What an ATS is and how resume parsing works
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is the software employers use to post jobs, collect applications and move candidates through hiring stages. When you apply online, the ATS stores your file and runs it through a parser that extracts plain text and tries to split it into fields: name, email, phone, job titles, employers, dates, schools, degrees and skills. Recruiters then search, filter and skim that parsed profile — often before they open your original file.
Parsing is where well-designed resumes lose information. A parser reads text in the order it is stored in the file, not the order your eye reads it. Two side-by-side columns can come out interleaved line by line. Table cells can be read across instead of down. Text inside images, icons and some text boxes is invisible. Headers and footers are skipped by some systems, which is why contact details placed there can disappear. Unusual headings (“My journey” instead of “Experience”) make it harder to know which block is which.
The second half of the process is matching. Recruiters search the ATS for the skills and titles in their job ad, and some systems rank or highlight candidates by how many of those terms appear. That's why the same resume can look strong for one posting and weak for another — and why a job-specific keyword check is useful.
How this ATS score is calculated
Everything is computed on your device with transparent rules — no AI and no hidden model. The overall score is:
Score = 40 × keyword match + 30 × format checks + 30 × section quality (each part from 0 to 1, rounded to 0–100).
- Keyword match — we pull the important terms from the job description: known hard skills and tools (SQL, Salesforce, Python, GAAP…), multi-word phrases (“project management”, “data analysis”), names written in capitals and terms the ad repeats. Common words and job-ad boilerplate (“strong”, “ability”, “years”) are ignored, and plurals and capitalization are folded together. Hard skills weigh 3×, phrases 2×, soft skills and other terms 1×, and anything the ad mentions twice or more counts 1.5× more. Your match is the weighted share found in your resume, matched as whole words — “Java” is not found inside “JavaScript”.
- Format checks — 12 checks scored pass = 1, warning = ½, fail = 0 and averaged: file type, selectable text, tables, images, columns, headers/footers, fonts and symbols, contact info, section headings, date format, length and file name. Checks that can't run on pasted text are skipped.
- Section quality — Summary, Experience, Skills and Education each scored 0–10 and averaged. Experience looks at the share of bullets with a number, the share starting with an action verb, first-person pronouns and repeated opening verbs; Skills at how many skills you list and how many of the ad's hard skills appear there; Summary at length, pronouns and keywords; Education at degree, school and year.
With no job description, the keyword part is left out and the score is (30 × format + 30 × sections) ÷ 60. Adding a missing keyword can only raise the keyword part — we test that it never lowers your score.
ATS formatting: do and don't
- Do submit a text-based PDF or a DOCX, exported from Word or Google Docs. Don't upload a scan, a phone photo or a PDF made from an image.
- Do use one column read top to bottom. Don't put skills or contact details in a sidebar, table or text box.
- Do use plain headings: Summary, Experience, Skills, Education, Certifications. Don't rename them creatively.
- Do put your name, email, phone and LinkedIn URL as text at the top of the body. Don't rely on header/footer areas or on phone and envelope icons.
- Do use a standard font (Arial, Calibri, Garamond, Georgia, Helvetica, Times New Roman) and simple round bullets. Don't use icon fonts, skill bars, charts or a photo.
- Do give every role a title, employer and dates in one consistent style, such as “Jan 2021 – Present”.
- Do name the file “First-Last-Resume.pdf”. Recruiters see it in their downloads.
Keyword tips that actually help
- Mirror the job ad's exact phrases. If the posting says “project management” and “Salesforce”, write those words — not just “ran projects” or “CRM”. Spell out an acronym once with its long form, e.g. “search engine optimization (SEO)”.
- Keep a real Skills section. A plain, comma-separated list of tools and methods is the easiest thing for a parser to read and for a recruiter to search.
- Put keywords in context. The strongest place for a skill is a bullet that shows a result: “Built 14 Tableau dashboards that cut weekly reporting time by 60%”. Numbers make bullets more convincing to the human who reads them next.
- Tailor for each application. Paste each new job description here; the missing list changes with every posting.
- Stay honest. Don't list skills you don't have, and never paste the job ad in white text — recruiters do read resumes.
Got the interview? Compare the offer after tax
When an offer comes in, look at what actually lands in your account. Use the take-home pay calculator for any state, compare two offers after tax (including a move to another state), or see what a counter-offer is worth per paycheck with the raise calculator.
This is an independent tool, not affiliated with any ATS vendor. It applies general parsing and resume-writing rules; it doesn't replicate a specific system and can't guarantee an interview.