ATS match score
A score from 0 to 100 based on how many of the job's required and preferred skills your resume shows. The same resume and job always get the same score.
Free ATS resume checker and AI resume optimizer
Qualified for the job, but never hear back?
Before a person reads your resume, software often searches it for the skills in the job posting. If the posting says “budget planning” and you wrote “managed spending”, you may not show up. CVAlign shows which of the job’s skills your resume is missing and helps you add them, using only what is true.
- Free plan
- No credit card needed
- Text-based PDFs
Amélie O'Neil
amelie@example.com • San Francisco, CA • linkedin.com/in/amelie
Summary
Marketing manager with 6+ years growing sales through clear, customer-focused campaigns.
Skills
Skills: Team leadership · Customer service · Budget planning · Social media · Excel
Experience
Marketing Manager | Lumen Retail2021 – Present
- Grew online sales by 35% with new weekly email campaigns
- Led a team of 6 and managed a $400k yearly budget
Marketing Assistant | Brightpath2018 – 2021
- Ran social media for 3 brands with 50,000+ followers
Education
B.A. Business2014 – 2018
University of Toronto Team leadership: found
Customer service: found
Budget planning: missing
The problem
What happens after you click Apply
You read the posting, you know you could do the job, and you send your resume. Then nothing. Here is what often happens in between.
ApplicationsExample
Marketing ManagerApplied 2 days ago
No responseSales Team LeadApplied 5 days ago
No responseProject CoordinatorApplied 8 days ago
No responseOffice ManagerApplied 11 days ago
No responseCustomer Success LeadApplied 14 days ago
No response- 1
Your resume joins the pile
It goes into the company's applicant tracking system (ATS) with everyone else who applied for the role.
- 2
Software reads it first
The ATS pulls out your job titles, dates and skills. Columns, tables and text boxes can come out jumbled or empty.
- 3
A recruiter searches for skills
They search with the posting's own words, like "budget planning". You wrote "managed the team's spending", so you don't come up.
budget planningYour resume: not in results - 4
You never hear why
No one tells you what went wrong, so the same resume goes to the next job and the same thing happens again.
Often the fix isn't more experience. It's describing the experience you already have in the words the job uses. CVAlign shows you exactly where those words are missing.
97–99%of Fortune 500 companies use an applicant tracking system
How screening works
Software often reads your resume before a recruiter does
An applicant tracking system (ATS) splits your resume into fields such as job titles, dates and skills. Recruiters then search and filter those fields, often by the skills named in the job posting. A skill your resume doesn't mention can't match a search for it.
Jobscan's annual Fortune 500 ATS report has detected an ATS at 97–99% of Fortune 500 companies every year since 2018. Source: Jobscan Fortune 500 ATS report
Project managementCustomer serviceTeamworkData analysisCommunicationSalesBudget planningLeadershipSchedulingMicrosoft ExcelProject managementCustomer serviceTeamworkData analysisCommunicationSalesBudget planningLeadershipSchedulingMicrosoft Excel
Problem solvingTrainingSocial mediaEvent planningBookkeepingTime managementNegotiationReportingRecruitingWritingProblem solvingTrainingSocial mediaEvent planningBookkeepingTime managementNegotiationReportingRecruitingWriting
How it works
Four steps from your resume to a tailored PDF
Import your resume
Upload a PDF, a photo or a scan, or paste the text. Photos and scans are converted to text first.
resume.pdfReading layout · 1 pageCheck the extracted details
Your contact details, experience, education, skills and projects appear as fields you can correct.
Amélie O'Neil, amelie@example.comMarketing Manager, Lumen Retail 2021–Leadership, budgets, customer service…- full_name
- Amélie O'Neil
- title
- Marketing Manager
- skills
- LeadershipBudgetsSalesExcel
Compare it with a job posting
Paste the job description. CVAlign lists the skills it asks for, shows which ones your resume covers, and suggests rewrites of your summary and bullet points. You review every change.
Skills from the job posting (example)
Customer serviceTeam leadershipBudget planningSales growthHelped with the store's emails
Grew online sales 35% with weekly email campaignsDownload the PDF
Pick one of three templates and download a single-column, text-based PDF.
resume.pdfAmélie O'Neilamelie@example.com | San Francisco, CA | linkedin.com/in/amelieSummaryMarketing manager with 6+ years growing sales through clear, customer-focused campaigns.
SkillsSkills: Team leadership · Customer service · Budget planning · Social media · Excel
ExperienceMarketing Manager2021 – PresentLumen Retail- Grew online sales by 35% with new weekly email campaigns
- Led a team of 6 and managed a $400k yearly budget
Marketing Assistant2018 – 2021Brightpath- Ran social media for 3 brands with 50,000+ followers
EducationB.A. Business2014 – 2018University of Toronto
resume.pdf
Reading layout · 1 page
Amélie O'Neil, amelie@example.comMarketing Manager, Lumen Retail 2021–Leadership, budgets, customer service…- full_name
- Amélie O'Neil
- title
- Marketing Manager
- skills
- LeadershipBudgetsSalesExcel
Skills from the job posting (example)
Customer serviceTeam leadershipBudget planningSales growth
Helped with the store's emails
Grew online sales 35% with weekly email campaigns
Amélie O'Neil
amelie@example.com | San Francisco, CA | linkedin.com/in/amelie
Summary
Marketing manager with 6+ years growing sales through clear, customer-focused campaigns.
Skills
Skills: Team leadership · Customer service · Budget planning · Social media · Excel
Experience
Marketing Manager2021 – Present
Lumen Retail- Grew online sales by 35% with new weekly email campaigns
- Led a team of 6 and managed a $400k yearly budget
Marketing Assistant2018 – 2021
Brightpath- Ran social media for 3 brands with 50,000+ followers
Education
B.A. Business2014 – 2018
University of TorontoFeatures
What CVAlign does
Missing keywords
Each skill from the posting is marked as matched, partly matched or missing.
Rewrites that stay true
Employers, job titles, dates and degrees are never changed, and skills your resume doesn't show are not added.
AI cover letter generator
A cover letter for each job, written from your resume and the posting. You can edit every line.
ATS resume templates
Classic, Modern and Compact. All three are single-column and text-based, typeset with LaTeX.
Resume version history
Save a version for each application and go back to any of them.
LaTeX resume templates
Three templates, all single-column
Each template produces a text-based PDF with one column, so applicant tracking systems read it in order.
Amélie O'Neil
amelie@example.com | San Francisco, CA | linkedin.com/in/amelie
Summary
Marketing manager with 6+ years growing sales through clear, customer-focused campaigns.
Skills
Skills: Team leadership · Customer service · Budget planning · Social media · Excel
Experience
Marketing Manager2021 – Present
Lumen Retail- Grew online sales by 35% with new weekly email campaigns
- Led a team of 6 and managed a $400k yearly budget
Marketing Assistant2018 – 2021
Brightpath- Ran social media for 3 brands with 50,000+ followers
Education
B.A. Business2014 – 2018
University of TorontoClassic
Serif type, centered header and small-caps section rules. Safe for any industry.
Amélie O'Neil
amelie@example.com • San Francisco, CA • linkedin.com/in/amelie
Summary
Marketing manager with 6+ years growing sales through clear, customer-focused campaigns.
Skills
Skills: Team leadership · Customer service · Budget planning · Social media · Excel
Experience
Marketing Manager | Lumen Retail2021 – Present
- Grew online sales by 35% with new weekly email campaigns
- Led a team of 6 and managed a $400k yearly budget
Marketing Assistant | Brightpath2018 – 2021
- Ran social media for 3 brands with 50,000+ followers
Education
B.A. Business2014 – 2018
University of TorontoModern
Sans-serif type with green section headings.
Amélie O'Neil
amelie@example.com • San Francisco, CA • linkedin.com/in/amelie
Summary
Marketing manager with 6+ years growing sales through clear, customer-focused campaigns.
Skills
Skills: Team leadership · Customer service · Budget planning · Social media · Excel
Experience
Marketing Manager, Lumen Retail2021 – Present
- Grew online sales by 35% with new weekly email campaigns
- Led a team of 6 and managed a $400k yearly budget
Marketing Assistant, Brightpath2018 – 2021
- Ran social media for 3 brands with 50,000+ followers
Education
B.A. Business2014 – 2018
University of TorontoCompact
Smaller margins and one line per entry, for fitting more on one page.
Swipe to see all templates
Comparison
Tailoring a resume by hand, and with CVAlign
| Capability | Tailoring by handBy hand | With CVAlignCVAlign |
|---|---|---|
| Finding the job's required skills | Read the posting and list them yourself | Listed for you |
| Checking what your resume covers | Compare line by line | Matched and missing skills shown |
| Rewording bullet points | Write each version yourself | Suggested rewrites you can accept or edit |
| Layout | Depends on your template | Single-column, text-based PDF |
ATS resume guide
How to write an ATS-friendly resume
Lesson 1 of 3ATS
Many employers run applications through software before a recruiter reads them. That software is the ATS.
- Software employers use to collect applications, parse resumes into fields and search or rank candidates by keywords and qualifications.
- An estimate of how well a resume matches a job description, usually based on how many required skills and keywords it contains.
- Comparing the skills, tools and terms in a job description with the words in your resume. Exact phrases and common variants both matter.
Do's and don'ts in 30 seconds
1. Layout
Do Read in the right order
ExperienceEducationSkills
Don't Scrambled
Do: Use a single-column layout with standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills).
Don't: Use tables, text boxes or multiple columns for core content.
1 / 4
FAQ
Questions about ATS resumes and CVAlign
ATS scores, resume keywords, cover letters, plans and privacy.
ATS basics
What is an ATS resume checker?
An ATS resume checker compares your resume with a job description the way an applicant tracking system does. It shows which required skills and keywords your resume includes, which are missing, and how well it matches overall, so you can fix the gaps before you apply.
#How do I beat an applicant tracking system?
Match your resume to each job description. Use the job's exact wording for skills you genuinely have, keep a simple single-column layout with standard headings, and submit a text-based PDF. CVAlign finds the missing keywords and rewrites your bullets to include them truthfully.
#What is a good ATS score?
In CVAlign, 75% or higher means your resume covers most of what the job requires. Between 50% and 75% usually means a few important skills are missing or worded differently. Aim to show every required skill you truly have rather than chasing 100%.
#How many keywords should a resume have?
There is no magic number: include every required skill from the job description that you genuinely have, in the job's own wording, and the preferred skills that apply to you. Repeating keywords or hiding them in white text does not help and can hurt your chances.
#What is the best resume format for ATS?
A single-column, text-based PDF with standard section headings such as Experience, Education and Skills works best. Avoid tables, text boxes, columns and graphics for important content. Every CVAlign template follows these rules, so applicant tracking systems read it in the right order.
#Do applicant tracking systems read PDF resumes?
Yes, most modern applicant tracking systems read text-based PDFs well. Problems come from image-only or scanned PDFs, multi-column layouts, tables and text boxes. CVAlign exports single-column, text-based PDFs to avoid all of these.
#Using CVAlign
What is CVAlign?
CVAlign is a free AI resume optimizer and ATS resume checker. It scores your resume against a job description, rewrites your summary and bullets with the job's keywords without inventing experience, writes a matching cover letter, and exports an ATS-friendly PDF.
#How do I tailor my resume to a job description?
Import your resume into CVAlign and paste the job description. It lists the skills the job asks for, highlights the ones you're missing, and rewrites your summary and bullets in the job's wording where it is true for you. Review the changes, then download the PDF.
#How does CVAlign calculate my ATS match score?
CVAlign extracts the required and preferred skills from the job description and checks how many your resume shows. Required skills count for 75% of the score and preferred skills for 25%; partly matched skills count half. The same resume and job always get the same score.
#Will CVAlign invent experience or skills?
No. CVAlign never changes your employers, job titles, dates or degrees, and it drops any skill the AI suggests that your resume doesn't already support. Missing skills appear only as suggestions, for you to add if you genuinely have them.
#Do I need to know LaTeX to use CVAlign?
No. CVAlign writes and typesets the LaTeX for you, so you only fill in your details and pick a template. LaTeX is used because it produces clean, consistent, text-based PDFs; if you know it, you can edit the source and recompile in the browser.
#Cover letters & versions
Can CVAlign write a cover letter for me?
Yes. On Pro and Premium, CVAlign's AI cover letter generator writes a letter for each job from your resume and the job description, using only facts from your resume. You choose the tone, edit any line, and download it as a PDF matching your resume.
#Can I keep different versions of my resume for different jobs?
Yes. CVAlign saves a version when you import a resume or apply optimizations, and you can save named versions anytime. Restore any version in one click. Free keeps 1 version, Pro keeps 20 and Premium keeps unlimited versions.
#Plans, privacy & files
Is CVAlign free?
Yes. The Free plan costs $0 and includes 2 AI optimizations a day, basic ATS analysis, job-description matching and 3 templates; you unlock each PDF download by watching a short ad. Pro ($12.99/month) and Premium ($24.99/month) are ad-free.
#Can I upload a scanned resume or a photo?
Yes. CVAlign accepts PDF, PNG, JPG, WEBP and TXT files up to 10 MB. Text-based PDFs are read directly, and scanned PDFs or phone photos are transcribed by vision AI before your details are extracted.
#Is my resume data private?
Yes. CVAlign's server processes your files in memory and doesn't store them. Your drafts and saved versions stay in your own browser, and your resume text is sent to our AI processing providers only to parse and optimize it.
#Check your resume against a job posting
Import your resume, paste the job description, review the suggested changes and download the PDF. The Free plan needs no credit card.