Editor's note (remove before publishing): Replace every figure written in [brackets] with theTailorCV's latest aggregate numbers from the platform, then delete this note. Real first-party data is what earns backlinks — placeholders are here so nothing is published as a made-up statistic.
Most resumes never reach a human. They are scored, ranked, and filtered by an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) first — and the difference between a callback and silence often comes down to a handful of fixable issues. We looked at the patterns across resumes run through theTailorCV's free ATS score checker to see what actually moves the score.
Here is what the data shows — and exactly how to fix each one.
The headline numbers
- [XX]% of resumes scored below 60 on their first scan against a target job description.
- After tailoring with theTailorCV, the average ATS score rose from [XX] to [XX].
- The single biggest score driver was keyword match — responsible for an estimated [XX]% of the gap.
1. Missing keywords (the #1 score killer)
The most common reason a resume scores low is simple: it does not contain the words the job description uses. ATS keyword matching is literal — "JS" is not "JavaScript," and "managed a team" is not "team leadership."
In our data, [XX]% of low-scoring resumes were missing 5 or more of the job's core keywords.
The fix: mirror the exact phrasing of the job description for your real skills. Paste both into the ATS score checker to see the missing terms, and browse role-specific keyword lists in our resume examples by job role.
2. Formatting the ATS can't parse
Tables, multi-column layouts, text inside images, headers/footers, and unusual fonts cause parsers to drop or scramble content. A beautiful resume that the ATS reads as gibberish scores poorly.
About [XX]% of resumes lost points to formatting alone.
The fix: use a clean, single-column, standard-heading layout. Our ATS-friendly templates, including Jake's Resume template, are built to parse correctly.
3. Generic, untailored resumes
One resume sent to every job underperforms. Relevance — how closely your experience maps to this role — is a scored signal, and a generic resume is generic to the ATS too.
The fix: tailor the top third of your resume (summary, skills, most-recent role) to each application. The AI resume optimizer does this in minutes.
4. No measurable impact
ATS scoring rewards relevant content, and recruiters reward proof. Bullets like "responsible for sales" carry far less weight than "grew sales 28% in two quarters."
The fix: quantify outcomes. See role-specific example bullet points in our resume examples library.
What moved the score the most
Ranked by average score impact in our data:
- Adding missing keywords — the largest single lever
- Fixing formatting so the ATS parses cleanly
- Tailoring the summary and skills to the role
- Quantifying achievements with numbers
Frequently asked questions
What is a good ATS score?
Aim for 80+ against the specific job you're applying to. Below 60 usually means missing keywords or parsing issues.
Does the ATS really reject resumes automatically?
Most ATS platforms rank and filter rather than hard-reject, but low-ranked resumes rarely get seen. A higher match score gets you in front of a recruiter.
How do I check my ATS score for free?
Paste your resume and the job description into theTailorCV's free ATS score checker for an instant score, the missing keywords, and the fixes that raise it.
Check your own score
Don't guess where your resume stands. Run it through the free ATS score checker, fix the gaps it surfaces, and switch to an ATS-friendly template before you apply.
