ATS Score: What It Means and How to Improve Yours

You've probably heard that your resume needs a high "ATS score" to get past the robots and reach a human recruiter. That's partially true. But the way most people learn what ATS is scores is oversimplified, and that misunderstanding leads to bad decisions.

Let's clear up what an ATS score actually is, what affects it, and what you can do about it.

What an ATS Score Actually Is

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is software that companies use to manage job applications. When you apply online, your resume goes into an ATS. The system parses your resume, extracts information, and in many cases, ranks you against other applicants based on how well your resume matches the job description.

That ranking is what people call your "ATS score." It's not always a literal number. Some systems use a percentage match. Others use a ranking system (qualified, somewhat qualified, not qualified). Some just sort candidates by relevance and present the top results to recruiters.

The key point: your ATS score is a measure of how closely your resume matches a specific job posting. It's not a fixed number that follows you around. Apply to two different jobs with the same resume and you'll get two different scores.

How Different ATS Systems Score Differently

There is no single ATS. Companies use different software, and each one has its own scoring logic.

Workday is common at large enterprises. It uses a weighted matching system where certain fields (job title, skills, experience) carry more weight than others. It also considers your answers to screening questions, which can override resume matching entirely.

Greenhouse focuses less on automated scoring and more on structured evaluation by recruiters. The ATS organizes and parses your resume, but the ranking is more human-driven. Your resume still needs to parse correctly, but there's less algorithmic scoring happening behind the scenes.

Lever takes a similar approach to Greenhouse. It's designed to help recruiters manage pipelines, not auto-reject candidates. The parsing matters, but the scoring is lighter.

Taleo (now part of Oracle) has been around forever and uses keyword matching heavily. It was one of the first systems to auto-rank candidates, and many legacy installations still use aggressive filtering.

iCIMS uses a relevance-based matching system that considers skills, titles, and experience duration. It tends to be more sophisticated in how it weighs different factors.

The takeaway: there's no way to optimize for every ATS simultaneously. What you can do is follow formatting best practices that work across all systems and make sure your keywords match the job description.

What a "Good" Score Looks Like

There is no universal standard for a good ATS score. A tool might tell you that you scored 75%, but that number means different things in different contexts.

If the job received 200 applications and your 75% puts you in the top 20, that's a strong score. If it puts you at number 100, it's not. The score's value depends entirely on the competition for that specific role.

Most resume scanning tools use their own scoring systems, not the same algorithms as the actual ATS a company runs. When a tool gives you a score, it's an estimate based on keyword matching. It's useful as a guideline but not as a guarantee.

A general rule: aim for a keyword match rate above 70% with the job description. That doesn't mean stuffing every keyword in. It means covering the major skills, qualifications, and terms that the job posting emphasizes.

Factors That Affect Your Score

Four main factors determine how an ATS evaluates your resume.

Keywords

This is the biggest factor. ATS systems compare the words in your resume against the words in the job description. If the posting asks for "project management" and your resume says "managed projects," some systems will match it. Others won't. Using the exact phrases from the job description is the safest approach.

You might also want to check out our article on our ATS resume checklist.

Keywords include job titles, technical skills, tools, certifications, and industry-specific terminology. If a job asks for "Salesforce administration" and you only wrote "CRM management," you might miss the match.

Formatting

ATS systems need to parse your resume into structured data. They look for section headers, dates, job titles, and company names. If your formatting confuses the parser, your information ends up in the wrong fields or gets lost entirely.

Common formatting problems: tables, text boxes, headers/footers, images, columns, unusual fonts, and creative layouts. A clean, single-column resume with standard section headers (Work Experience, Education, Skills) parses reliably across systems.

File format matters too. Most ATS systems handle .docx well. PDF support has improved but isn't universal. Some older systems still choke on PDFs with complex formatting. When in doubt, submit a .docx file.

Completeness

An ATS expects certain sections. If your resume is missing a skills section, the system has fewer data points to match. If you don't list dates for your work experience, the system can't calculate your years of experience.

Fill out every standard section: contact info, summary, work experience with dates, education with dates, and skills. Optional but helpful: certifications, volunteer work, and relevant projects.

Job Title Matching

Some ATS systems give extra weight to job titles that match the posting. If you held the exact title the company is hiring for, that's a strong signal. If your title was different but the work was similar, you might not get the same weight.

You can't change your past titles on your resume. But you can add context. If your title was "Client Success Specialist" but the role you're applying for says "Account Manager," mention account management responsibilities in your bullets.

How to Check Your ATS Score

You can't log into the company's ATS and see your score directly. But you can estimate it using tools that simulate ATS matching.

Sira analyzes your resume against a job description and shows you how well your keywords align. It identifies what's missing and suggests specific changes. It's designed to give you a realistic picture of how an ATS would evaluate your resume for that particular role.

Manual comparison. Open the job description in one window and your resume in another. Highlight every skill, qualification, and keyword in the job posting. Now check how many of those appear in your resume, using the same language. This is tedious but effective.

The quick test. Copy your resume text into a plain text editor. If it's readable and structured, most ATS systems will parse it fine. If it turns into a jumbled mess, your formatting needs work.

Step-by-Step: Improving a Low Score

If your resume isn't matching well, here's how to fix it systematically.

Step 1: Extract Keywords from the Job Description

Read the job posting and pull out every specific term: skills, tools, qualifications, certifications, and phrases that describe the work. Pay special attention to words that appear multiple times. Repeated keywords indicate higher priority.

Make a list. You'll need it for the next steps.

Step 2: Compare Against Your Resume

Go through your keyword list and check each one against your resume. Mark which ones are present and which are missing. For the missing ones, determine if you actually have that skill or qualification. If you do, it needs to go in your resume. If you don't, leave it out.

Step 3: Add Missing Keywords Naturally

Don't dump keywords into a random section. Place them where they make sense. If you're adding a technical skill, put it in your skills section and reference it in a work experience bullet. If you're adding a qualification, mention it in your summary.

You might also want to check out our article on how to get your resume past ATS.

The keyword should appear in context. "Managed cross-functional teams to deliver product launches on time" is natural. "Cross-functional, product launches, team management, on time delivery" in a list is keyword stuffing and looks terrible to the human who eventually reads it.

Step 4: Fix Formatting Issues

Strip your resume of tables, text boxes, images, and multi-column layouts. Use standard section headers. Make sure dates are in a consistent format (Month Year or just Year). Use a common font like Calibri, Arial, or Georgia.

Save as .docx for maximum compatibility. If the application specifically requests PDF, submit a PDF. Otherwise, .docx is safer.

Step 5: Match Your Job Titles and Summary

If the job title in the posting closely matches a role you've held, make sure your resume reflects that clearly. In your summary, use language from the job description to frame your experience.

If the posting says "We're looking for a data analyst who can translate complex datasets into business insights," and that's what you do, your summary should echo that language. Not copy it word for word, but reflect the same themes.

Step 6: Test Again

After making changes, run your resume through Sira or do another manual comparison. Your match rate should improve. If it doesn't, look for the gaps you missed. Sometimes it's a certification you forgot to list or a technical tool you take for granted and didn't mention.

Why a Perfect Score Doesn't Guarantee an Interview

Here's something that's easy to forget: the ATS score gets you past the first filter. That's all it does. After that, a human reads your resume.

You can have a 95% keyword match and still not get a call. Maybe another candidate had the same keywords plus more relevant experience. Maybe the hiring manager is looking for something specific that isn't in the job description. Maybe the role was already half-filled through a referral.

The ATS score is necessary but not sufficient. It opens the door. Your actual qualifications, the quality of your writing, and the relevance of your experience are what get you through it.

Focus on a strong match, but don't obsess over perfection. A resume that matches well and reads well will outperform a keyword-stuffed resume that matches perfectly but sounds robotic.

The Balance Between Machines and Humans

Your resume needs to satisfy two audiences: the ATS that parses it and the human who reads it. The best resumes do both. They include the right keywords in the right format, and they tell a compelling story about what you've accomplished.

Sira helps you find that balance. It checks your keyword alignment and formatting so the ATS can read your resume properly, while keeping the focus on clear, human-readable content that makes recruiters want to pick up the phone.

Don't game the system. Align with it. When your resume genuinely reflects your skills and uses the language your industry uses, the ATS score takes care of itself.

Ready to improve your resume? Upload your resume to Sira and get it checked for ATS compatibility.