When you apply for a job online, your resume is usually evaluated twice: once by an algorithm, once by a human. The ATS score is what the algorithm gives you — and it determines whether you make it to the human stage at all.

What Does an ATS Score Actually Measure?

Different ATS platforms calculate scores differently, but most evaluate four things:

  • Keyword match — How many of the skills, job titles, and phrases from the job description appear in your resume
  • Section detection — Whether the system can find and parse your Experience, Education, and Skills sections
  • Formatting parsability — Whether the resume text can be cleanly extracted (no tables, no graphics, no multi-column layouts breaking the parse)
  • Completeness — Whether all expected fields are present (dates, job titles, company names, location)

Of these, keyword match is weighted most heavily. A resume with perfect formatting but missing 60% of the job's keywords will still score poorly.

What's a Good ATS Score?

Scores are relative — they compare your resume to the specific job description. As a rough benchmark:

  • Below 50: Low chance of passing automated screening. Significant keyword gaps.
  • 50–70: Moderate match. You may pass at some companies but not competitive ones with high application volume.
  • 70–85: Good match. You're competitive for this role.
  • Above 85: Strong match. You're likely to be surfaced for human review.

These thresholds vary by company and role seniority. Competitive roles at large companies often set their filters higher.

5 Ways to Improve Your ATS Score

1. Read the job description like a keyword list

Go through the job posting and underline every specific skill, tool, and qualification mentioned. These are the keywords the ATS is looking for. Count how many of them appear in your resume right now. That gap is your score gap.

2. Use the same phrasing the employer uses

If the JD says "stakeholder management," don't write "managing stakeholder relationships." Exact phrase matching matters. When you can, use the job posting's exact language in your bullet points.

3. Add a skills section if you don't have one

Many ATS systems scan the skills section specifically. A well-populated skills section — listing tools, technologies, methodologies relevant to the role — can significantly improve keyword coverage without making your experience bullets look forced.

4. Fix your formatting

If your resume uses columns, tables, or a designed template, the ATS may be reading garbled text. Switch to a clean, single-column format. This alone can improve your score dramatically because the keywords are suddenly parseable.

5. Tailor for every application

A 90-score resume for one job may score 45 on a different job. The most reliable way to maintain a high score is to spend 10 minutes tailoring your resume for each role — swapping in relevant keywords, adjusting your summary, and reordering your skills to match the priority of the JD.

Check Your Score Before You Apply

The best time to improve your ATS score is before you hit submit — not after you've already been filtered out. HireRaft's free ATS resume checker scores your resume against any job description instantly, showing you the specific keywords you're missing and how to close the gap.