Free ATS résumé checker
See how your résumé scores before you apply. Paste it below — optionally with a job description — for an instant score, missing keywords, and specific fixes.
Runs entirely in your browser — your résumé is never uploaded or stored.
Paste your résumé and click Check my résumé to see your score.
What an ATS actually does
An applicant tracking system is the software an employer uses to collect and sort applications. Nearly every large employer runs one, and plenty of small ones do too. It reads your résumé into a database, pulls out your name, your jobs and your dates, and lets a recruiter search the pile.
The common fear is that it rejects you automatically. Mostly it does not — what it does is rank and filter. A recruiter searches for the skills the role needs, and your résumé either surfaces in that search or sits below the fold of a list nobody scrolls. The damage is rarely a rejection letter. It is silence.
Two things cause that silence. Your résumé does not use the words the posting uses, so it never matches the search. Or it is laid out in a way the parser cannot read — text inside columns, tables, headers or images — so the information arrives scrambled or not at all.
What this checker measures
Paste a job description alongside your résumé and the score compares the two: which of the posting's terms you already use, whether the standard sections a parser looks for are present, whether anything in the formatting is likely to break it, and whether your accomplishments carry figures rather than duties.
Without a job description it still checks the structural half — sections, formatting and whether your bullets say what changed. That is the part that matters whoever is reading.
It also reads for typos, and shows you the word rather than a count. Telling someone they have three spelling errors sends them hunting through their own writing, which is the one thing nobody can do well: reading your own work is exactly when the eye supplies the word you meant instead of the one on the page.
It runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored, and you do not need an account.
Fixing a low score
Start with the missing terms, and only add the ones that are true of you. A keyword you cannot back up gets you into an interview you then fail, which is worse than not being called. Work the honest ones into the job where you actually did them, rather than listing them at the bottom.
Then look at your bullets. “Responsible for managing the intake process” tells a reader nothing; “cut time to first response from four days to one” tells them what you are worth. If you have no figures to hand, the question to ask yourself is what would have gone wrong had you not been there.
Last, simplify the layout. One column, real headings, no text inside tables or images, and a normal font. A plain résumé that parses beats a handsome one that does not.
Common questions
- Will an ATS automatically reject my résumé?
- Usually not. Most systems rank and filter rather than reject outright — a recruiter searches for the skills they need and your résumé either appears in that search or it does not. The usual outcome of a poor match is silence rather than a rejection.
- Do I need to match every keyword in the posting?
- No, and you should not try. Only add terms that are genuinely true of you, worked into the job where you actually did that thing. Keyword stuffing wins an interview you then fail, which costs you more than not being called.
- Can I use a résumé template with columns or graphics?
- You can, but a parser often cannot. Text inside columns, tables, headers, footers or images is where information gets scrambled or dropped. A single-column layout with ordinary headings is read correctly by everything.
- Is my résumé uploaded or stored anywhere?
- No. This checker runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server, nothing is saved, and you do not need an account to use it.
- Does a high score mean I will get an interview?
- No. The score tells you whether the software can read your résumé and whether it uses the language of the job. Whether a human wants to meet you depends on your experience and on who else applied, and no tool can tell you that.
- Does it check my spelling?
- Yes, and it shows you the word rather than a count. It only flags words it is certain about — names, acronyms, product names and both British and American spellings are left alone — so it will miss some. Read your résumé through as well, ideally out loud.
- How often should I re-check?
- Once per job you apply for. The structural half of the score barely changes, but the keyword half is measured against one specific posting — which is the half worth re-running.