What is an ATS and why does your ATS score matter?

An ATS score checker tells you whether your resume can survive automated filtering before a human ever reads it. An applicant tracking system — ATS for short — is the software that companies use to collect, organize, and screen job applications. When you submit your resume through a company's careers page, it does not go straight to a recruiter. It first passes through the ATS, which parses your document into structured data, extracts key information, and checks it against the job requirements. If your resume fails this step, no human will ever see it.

Studies consistently estimate that up to 75% of resumes are filtered out by ATS before reaching a recruiter. Some are rejected for lacking relevant keywords. But a surprising number are filtered simply because the ATS could not parse the resume correctly — the formatting broke the parser, and your experience was lost in translation.

How ATS compatibility checking works

Our ATS score checker evaluates your resume against the parsing standards used by the most widely deployed applicant tracking systems. It checks whether your document structure, section headers, and formatting are compatible with automated parsing. The major ATS platforms — Greenhouse, Lever, Workday, iCIMS, Taleo, and BambooHR — all use similar parsing logic, though each has its own quirks. Greenhouse and Lever tend to handle modern PDF formatting reasonably well. Workday and Taleo are notoriously strict and struggle with anything beyond simple, single-column layouts.

Common ATS failures that cost you interviews

Most ATS parsing failures come from a handful of formatting mistakes that are easy to fix once you know what to look for. Here are the most common issues our ATS score checker detects:

• Tables and columns: Multi-column layouts and tables look clean to humans but confuse ATS parsers. Content in the left column may be read as a separate section from the right column, scrambling your resume.
• Text boxes: Content inside text boxes is often invisible to ATS parsers entirely. If your contact information or section headers are in text boxes, the ATS may not extract them.
• Embedded images and graphics: Skill bars, icons, logos, and headshot photos are invisible to ATS. If you use a graphical skill rating instead of listing skills as text, the ATS sees nothing.
• Non-standard section headers: Headers like "Where I've Made an Impact" instead of "Experience" or "What I Bring" instead of "Skills" confuse ATS section detection algorithms.
• Headers and footers: Contact information placed in the document header or footer may be completely ignored by ATS parsers. Always put your name and contact details in the main body.
• Non-standard fonts: Decorative or uncommon fonts may not render correctly when the ATS converts your document. Stick with standard fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman.

What a good ATS score looks like

An ATS readability score of 80 or above means your resume is well-structured for automated parsing. The ATS can identify your sections, extract your contact information, and read your bullet points without errors. Scores between 60 and 79 indicate fixable issues — maybe a non-standard section header or minor formatting inconsistency. Below 60 means your resume has significant ATS compatibility problems that are likely costing you interviews.

How to check and improve your ATS score

1. Use a single-column layout. This is the single most impactful change for ATS compatibility. No sidebars, no two-column designs.
2. Use standard section headers: Experience, Education, Skills, Summary, Certifications. Do not get creative with header names.
3. Remove all graphics and images. No skill bars, no icons, no photos. Text only.
4. Put contact info in the body. Not in the header, not in the footer, not in a text box.
5. Save as a text-layer PDF. Ensure your PDF contains actual text, not a scanned image. If you cannot select text in your PDF, the ATS cannot read it either.

If you want to automatically fix every ATS issue our checker finds and tailor your resume to a specific job, try Turquoise for free.