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Will your resume pass ATS screening?

Most mid-size and large employers route every application through an applicant tracking system. It usually isn't a robot rejecting you — but it decides whether a recruiter ever sees you. Paste your resume below for an instant score and specific fixes.

Your resume is analyzed by AI and never stored. We don't share your data.

What an ATS actually does with your resume

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is the software behind most job application forms — Greenhouse, Lever, Workday, iCIMS, Ashby, and dozens of others. When you apply, it parses your resume into a structured profile: name, contact info, work history, skills. Recruiters then work inside that system, searching and filtering candidates by keyword, title, and experience.

The popular version of this story — "75% of resumes are rejected by ATS bots" — is a myth that resume-tool marketing keeps alive. What actually happens is less dramatic and easier to fix: resumes with layouts the parser can't read come through garbled, and resumes that don't use the words recruiters search for simply never surface. Nobody rejected you; nobody saw you.

So the goal isn't beating an algorithm — it's being parseable and findable. This free checker analyzes your resume for exactly that.

What we check

  • ✓Formatting & structure — the layout patterns that garble ATS parsing, and standard, clearly-labeled sections a parser can map
  • ✓Keywords — the skills and terms recruiters in your field actually search for, and which common ones you're missing
  • ✓Contact information — name, email, phone, LinkedIn, location in a format parsers reliably extract
  • ✓Measurable results — which of your bullets carry numbers, percentages, or dollar amounts, and which are claims without evidence
  • ✓Experience & education sections — ordering, labeling, and the details recruiters filter on

How to improve your ATS score

  1. Use a simple, single-column format — no tables, text boxes, or graphics
  2. Use the exact terms from postings in your field — if jobs say "stakeholder management" and you wrote "worked with partner teams," change your phrasing
  3. Use standard section headings: "Experience," "Education," "Skills"
  4. Quantify your achievements — numbers are what recruiters skim for, human or not
  5. Save as PDF (unless the application asks for .docx), and never submit a scanned or image-based PDF

A good score here means your resume is structurally sound. The next step is making it specific to each posting — re-ordering your evidence and mirroring that job's language. Our step-by-step tailoring guide covers the manual process, and if you're applying through Greenhouse boards, the autofill guide covers the form-filling half.

Common questions

Do ATS systems automatically reject resumes?

Mostly, no. An ATS parses your resume into a structured profile and gives recruiters search and filter tools; the most common true auto-reject is a knockout question (work authorization, minimum experience), not software reading your resume and scoring you out. The real risk is quieter: if your resume parses badly or doesn't contain the words recruiters search for, you're never surfaced in their results. That failure mode is what this checker looks for.

Is this ATS checker really free, and what happens to my resume?

It's free with no signup. Your pasted resume text is analyzed by AI to produce the score and fixes, and it isn't stored or shared. The email field is optional — it just sends you the report.

Should I submit my resume as a PDF or a Word document?

Modern ATS software parses both. PDF keeps your layout intact, so it's the safer default; use .docx when an application specifically asks for it. What actually breaks parsing isn't the file type — it's the layout inside it: tables, multi-column designs, text boxes, content in headers and footers, and scanned or image-based PDFs, which many parsers can't read at all.

What is a good ATS score?

On this checker, 80 or above is good and 90+ is excellent. One honest caveat about every tool in this category, including ours: there are dozens of ATS products and none publish a scoring algorithm, so no checker can promise how a specific employer's system will treat you. The score measures what holds up across systems — clean parsing, standard structure, relevant keywords, and quantified results.

Does this checker compare my resume against a specific job description?

No — it's a general health check: parseable structure, contact info, the keywords common for your field, and whether your bullets carry measurable results. Matching one specific posting is a different job called tailoring: re-ordering your evidence and mirroring that posting's language. You can do it by hand in about 20 minutes per application, or ForgeApply does it per posting with a preview you approve.

Want AI to fix your resume automatically?

ForgeApply tailors your resume to each specific posting — no fabrication, with a preview you approve — then autofills the application. Try it free, no card required.

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