See how your resume reads to an ATS.

How it works

The free check is a short technical pass. You stay on this page until the file is accepted; then we show a readability score for that upload. No account, and no AI model on this path.

1. Upload a PDF or DOCX. We extract the text from your file. We do not store the original upload. If the PDF is a scan with no selectable text, we cannot score it.
2. Paste a job description (optional). Add the posting when you want a found/missing keyword list for that role. Leave it blank for a general readability check of structure and format.
3. Get a rules-based score. The number estimates how easily common ATS parsing patterns can read the extracted text. It is not a prediction that you will be hired, and it does not copy any one vendor’s ranking formula.

What the free check covers

Everything below runs on extracted text and fixed rules. The free path never calls an LLM.

• Readability score

  A 0–100 estimate from section headings, format signals, action-verb patterns, and — if you pasted a job — keyword overlap.

• Keywords

  When a job description is present, we list posting terms that appear in your extracted resume text and terms that do not. “Missing” means the posting used that term and your extracted text did not — not that you must insert words you cannot defend.

• Format findings

  We flag issues we can actually see in the extracted text, such as missing contact details or few recognizable headings. We do not invent font or precise layout findings the parser cannot verify.

What it does not do

A checker is not a recruiter. Keep these limits in mind so the score is useful instead of magical.

• It does not predict interviews, offers, or hiring decisions.
• It does not use AI on the free check — only fixed ATS-oriented rules.
• It only scores resumes in English or Spanish.
• It does not require an account, email, or sign-up.
• It does not claim to reproduce Workday, Greenhouse, Taleo, or any other named ATS.

Guides if you want to learn first

The upload above is the tool. These articles explain parsing, keyword matching, and format in more depth — then you can come back and check a file.

• How ATS reads resumes (and what to fix first)How applicant tracking systems extract text, which layouts scramble reading order, and a pre-apply checklist for files humans and software can both read.
• How to match your resume to a job description (without stuffing keywords)Which terms to take from a posting, where to place them with evidence, and why a missing-keyword list is a prompt — not an order to insert words you cannot defend.
• Resume formatting that ATS software can actually parseSingle-column structure, standard headings, contact in the body, file types, and an honest account of what automated format checks can detect.
• PDF or DOCX: which resume file format ATS handles betterWhat each format does to text extraction, when one is safer than the other, and the file-level failure that outweighs the extension entirely.
• Resume section headings an ATS reliably recognizesWhich section titles automated checks detect, why a heading must sit alone on its own line, and what creative section names quietly cost you.
• Why a resume scores low on ATS readability checksThe four components behind a readability score, the exact deductions that pull it down, and why a strong resume can still score badly.
• Writing a skills section for ATS and humansWhich skills belong in a list and which belong in your bullets, why exact wording decides a match, and the formatting that hides skills entirely.
• Dates and employment gaps: what parsers extractWhy dates are fragile in extraction, a format that survives it, and an honest account of what software can and cannot infer about a gap.
• Hard skills, soft skills, and job titles as keywordsHow match terms fall into hard skills, soft skills, and titles — and why exact wording, not a longer list, decides whether a keyword is found.
• Tailoring one resume across many applicationsA master CV plus small per-application variants: what to change, what to keep stable, and why one stuffed file for every posting fails.
• What an ATS cannot see: images, icons, charts, headersWhy text in images, icon-only contact, skill bars, and headers never reaches the parser — and a two-minute paste test to catch it.
• Job titles: matching the posting without misrepresentingHow to align title language with a posting without inflating seniority, inventing scope, or rewriting the employer’s name.
• Contact details and links parsers actually extractWhere email, phone, and links survive extraction — body text versus headers, icons, and images — and what this checker can and cannot detect.
• Resume length and page count: what actually mattersWhy the one-page rule is weaker than parseability, and when a page-count check even runs (only if the parser marks it reliable).
• Reading an ATS readability score honestlyWhat a readability number measures, what it does not predict, and how to use it without treating it as a hiring decision.

All ATS resume guides