Kick Resume Score: How to Improve It for ATS and Jobs

You saw a kick resume score after running your CV through a checker, and now you want to know how to raise it. The score is a rough guess at how well your resume will survive an applicant tracking system and read cleanly to a recruiter. You don't need a perfect number. You need a resume that parses correctly, matches the job posting in plain language, and shows what you actually did.

What the score is really checking

Most tools behind a kick resume score look at four things: whether the file can be read by software, whether your headings and dates are in a normal order, whether the words from the job description appear in your resume, and whether your bullets contain results rather than duties. A low score usually means one of those broke, not that your career is weak.

Treat the number as a checklist, not a verdict. Different tools count things differently, so a resume that scores low on one site may score fine on another. Fix what the report points to, then move on.

Fix the file and layout first

Parsing problems are the easiest to solve and the most common reason for a poor score. Save as a text-based PDF or a .docx, whichever the job posting asks for. A resume exported as an image, or built inside a graphic, often comes through as blank text.

Use one column. Put your name and contact details at the top of the page body, not inside a header or footer, because some systems skip that area. Keep section headings plain: Summary, Experience, Education, Skills. Skip tables, text boxes, icons and photos. Standard fonts are fine; so is 10 to 12 point text.

Match the job posting in your own words

Open the job description and note the skills and tools it names. Then check whether your resume uses the same words. If the posting says customer relationship management and you wrote CRM only, write both once. If it asks for Excel and you listed spreadsheets, use the word Excel.

Don't stuff the page with repeats. A term appearing once or twice in a natural sentence is enough. Read the posting line by line and ask: could a stranger tell from my resume that I have done this? If not, add a bullet that proves it.

Rewrite bullets so they carry weight

Most low scores come from bullets that describe a job rather than a person doing it. "Responsible for sales" tells a reader nothing. "Handled 20 dealer accounts across two states and grew monthly orders from existing clients" gives them something to picture.

Start each bullet with a verb: managed, built, fixed, trained, reduced, launched. Then say what you worked on, for whom or at what scale, and what changed. Use numbers you can defend in an interview: team size, number of locations, volume handled, time saved, money recovered. If you don't have a number, describe the scale in words.

Keep bullets to one or two lines. Three dense lines get skipped by people and parsed badly by software.

A quick pass before you apply

1. Save a clean copy as a text-based PDF or .docx.
2. Paste the job description into a plain document and highlight the skills and tools it names.
3. Check that each highlighted term appears somewhere true in your resume.
4. Rewrite any bullet that starts with "responsible for" or has no result.
5. Run the score again, fix only what the report explains clearly, and stop.

If a tool gives you a score with no reason attached, ignore it. A number without a fix is noise.

For freshers and career switchers, the same rules apply with less material. Lead with projects, internships, coursework and any freelance or family-business work that shows the skill the posting asks for. A short, clean, matched resume beats a long one every time.

Once your resume parses cleanly and matches the roles you want, the next step is getting it in front of people. Destava's AI career manager can build and fix your resume, tighten your LinkedIn profile, and apply to matching jobs for you.