What an ATS actually does
ATS stands for applicant tracking system. Depending on the employer and its setup, it may extract information from a file, populate fields, support filters, or help search profiles. These systems vary. There is no universal score that decides whether every resume “passes.”
Describe the work you actually did clearly. Hiring decisions still depend on each employer's process and the people involved.
Make the text easy to extract
Image-only files, complex columns, tables, text boxes, and contact details in headers or footers can interfere with parsing in some systems. Greenhouse lists these among reasons for incomplete or unsuccessful extraction. A PDF can work well when it contains selectable text.
Use recognizable headings such as “Work Experience,” “Education,” and “Skills.” Put your name and contact details in the document body. After uploading, review the imported fields and correct anything missing or wrong. Greenhouse also advises candidates to check automatically populated information.
Keywords need context
Job-posting terms help when they describe a skill you actually have. If you used React and the posting asks for it, show which project used React and what you did there. The same applies to bank reconciliations or a skill from any other field. Hidden word lists, artificial repetition, and skills you do not have may confuse readers and hurt your credibility.
The useful approach is to prepare your resume for the role: connect requirements to real evidence, use natural wording, and make relevant work visible.
Where Curriculy helps
Import a public job from Greenhouse, Lever, SmartRecruiters, Workable, Ashby or Himalayas, or paste its description. Review and edit the text before analysis. For unsupported sources or failed imports, paste it manually; providing only the role gives general guidance.
Curriculy uses advanced AI to connect experience with job requirements, with consistency checks. Content analysis and file parsing are different: the diagnosis considers documented experience, while readable text and sections help information extraction. No service can guarantee identical parsing across all systems or approval in a hiring process.
You can analyze your resume for free and review each suggestion before using it.