part of a company that's reshaping an industry and helping more people make home a reality.

Zillow is honored to be recognized among the best workplaces in the country. Zillow was named one of FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® in 2025, and included on the PEOPLE Companies That Care® 2025list, reflecting our commitment to creating an innovative, inclusive, and engaging culture where employees are empowered to grow.

No matter where you sit in the organization, your work will help drive innovation, support our customers, and move the industry—and your career—forward, together.

Zillow Group is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment with the best employees. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please contact your recruiter directly.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable state and local law.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Originally posted on Himalayas