The framework
13 checks. 4 sections. One honest score.
Every ATS Grade report scores your resume against the same research-backed framework a trained reviewer would use - thirteen checks spanning targeting, structure, language, and technical ATS compatibility. This page explains each one: what it measures, why it matters, and how to score higher.
How scoring works
Each check is scored 0-100, then rolled up into your grade.
Your overall grade (A+ to F) summarizes the thirteen check scores. Every weakness found becomes a concrete recommendation, sorted by priority - critical issues that actively cost you interviews, recommended improvements with clear upside, and optional refinements. Fix the critical bucket first; it's usually fifteen minutes of work.
Section 1 of 4
Targeting & Content Fit
The single biggest score driver. An ATS ranks you against one specific job description - a brilliant resume aimed at the wrong target still loses to an average one aimed precisely.
Role alignment
What we measure
How closely your titles, summary, and experience read like the target role - whether a reviewer sees someone already doing this job.
Why it matters
Reviewers decide in seconds whether you fit the role. A resume that reads like a neighboring job is passed over even when the skills are there.
Quick win
Lead with the title and the work closest to the target role, and shorten what points to a different one.
Keyword optimization
What we measure
Whether the skills and terms the target role uses appear in your text - including aliases and acronym variants.
Why it matters
Keyword matching is still the backbone of ATS ranking. Recruiters also run Boolean searches over the parsed text; terms that aren't there can't be found.
Quick win
Mirror the job description's exact terms where they're true of you, and include both forms of every key term (e.g. "ETL" and "Extract Transform Load").
Achievements with quantifiable metrics
What we measure
The share of your bullets that state a measurable result - revenue, time saved, error rates, users, scale.
Why it matters
Numbers are credibility. A bullet with a metric reads as evidence; one without reads as a claim. Reviewers anchor on quantified impact when comparing candidates.
Quick win
Rewrite your top bullets as result-first statements: "Cut deployment time 40% by ..." beats "Responsible for deployment improvements".
Recency & relevance emphasis
What we measure
Whether your most recent and most relevant experience gets the most space - and outdated or off-target content is trimmed.
Why it matters
ATS-era recruiters skim the top third of the parsed result. Burying your strongest, most relevant work under old roles wastes your highest-attention real estate.
Quick win
Give your last two roles the most bullets; compress anything older than ten years to a single line.
Section 2 of 4
Structure & Readability
How your document is built. Structure determines both whether the parser can extract your data and whether a human can find your value in a six-second skim.
Skimmable layout & clean formatting
What we measure
Single-column flow, standard section headings, consistent spacing, and the absence of parser-hostile elements like layout tables and text boxes.
Why it matters
Parsers read top-to-bottom, left-to-right. Multi-column designs and graphics scramble the extracted text - and a scrambled extraction tanks every downstream score.
Quick win
Use standard headings (Work Experience, Education, Skills) in a single column. If pasting your resume into Notepad keeps it readable, parsers will cope too.
Appropriate length discipline
What we measure
Whether total length matches your seniority: roughly one page per decade of experience, two pages maximum for most roles.
Why it matters
Overlong resumes dilute keyword density and bury the relevant 20%. Recruiters read queues, not novels.
Quick win
Cut anything that doesn't support the target role. Every line you remove makes the remaining lines more visible.
Project-Action-Result bullet construction
What we measure
Whether bullets follow a context -> action -> outcome arc instead of listing duties.
Why it matters
PAR bullets carry the keywords, the verbs, and the metrics in one sentence - they score on every axis simultaneously.
Quick win
Template: "For [project/context], did [specific action], delivering [measured result]."
Formatting consistency
What we measure
Uniform date formats, headings, spacing, and bullet punctuation from the first page to the last.
Why it matters
Parsers rely on consistent date formats to build your timeline, and recruiters read inconsistency as carelessness.
Quick win
Pick one date format (e.g. "Jan 2023 - Mar 2025") and one bullet punctuation rule, then audit the whole document against them.
Section 3 of 4
Language & Clarity
How your writing reads. Once parsing and matching pass, a human decides - and weak, inconsistent, or inflated language is the fastest way to lose them.
Strong action verbs over weak phrases
What we measure
The ratio of strong openers (built, led, reduced, shipped) to filler ("responsible for", "helped with", "worked on").
Why it matters
Verbs signal ownership. "Responsible for X" says you were near the work; "Delivered X" says you did it.
Quick win
Start every bullet with a verb, never with "Responsible". Vary verbs - five bullets starting with "Led" read like a template.
Focused, jargon-free language
What we measure
Clarity and specificity: concrete nouns and proper names instead of buzzwords, abstractions, and AI-flavored filler.
Why it matters
Vague terms ("synergy", "dynamic results-driven professional") carry zero information and increasingly pattern-match as machine-written.
Quick win
Replace every adjective you can't defend in an interview with a fact you can.
Consistency & correctness
What we measure
Spelling, grammar, and tense - past tense for past roles, present for the current one - with no first-person "I".
Why it matters
Errors read as carelessness, and recruiters extrapolate document care to work care.
Quick win
Read your resume aloud once, then check that every past role is in the past tense and no bullet starts with "I".
Section 4 of 4
ATS Compatibility
The technical layer. These checks decide whether the system can credit you at all - they're the cheapest points to win and the most painful to lose.
ATS-safe formatting & structure
What we measure
Absence of parsing hazards: tables, images, icons, headers/footers carrying real content, nonstandard fonts, and decorative symbols.
Why it matters
A single skills table can erase your entire skills section from the parsed output. You'd never know - you just wouldn't get callbacks.
Quick win
Keep contact details in the document body, never in the page header. Express skill groups as plain text lines, not grids, and export a text-based PDF or .docx.
Machine readability
What we measure
Whether the text pulled out of your file comes out clean and in reading order - no scrambled columns, merged words, or missing sections.
Why it matters
Scanned-image PDFs parse as empty documents, and a scrambled extraction drags down every other score.
Quick win
Paste the text of your exported file into a plain-text editor: if it reads top to bottom, a parser can read it too.
Put it to work
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