Free ATS resume checker
This is the report. Yours takes about a minute.
- Impact and results2/5 for Impact and results
- Clarity3/5 for Clarity
- Fit for your target role3/5 for Fit for your target role
- AI fluency3/5 for AI fluency
- ATS readiness4/5 for ATS readiness
Fix 1 · Format
Contact details sit in the page header. Move them into the body.
Fix 2 · Results
7 of 11 bullets open with a duty. Lead with the result and a number.
Fix 3 · Structure
“Where I've made an impact” → “Experience”. Software reads the standard heading.
These numbers are made up. Yours will come from your resume.
About the "75% of resumes are rejected by ATS" claim
You've probably read that most resumes are thrown out by software before a person sees them. That number doesn't come from any published study. In most systems, people do the rejecting, often helped by knockout questions in the application ("Are you authorized to work in the US?", "Do you have a PMP?"). Formatting matters because a resume that reads cleanly is one a recruiter can find and skim, not because a robot is grading your fonts.
Formatting that trips up tracking systems
Common patterns, not rules every system follows. When in doubt, a plain, single-column Word file reads well almost everywhere.
Tables and multiple columns
Text can be read across columns in the wrong order.
Single column.
Text boxes, headers, footers
Some systems skip them; contact details placed there go missing.
Put contact details in the body.
Scanned or image-only PDFs
There's no text to read at all.
Export from Word, don't scan.
Creative section headings
"Where I've made an impact" reads well to people.
"Experience" reads well to software.
Dates that aren't dates
"Spring '19 to now" can't be parsed.
"2019 to Present".
Score low? That's what the rebuild is for.
Your resume and LinkedIn rewritten around your results, a tailored version for each job you want, and 30 days of a coach that has already read your file.
What an ATS actually does
An applicant tracking system is the software employers use to collect and sort applications. Workday, iCIMS, Greenhouse, Taleo and Lever are common ones, and each reads resumes a little differently. There's no single "ATS" to pass, and no tool, this one included, can show you exactly what a particular employer's system sees.
What they have in common: they turn your file into fields (name, titles, employers, dates, skills) so a recruiter can search and filter. When formatting scrambles that step, your experience can be in the file and still not come up when a recruiter searches for it.
Keywords: match the job, don't stuff it
Recruiters search for titles, skills and tools. Use the posting's own words where they're true for you. If it says "vendor management" and you've done it, write "vendor management", not "supplier relationships". Don't add keywords you can't back up in an interview, and don't hide white text on the page. Systems strip the formatting, so the hidden text shows up in plain view, and it reads as a trick.
Questions people ask
Yes. Your score, the format checks and your top fixes need no signup. An email unlocks the full report and three rewritten lines, once per email every 30 days. There's a limit of a few checks per day from each network so it stays free for everyone.
No tool can. Each system reads resumes differently. This checks for the patterns that commonly cause trouble, and for what a recruiter looks for once your resume is in front of them.
Your file is read in your browser, and the text is sent to be checked: once for your score, again if you paste a job posting, and again when you unlock the full report. The checker keeps your score, not your resume. Copies of the AI requests, which include your resume, are deleted after 30 days, as described in our Privacy Policy.
Either works in most systems, as long as it has real text in it and isn't a scan. If a posting asks for a format, use that one. A plain Word file is the safest default.
The score is ours, not an employer's. Each of the five parts is scored so that 3 out of 5 means typical for an experienced professional, which puts a typical resume at about 60. Use it to find the weakest parts; the format checks and your top three fixes matter more than the number.