1. ATS parse simulation: We parse your file the way an applicant tracking system does and show you the extracted text. This covers section detection (does software find your Experience, Education and Skills under the titles you used), contact details (name, email, phone, location), work history and dates — including reverse-chronological order — and formatting an ATS cannot read: tables, multi-column layouts, images, charts and scanned documents.

2. Keyword and skills coverage: Hard skills and industry keywords, checked against a database of 250,000+ skills and phrases across industries; whether your skills section matches what your bullet points show; and soft-skill signals — leadership, communication, teamwork, analytical thinking — checked as demonstrated in your accomplishments rather than as words in a list, because recruiters read a bare "teamwork" as filler.

3. Formatting traps: Resume length and page density; bullet point count and length; paragraph blocks that should be bullet points; consistency in date formats, punctuation and verb tense; spelling; unnecessary sections; and whether the sections a recruiter expects (summary, experience, education, skills) are present and complete.

4. Impact and style: Quantified impact — bullet points with measurable results; weak, repeated or wrong-tense action verbs; passive voice and personal pronouns; buzzwords, clichés and filler words; repetition across bullets; and growth and leadership signals across your roles.

A line-by-line parser reads across the full width of the page. In the middle panel, the sidebar (gray) interleaves with the experience column, the certifications table collapses into one line, and the photo and skill bars — drawn as graphics, not text — are not extracted at all. None of that content reaches a recruiter searching the database. The single-column file on the right parses in order. Our scanner shows you this parsed output for your own resume, so you can read what an ATS reads before a recruiter does.

What is a good ATS score?
On Resume Worded's scale, a good score is 85 or above, and ideally 90 or above. Scores run from 0 to 100 across 30+ checks. A resume at 85+ has cleared the mistakes hiring managers spot immediately; at 90+, it passes every check we run. Other checkers use different scales, so only compare scores within the same tool.

How do I check if my resume is ATS-friendly for free?
Upload your resume to the scanner on this page. It parses your file the way an applicant tracking system does and shows you the extracted text, along with the sections, dates and skills it detected. The scan is free and takes about 30 seconds, and you can re-scan after each fix to confirm the problem is gone.

Do ATS automatically reject resumes?
Rarely in the way people imagine. Most systems don't delete resumes; they parse each one into a database that recruiters search, filter and rank. The real risk is quieter: if your resume parses badly — tables scrambled, dates missed, sections unrecognized — it stops appearing in those searches, which has the same effect as a rejection.

What is the difference between an ATS scan and a resume score?
An ATS scan checks whether software can read your resume: parsing, section detection, formatting. A resume score grades what the resume actually says — impact, quantified results, word choice — the things a recruiter judges once the ATS has passed it through. This page runs the scan. If you want to grade the whole resume, not just the ATS parse, get a full resume score across 30+ hiring checks.

How accurate are ATS resume checkers?
It depends on what the checker does. Keyword matchers compare your resume against a job description and report overlap — useful, but it isn't a parse test. Our scanner runs an actual parse simulation and shows you the extracted text, so you don't have to trust a verdict; you can read what the ATS read. Because every ATS is different, the checks cover signals across systems rather than one vendor's parser.

Is this resume scanner free?
Yes. You get a free ATS scan with detailed feedback in about 30 seconds, and you can scan multiple versions of your resume — useful if you keep separate resumes for different roles or industries. Resume Worded has been used by over 10 million job seekers since 2017 and is rated 4.9 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 1,000+ reviews.