Resume grader: how your resume is scored out of 100

What the grader checks

Many employers use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to collect and search applications. The grader checks your resume against common ATS conventions, in three parts:

• Format, 30% of the score: an email address, a phone number and a LinkedIn link; experience, education and skills sections; a summary or profile; and a length that suits your career level.
• Content, 40%: a range of action verbs, numbers that show results, clear start and end dates, education and certifications.
• Keywords, 30%: how many common terms for your chosen industry appear, whether you have a skills section, and whether the terms appear in your writing rather than mostly in one long list.

Each part is scored out of 100 before the weights apply, so a resume that passes every check scores 100.

How keywords are counted

Each of the 15 industries has its own list of terms. A term counts once, however often you repeat it. Terms inside a long comma-separated list count at half weight, so a block of keywords adds less than the same skills shown in your experience. The top keyword band starts when about half of the list matches.

The four grades

• Needs work: below 50
• Fair: 50 to 69
• Good: 70 to 84
• Excellent: 85 and above

Your report also shows an estimate of the score your resume could reach if you apply the suggestions. It is an estimate, not a measurement.

What is a good score?

There is no single pass mark. Each checker uses its own rules, so the same resume can score differently elsewhere, and our score has not been tested against hiring outcomes. Use it to find what to fix and to compare versions of your own resume. Results are guidance, not a guarantee.

What the grader can't see

It reads the text in your PDF or DOCX, not the layout, so fonts, columns, tables and images are invisible to it, and a scanned PDF with no text can't be read. It doesn't read a job description either. For that, the automated recruiter review compares your resume with one job ad, for US$9.99, once.

Its date check reads a range from a year to a year or to Present, with or without months, as in Mar 2021 – Jun 2024 or 03/2021 – Present. A range of months with no year, as in May – June, doesn't count.

Raising your grade

Work through the suggestions in your report, starting with those marked Critical. Each one shows the issue, a fix with a before/after example and how much it matters. Then grade the new version with the free ATS resume checker: because the rules are fixed, a change in score comes from your edit. For a step-by-step routine, see how to test your resume.

Questions