How the checks work
One engine runs every tool on this site. It is deterministic: the same resume and job description always give the same result. In this prototype it runs entirely in your browser with fixed rules and no AI model.
1. Reading the file
PDFs are read with PDF.js, row by row from the top and left to right, the way a simple parser would. We flag two columns when many lines start at exactly the same point in the right part of the page next to lines at the left margin; centered headings and right-aligned dates or places don't count. DOCX files are read with Mammoth, list items count as bullets, and we check whether your email or phone sits only in the Word header or footer, which some ATS skip. We note tables and images because they often break parsing. Scanned PDFs have no text layer and score very low.
Limits: files up to 10 MB, PDFs up to 20 pages (we read the first 6), and about 60,000 characters of text.
2. Score (0–100)
| Area | Points | Examples of what costs points |
|---|---|---|
| Parsing & format | 30 | Two columns (−12), tables (−10), icons (−4 to −10), no readable text (−30), images (−5), mixed date formats (−3), over 2 pages (−5) |
| Sections & contact | 20 | No Experience heading (−12), no email (−8), no Skills (−7), no Education (−6), contact not at the top (−4) |
| Content | 30 | Most bullets without numbers (up to −12), weak openings like "Responsible for" (up to −10), filler phrases, pronouns, common misspellings |
| Keywords | 20 | Only with a job description: full points at 80% or more of the weighted keywords, then points drop in step with your match rate (0% loses all 20) |
Without a job description the score is scaled to the first 80 points. A category can't go below zero, so each fix shows the points the total would really gain if you fixed only that one ("+N pts if fixed"), and fixes are ranked by that number.
3. Keywords
We look for about 150 common skills and tools plus words the job description repeats or capitalizes mid-sentence (not the first word of a sentence or the job-title line), then check each one against your resume, including simple word forms. Short tool names like R, Go or SAP only match when written that way. Words the job mentions once are shown but don't change the score.
4. Line-by-line bullet checks
Each bullet is rated strong, ok or weak. It should start with an action verb in past tense, or present tense for your current job ("Manage", "Lead"). It loses marks for no number (years, quarters and version names like "Windows 10" don't count), a duty-style opening ("Responsible for", "Worked on"), no action verb, pronouns, stock wording ("leveraged", "seamless", "spearheaded") and more than about 35 words.
Limits
Real applicant tracking systems differ by vendor and by employer settings. Nobody outside an employer can see its exact rules, so treat the score as a checklist, not a prediction.
Last updated 2026-10-29.