Sign inAbout the ats resume checker
When you apply through a company's careers page, your resume usually goes into an applicant tracking system first. The software pulls your text into fields such as name, email, job titles, employers, dates, and skills, and a recruiter then searches and filters those fields. If your phone number sits in an image, or your work history is under a heading the system does not recognize, that information can end up missing or in the wrong place.
This free ATS resume checker reads the text you paste and tests what a parser needs: contact details it can find, standard section headings, dates it can read, and, if you add a job post, the keywords a recruiter is likely to search for. It does not claim to copy any one employer's system, since each company configures its own. It catches the problems that trip up most of them.
How to use it
- 1
Copy the text from your actual file
Open the exact PDF or Word file you plan to submit, select all, and copy. Testing the real file matters, because the same resume exported from different tools can extract differently.
- 2
Paste it and look at the order
Before running the check, glance at the pasted text. If your skills sidebar appears before your name, or job titles are separated from their dates, your layout is likely confusing text extraction.
- 3
Add the job description
Paste the posting to see which of its key terms appear in your resume. Recruiters often search an applicant pool by skill or title, so missing terms can keep you out of results.
- 4
Fix and test again
Work through high-severity findings first, re-export your file, and paste the new text. Repeat until contact details, headings, and dates all pass.
What an ATS actually does with your resume
An applicant tracking system is the database employers use to collect applications, move candidates through stages, and search their applicant pool. When you upload a resume, a parser extracts the text and tries to sort it into structured fields. Recruiters then see a profile built from those fields, search it by keyword, and often open the original file too.
Two things follow from that. First, parsing errors are the real risk. A resume that parses badly can show up with a blank phone field, a job title merged into a company name, or no work history at all. Second, most screening decisions are still made by people, using the search and filter tools the system gives them. The main exception is knockout questions in the application form, such as work authorization or a required license, which some employers use to screen automatically. Your resume needs to be both easy to parse and easy to find in a search.
Formatting choices that break parsing
Parsers read text in a sequence. Anything that scrambles that sequence or hides text in a non-text element creates risk. You can keep a clean, attractive design and still avoid all of these.
- Multi-column layouts and tables: text can be read across columns instead of down them, mixing a skills list into a job description.
- Headers and footers: some systems skip them, so contact details placed there may not be captured. Put them in the main body.
- Icons instead of labels: a phone icon followed by a number is fine, but a bare icon with a hyperlink and no visible URL can lose your LinkedIn or portfolio.
- Text inside images or text boxes: a logo, a skills chart, or a scanned page contains no readable text at all.
- Creative section names: "My Journey" or "Toolbox" may not map to Experience or Skills. Use standard headings.
- Unusual date formats: "'19 to '21" or "Summer 2022" can be misread. Use "Jun 2019 – Aug 2021" consistently.
How to read your ATS check results
Each finding is labeled by severity. High means a parser may lose or misfile information a recruiter needs, such as your email, phone number, or an entire job. Fix these before sending any application. Medium means the information is there but may be misread or hard to find, such as inconsistent dates or a nonstandard heading. Low covers polish, such as a shortened link or a long skills list.
Because you paste plain text, this checker cannot see fonts, colors, or graphics. The paste itself is the test for those. If something visible in your file did not come through in the paste, assume a parser may miss it too. The keyword results work differently: they compare the words in your resume to the job post and show which terms appear and which do not. Add the missing ones only where they describe real experience.
Examples
Contact details: Name found on line 14, not line 1. Email found. Phone not found. LinkedIn not found.
Section headings: Education, Skills recognized. "Career Story" not recognized as Experience.
Dates: 2 of 5 date ranges unreadable ("'21 – now," "Fall '19").
Text order: Skills list appears before your name, which suggests a sidebar is read first.
Top fix: Move to a single-column layout and put contact details in the body, not the header.
Contact details: Name, email, phone, city, and LinkedIn URL all found.
Section headings: Summary, Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications recognized.
Dates: All 6 date ranges readable; formats mixed ("03/2020" and "Mar 2022").
Keywords: 14 of 18 job post terms found. Missing: "SOX compliance," "NetSuite," "variance analysis," "month-end close."
Top fix: Use one date format and add the missing terms you have used.
Tips for better results
- Test the exact file you will upload, since exports from different apps extract text differently.
- Keep your name, email, phone, city, and LinkedIn URL in the main body near the top of page one.
- Use standard headings: Summary, Experience, Education, Skills, and Certifications.
- Write every date range in one format, with month and year on both ends.
- Use the job title from the posting in your summary or headline if it honestly describes your work.