ATS CV Score Checker

How an ATS scores your CV

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is the software 75% of mid-size and large employers use to filter CVs before a recruiter ever sees them. When you upload your resume to a job board or company portal, the ATS parses it into structured data, extracts skills and keywords, and ranks your application against the job posting. A low ATS score doesn't mean your CV is bad — it means the system couldn't read it well enough to know.

Our free ATS CV checker simulates that exact process. It reads your PDF, compares it to the job description you provide, and tells you which keywords are missing, which sections look weak, and what to fix — in under 30 seconds.

What makes a CV ATS-friendly?

• Standard section headings — use “Experience”, “Education”, “Skills”. Creative labels like “Where I've Been” confuse parsers.
• No tables, columns, headers or graphics — most ATS engines flatten layouts into a single column. Two-column resumes often lose half their content during parsing.
• Plain fonts and dark text — Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Times. Avoid icon fonts and decorative typefaces.
• Keyword-matched skills — match the exact phrasing in the job posting. “Project Management” ≠ “PM” to a keyword matcher.
• Quantified bullets — “Increased conversion 23%” beats “Improved conversion” on every relevance score we've tested.
• PDF saved from a text editor, not a scanned image. If your CV started as an image, an ATS reads it as one giant blank page.

How to improve a low ATS score

If your score is below 70, three changes usually move it the most:

1. Mirror the job posting's keywords. Read the job description and pull every required skill, certification, and tool. If the posting says “Salesforce” and your CV says “CRM”, add “Salesforce” explicitly.
2. Move your skills section higher. ATS engines weight content near the top more heavily. A skills block right under your summary outperforms one buried at page two.
3. Rewrite weak bullets with numbers. Replace “Responsible for sales” with “Closed €380k in new business across 22 accounts”. Specific numbers signal real impact.

For a deeper walk-through, see our guide on writing an ATS-friendly CV or use our free CV Grader if you want a general grade without a job description.

Frequently asked questions

Is the ATS score checker really free?

Yes. No sign-up, no credit card, no email required. You get up to five checks per hour per IP. Logged-in users get unlimited checks.

What is a good ATS score?

Above 80 is strong — recruiters typically only review the top 10–25% of ranked applicants. 60–79 is fair but borderline. Below 60 means your CV likely won't reach a human reviewer for that role.

Do I need a job description?

No. Without a job description, we score your CV against universal ATS best practices — formatting, keyword strength, section structure, parseability. Adding a job description gives you a tailored match score and missing-keyword list.

Which ATS systems does this check against?

We model the parsing logic shared by the major systems — Greenhouse, Lever, Workday, Taleo, iCIMS, BambooHR, SmartRecruiters. The fundamentals (text extraction, keyword matching, section detection) are nearly identical across them.

Will this scan a Word document or scanned PDF?

Currently we accept PDFs up to 5MB. The PDF must contain real text, not be a scan or photo. If you're working from a Word doc, export it as PDF first (File → Save as PDF, not Print to PDF).

Is my CV stored anywhere?

No. Your CV is parsed in memory, scored, and discarded. We never save the file or its contents.