ATS Resume Checker: Free ATS Score for Your Resume

Your resume

Read in your browser. Nothing is uploaded unless you unlock the improved resume.

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The short answer

An applicant tracking system (ATS) reads your resume into fields recruiters search. There is no official ATS score: every employer sets its own filters. This checker shows what a parser reads from your file, flags layouts that break it, scores it out of 100 and lists fixes by impact. Add a job description to see which skills you are missing.

How to use it

  1. 1

    Drop your resume as a PDF or Word file, or paste the text. It is read in your browser and never uploaded.

  2. 2

    Add the job description if you have one, to see which of its skills your resume shows.

  3. 3

    Fix the items at the top of the list first: they cost the most points, then check again.

Private by design

Your browser reads the file the way a resume parser does, on your own device. Nothing is uploaded or stored, and there is no sign-up. Close the page and your resume is gone.

The report shows the text a parser takes from your file, the details it could and could not find, and what to fix, with the changes that matter most at the top. Add a job description to see which of its skills your resume shows.

If you unlock the optional improved resume, the text of your resume and the job description is sent to our AI provider to write them. CareerBhavan does not store it. Everything else stays on your device.

What is an ATS, and how does it read your resume?

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is the software employers use to collect applications for a job. When you apply, it parses your resume: it pulls out your name, contact details, job titles, dates, education and skills, and stores them as fields. Recruiters then search and filter those fields, for example everyone with Tally, GST and two years of experience.

Most systems do not reject you on their own. What hurts is a resume the parser misreads: a phone number it cannot find, a job title glued to a date from another column, or skills hidden in a text box. Your profile then never comes up in the recruiter's search, even when you fit the role.

ATS-friendly resume format: what works

  • One column, read top to bottom. Sidebars and two-column templates are the most common reason text gets mixed up.
  • Standard headings: Summary, Experience, Internships, Projects, Education, Skills and Certifications.
  • Contact details in the body, at the top: name, mobile number with +91, email, city and your LinkedIn address written out.
  • A text PDF or a .docx file, exported from Word or Google Docs. Never a scan or a photo of your resume.
  • Plain bullets and common fonts such as Calibri, Arial or Times New Roman. No icons in place of words, and no tables or text boxes for key details.
  • One date format for every role, for example Jan 2024 to Present, placed next to the job title.

ATS-friendly resume format for freshers in India

For your first job, keep to one page and lead with what you have done, not what you hope to do. This order works for most campus and fresher roles:

  1. Name and contact details.
  2. A two-line summary: your degree, your strongest skill and the role you want.
  3. Education, with your percentage next to your CGPA. Use your university's own rule, which our CGPA to percentage calculator applies.
  4. Internships and training, with 2 to 4 bullets each.
  5. Academic or personal projects: what you built and what it achieved.
  6. Skills: tools and software first, then languages.
  7. Certifications, achievements and positions of responsibility.

Leave out your photo, date of birth, marital status, father's name and the declaration unless the job post asks for them. Most private employers do not use them, and they take space from your skills.

How to improve your ATS score for a specific job

  1. Paste the job description into the checker and note the missing skills.
  2. Add each skill you genuinely have, in the job's own spelling: Power BI, not just "BI tools".
  3. Show the skill at work inside a bullet: "Built a Power BI dashboard tracking sales for 40 stores" counts for more than a word in a skills list.
  4. Use the job title from the post in your summary, if it describes what you do.
  5. Fix the items the checker marks as High impact first, then check again.

Do not hide the job description in white text or stuff your resume with keywords. Recruiters read whatever the system shows them, and it looks careless.

Common reasons a resume fails ATS checks

  • A scanned or photographed resume, or text turned into shapes by a design app: there is nothing to read.
  • A two-column template, where a parser reads straight across and mixes the columns.
  • Contact details in the page header or footer, which many parsers skip.
  • Icons in place of the words Email and Phone.
  • Creative section names such as "My Journey" instead of Experience.
  • Missing dates, or dates in a different place for every role.

Frequently asked questions

What is an ATS score?

Employers use applicant tracking systems such as Workday, SuccessFactors or Naukri RMS to store applications and search them. None of them publishes a universal score, so any tool that shows an "ATS score" uses its own rules. Ours is labelled as ours, and the report shows exactly what to fix to raise it.

Is my resume uploaded or stored?

Not for the check itself. The file is read by your own browser on your own device, with no sign-up, and nothing is saved. Only if you unlock the optional improved resume is the text of your resume and the job description sent to our AI provider to write them. CareerBhavan does not store it.

Why do two-column resumes fail ATS checks?

Many parsers read a page in rows, straight across. On a two-column resume that mixes a line from the sidebar with a line from your experience, so dates, job titles and skills land in the wrong fields. The checker shows you that mixed text. One column with clear headings reads correctly everywhere.

Should I send a PDF or a Word file?

Either works if the text is real text. A PDF exported from Word or Google Docs is fine. A scanned resume, a photo of one, or a design export where text became shapes cannot be read at all. If a job portal asks for Word, send a .docx, not an old .doc.

How do I improve my ATS score?

Use one column, standard headings (Experience, Education, Skills, Projects), your email and phone in the body rather than the header, and bullets that start with a verb and show a number. Then match each application: use the job description's own words for skills you genuinely have, inside a bullet that shows how you used them.

Should an Indian resume have a photo, date of birth and declaration?

Most private-sector employers in India do not need them, and they take space from your skills. Leave out the photo, date of birth, marital status, parent's name and the "I hereby declare" line unless the job post asks for them, as some government and overseas applications do.

What is a good ATS score?

On this checker, 80 or more means a parser can read your file and find what it needs. Below 60, fix the High impact items first. For each application, the job description match matters more than the total: aim to show most of the skills the post asks for.

Can I check my CV here too?

Yes. Applicant tracking systems read a CV the same way as a resume. Upload your CV as a PDF or Word file. For a long academic CV the length check will flag it, which you can ignore for academic and research roles.

Does the checker work on a phone?

Yes. Choose the file from your phone's storage, or paste the text. Everything runs in the browser, so it works the same on a phone as on a laptop.

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