How to Check ATS Resume Score and Fix Your CV

You want to check your ATS resume score, and the honest answer is this: there is no single official score. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are software that companies use to scan resumes before a person reads them, and each one parses your CV differently. What you can do is run your resume against a specific job description using an ATS checker tool, see where it falls short, and fix those gaps.

What Checking Your ATS Score Really Means

That process is what people mean by checking your ATS score, and it is the most useful thing you can do before applying.

Run Your Resume Through an ATS Checker

Start by saving your resume as a .docx file or a plain text-based PDF. Avoid tables, images, graphics, headers, and footers; ATS software reads text left to right and gets confused by anything else. Copy the full job description you are applying for, then use a free ATS checker tool like Jobscan, ResumeWorded, or a similar resume scanner. Paste in both your resume and the job posting, and the tool will show you a match percentage and highlight which keywords from the job description appear in your resume.

Do not treat that number as a final grade. Treat it as a diagnostic. A low score usually means one of three things: missing keywords, formatting the ATS cannot parse, or a structure that does not match standard sections like Work Experience, Skills, and Education. The tool will point out which one is dragging you down.

Match the Job Description, Not a Generic Checklist

The single biggest factor in your ATS score is keyword match. Read the job description and pull out the hard skills, tools, certifications, and exact phrases it uses. If the posting says “strategic project management,” use that exact phrase in your resume, not “handled projects.” If it says “Agile methodology,” write that, not “flexible development process.” Mirror the language naturally in your bullet points.

1. Highlight 10 to 15 keywords from the job description, including both hard skills and soft skills.
2. Check your resume for each one. If a keyword is missing, weave it into a relevant bullet point with context.
3. Spell out acronyms the first time you use them, like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), then use the abbreviation after.
4. Quantify your achievements wherever you can. “Led a team” becomes “Led a 12-person team and cut project time.”
5. Re-run the checker and see if the score improved. Aim for a strong match on the key terms.
6. Test with a second job description to make sure your resume is not overfitted to one posting.

Do not stuff keywords. Repeating “leadership” ten times looks spammy to both the ATS and the person who eventually reads it. Use each term once or twice, in a sentence that sounds like a human wrote it.

Fix Formatting That Breaks Parsing

Even with perfect keywords, a resume that the ATS cannot read will score zero. Use standard section headings: Professional Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications. Bold your job titles and dates, but do not use text boxes, columns, or tables. Keep your font simple, like Arial or Calibri at 10 to 12 points. A quick test: copy your entire resume and paste it into a plain text editor like Notepad. If the text comes out jumbled, with bullets missing or sections out of order, the ATS will struggle with it too.

Keep your resume to two pages for most roles, and put your most recent experience first. Do not include a photo, a fancy template, or “References available upon request.” None of that helps the parser, and it can actively hurt you.

Make It Readable for a Human Too

ATS optimization gets you past the filter, but a person still has to read your resume. After you fix the keywords and formatting, read it out loud. Does it flow? Does it tell a clear story of what you did and what you achieved? If you added a keyword that does not fit your actual experience, remove it. A mismatch between your resume and the interview will cost you more than a low ATS score ever will.

Check your resume on your phone as well. Many companies review applications on mobile, and a document that looks broken on a small screen will get skipped. If you want a faster way to do all of this, Destava's AI career manager can build and fix your resume, match it against a job description, and handle the scanning for you.