What Score Does Your Resume Get From an ATS and a Human Recruiter?
Upload your resume. Our scorecard runs it through ATS simulation, recruiter heat-map analysis, and content quality evaluation across 15 criteria. Output: an ATS compatibility score, a recruiter engagement score, and specific line-by-line improvement recommendations.
The Two Audiences Your Resume Must Serve
A placement resume must pass through two entirely separate evaluation layers, each with different criteria. Layer 1 is the ATS parser: it must correctly extract your text from your PDF format, identify your education, skills, and experience sections, and match your content against the job description's keywords. A beautiful two-column resume with icons and custom fonts will score 0 on this layer because the ATS parser will extract gibberish. Layer 2 is the human recruiter: they scan the top quarter of your resume for 7 seconds, looking for evidence that you can do the job. If the top quarter contains a career objective and 10th-standard marks, they move on. If it contains a deployed project link, they keep reading. Our scorecard evaluates your resume against both layers and provides the exact changes needed to pass both.
The scorecard evaluates 15 criteria across 4 categories. Format compatibility (4 criteria): PDF text extractability, single-column layout verification, standard font usage, and section heading parsability. ATS keyword matching (4 criteria): skills keyword presence, education filter compliance, experience keyword density, and role-title alignment. Recruiter scan-path (4 criteria): top-quarter content quality, visual hierarchy effectiveness, bullet-point specificity, and link presence and functionality. Content quality (3 criteria): achievement quantification, action-verb usage, and relevance filtering (removing filler content). Each criterion receives a pass/fail/partial score and a specific recommendation.
System Comparison
| EVALUATION LAYER | WHAT FAILS | WHAT PASSES |
|---|---|---|
| ATS Parsing | Two-column layouts, images, custom fonts, PDF with embedded text that cannot be extracted. | Single-column, standard fonts, plain PDF with extractable text. Keywords present and matched to target job description. |
| Recruiter Scan (7 sec) | Career objective at top. Education listed first. 10th/12th marks consuming prime real estate. | Deployed project link at top. 2-3 bullet points with metrics. Strongest signal in the scan zone. |
| Content Quality | 'Worked on backend.' 'Developed a website.' Generic claims with no evidence. | 'Built REST API handling 200 concurrent requests with 18ms average latency, reducing response time by 67%.' Specific, quantified, verifiable. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I use a PDF or Word document?
PDF is standard and recommended. However, ensure your PDF is generated from a text editor (Google Docs, Word), not from a design tool (Canva, Photoshop) that may embed text as images. Our scorecard tests your PDF's text extractability — if it fails, we recommend regenerating from a text editor.
What is a passing ATS score?
80+ means your resume will be correctly parsed by most ATS platforms. 60-79 means partial parsing — some sections may be missed or garbled. Below 60 means significant format issues that will cause automated rejection regardless of content quality. The good news: most format issues are fixable in 15 minutes by switching to a single-column layout.