Common questions
Quick answers about ATS scores and how to improve yours.
What is an ATS score?
An ATS score measures how well your resume matches a specific job description. Applicant Tracking Systems — used by 99% of Fortune 500 companies — scan your resume for keywords from the job posting. Resumes that score above a threshold get seen by a recruiter. Those that don't are filtered out automatically.
What does a good ATS score look like?
Most recruiters recommend targeting a 75–85% match rate. Below 60% and your resume is likely being filtered out. Above 85% and you're well positioned — though the score is one factor, not the only one.
Why is my ATS score low?
The most common reason is keyword mismatch — your resume uses different language than the job description. For example, you write "team leadership" but the job description says "cross-functional team management". ATS systems often don't count these as matches. The fix is to mirror the exact language from the job description. For a deeper walkthrough, read our ATS optimization guide.
How do I improve my ATS score?
The fastest way is to use RankResume — upload your resume, paste the job description, and get a fully tailored version with all missing keywords incorporated naturally in 60 seconds. We offer pay-as-you-go pricing with no subscription. Alternatively, you can manually review the missing keywords from your results above and rewrite your bullet points to include them.
New to the product? See how RankResume works on the homepage.