Tools
ATS Resume Checker
Upload your resume and get instant ATS insights, keyword matching, and optimization suggestions.
What This Tool Checks
Before a recruiter opens your resume, a software system usually scans it first. This is called an ATS, and most companies use one today, even small ones. If your resume is missing a section, or the format confuses the software, it can get rejected before any human sees it. You never even find out why. This tool looks at your resume and checks it against 7 things ATS software usually looks for email, phone number, LinkedIn, work experience, education, skills, and a summary. Based on that it gives you a score out of 100 and tells you what's missing so you can fix it before you apply anywhere.
How Scoring Works
Just upload your resume, either as a PDF or a DOCX file. The tool reads through the text and checks if it can find each of the 7 sections: a working email, a phone number, a LinkedIn link, your work history, education, skills, and a short summary at the top. Every section it finds adds to your score. A lot of people are surprised their score is low even though their resume looks fine to them. Usually it's because one or two sections are missing, or the software just can't read them properly, even if a human eye would catch it easily.
Job Description Matching
You can also paste in a job description and the tool will compare it to your resume. It pulls out the important words from the job post things like specific skills, tools, or job titles and shows you which ones your resume already has and which ones are missing. A lot of ATS systems actually rank resumes based on how many of these words match before a recruiter even looks at them manually. So two people with similar experience can get very different results just because one used the same wording as the job post and the other didn't.
Why This Actually Matters
A lot of resumes get rejected for reasons that have nothing to do with the person's actual skills. Maybe the contact info was put in the header, and the ATS software skipped that part completely. Maybe the resume used a table for job titles and dates, and the software read it in the wrong order or missed it. These are small formatting choices, but they can knock a genuinely good candidate out of the running before anyone even reads their resume properly. Once you know this happens, it's easier to avoid it.
Mistakes People Make Without Realizing
Putting your email or phone number in the header or footer is a common one some ATS tools just don't read that area. Using tables for your job history is another, since the software can read the cells out of order. Writing your skills in vague words instead of the exact terms from the job post also hurts your match score. And a lot of people skip the summary section entirely, thinking it's not important, when actually both the software and the recruiter usually look for it right at the top.
How To Use The Keyword List Properly
When you see the list of missing keywords, don't just paste all of them into your resume blindly. Go through the list and only add the ones that are actually true for you something you've really done or used. Add them in a normal sentence, not just as a random word dropped in. If a keyword doesn't fit your background at all, skip it. Recruiters do read the resume eventually, and keywords with no real substance behind them usually stand out in a bad way.
Notes
- Your resume is checked inside your browser. Nothing gets uploaded to a server.
- Works with PDF and DOCX files, and scanned PDFs through OCR.
- Run the check again after editing to see if your score went up.
- Keyword matching only works once you paste in a job description.
Questions
Is this free?
Yes, it's completely free. No signup, no card details, no limit on how many times you can use it. Upload, check your score, paste a job description, run it again as many times as you want.
Does a high score guarantee an interview?
No, and I don't want to promise something untrue here. A high score just means your resume is less likely to get filtered out by the software. What happens after that whether you get called for an interview depends on your actual experience and how well you do after that point.
Is my resume stored anywhere?
No. Everything happens inside your own browser. Your file is never sent anywhere. Close the tab and it's gone.
What file types can I upload?
PDF and DOCX, which covers most resumes people already have. If yours is in Google Docs or something else, just export it as a PDF first. Scanned PDFs work too, through OCR, though the result depends on how clear the scan is.
My resume looks fine but the score is low. Why?
The software doesn't see your resume the way you do. It reads raw text only. If you're using tables, columns, or icons, the software might not read that content correctly even though it looks perfectly normal to your eyes.
Should I avoid fancy templates with columns and icons?
If you're applying somewhere that likely uses an ATS, yes, a simple layout usually works better. Multi-column resumes look nice but the software can read the text in the wrong order or skip parts of it. Save the fancier designs for situations where you know a person will look at it first.
How often should I check my resume?
Check it once to get a starting score, fix what it flags, then check again. It's also worth running the keyword match every time you apply somewhere new, since job posts use different wording even for similar roles.
Does this work exactly like the ATS my target company uses?
Not exactly, since there are many different ATS platforms out there and each works a little differently. This tool checks the things that show up across most of them sections, contact info, keyword match. It's a solid general check, but it can't promise to match one specific company's system exactly.
What's a good score to aim for?
Anywhere in the "Good" or "Excellent" range gives you a decent shot. Don't force a perfect score by adding things that aren't true about you. A slightly lower score with honest content is better than a high score that falls apart when someone asks you a follow-up question.
Is this only useful for tech jobs?
No, it works for any field. ATS software is used in marketing, finance, healthcare, sales, and pretty much everywhere else too. The keyword matching is actually just as useful outside tech, since non-tech job posts often have specific terms and certifications that matter a lot.