ATS Resume Checker

How an applicant tracking system reads your resume

An applicant tracking system may extract text from your resume before a recruiter reviews it. Depending on the parser, it uses the PDF text layer and document structure, then tries to sort what it found into fields such as name, contact details, work history, education and skills. To do that it looks for familiar section headings, dates next to job titles and patterns like email addresses or phone numbers. Whatever ends up in the wrong field, or in no field at all, is hard for a recruiter to find when they search the database.

Layouts that look tidy to a person can complicate this step. A two-column design can be read straight across, so a line from your skills sidebar gets merged into a sentence about your last job. Tables split text into cells that some parsers read in an unexpected order or skip. Text inside images, text boxes, headers and footers may not be extracted at all, which is why contact details placed only in the page header sometimes go missing.

What your ATS score means – and what it does not

The score is shown on a scale from 0 to 100, but it is not a verified measurement of your resume. The current score request does not send the uploaded PDF or its text to the model. For guests, the country is always the United States, regardless of page language; signed-in requests use the profile country, or the United States if none is set. The request may also include a job description, target role or industry. Without resume content, the number cannot establish a match with the vacancy, correct contact extraction or a readable layout.

Treat this limitation as a reason to check the document yourself rather than chase a higher number. Copy its text into a plain text editor, check the reading order and compare your actual experience with the requirements in the job advertisement. A high score is not evidence that an employer's system will accept your file, and a low score is not evidence that a recruiter will reject you. Employers use different systems and hiring criteria; this tool cannot predict their decisions.

Five common resume parsing problems

These five issues can make a resume harder to extract or search, depending on the document and parser. They describe general reading risks, not measured deductions from this checker's score.

First, creative section headings: the parser looks for familiar labels, so write “Work experience” instead of “My journey”. Second, a multi-column or table layout: replace a skills sidebar beside job descriptions with a single column and list each job with title, employer and dates on their own lines.

Third, missing keywords: if the posting asks for “project management” and your resume only says “coordinated projects”, an exact-term search may miss the relevant experience; use the employer’s wording where it is true, for example “Led project management for a CRM rollout”. Fourth, unusual date formats or missing dates: “03/2021 – 08/2024” is clearer than “spring ’21 to now”, though recognition still varies.

Fifth, important details hidden in images, icons or the page header: write your email address and phone number as plain text near your name instead of embedding them only in a screenshot or using an icon without a text label.

Which file formats and fonts are safe

A text-based PDF or a Word document (.docx) is often suitable, but follow the employer’s upload instructions and check that your file contains extractable text. A PDF exported from Word, Google Docs or a similar editor keeps that text layer. A scanned page or a resume saved as an image does not: it is a picture of letters, and the system would need text recognition to read it, which can introduce errors. You can test your own file by selecting the text in a PDF viewer and pasting it into a plain text editor. If the result is complete and in the right order, that is a useful warning check, not a guarantee that another parser reads it identically. This checker accepts PDF files, so export a text-based PDF before you upload it.

Standard fonts such as Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Georgia or Times New Roman are sensible choices for readability, but correct text extraction also depends on font embedding and character encoding. Decorative fonts, ligatures and symbol fonts can turn into wrong or missing characters during extraction. Keep body text at a readable size, use bold for headings instead of special characters, and avoid icons in place of words.

What to do after the check

Start with the recommendations that affect readability, because a resume the system cannot parse will not be found by any keyword. Move content out of columns, tables and headers, rename unusual section headings and fix the date formats. Then work through the missing keywords from the job description and add the ones that truly describe your experience, ideally inside the bullet points of the jobs where you used them. Do not paste the posting into your resume or hide keywords in white text: recruiters read the result, and hidden text shows up in the extracted version.

When another check is available, compare its recommendations with your previous result. Anonymous use permits one successful check per IP address in 24 hours, so review edits locally first. Keep a master resume and adapt a copy for each application. The cover letter generator works without an account and drafts a letter from your job details; check every claim before sending it.