75% of resumes never reach a human. Learn how ATS scoring works — and how to build a CV that beats the algorithm every time.
An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is software that automatically scans, ranks, and filters job applications before a human ever reads them.
Via job board, company site, or email
Extracts text, checks keywords, formats, structure
Match rate vs. job description requirements
Below threshold? Never seen by a recruiter
Top candidates passed to hiring team
of Fortune 500 companies use Applicant Tracking Systems to manage and filter applications at scale.
of qualified candidates are rejected by ATS before a recruiter ever sees their resume — often due to formatting or keyword issues, not lack of qualifications.
applications are received for every corporate job posting on average. ATS systems help companies manage this volume efficiently.
ATS systems evaluate your CV across multiple dimensions. Knowing what they're looking for is the first step to optimizing your score.
How closely your CV mirrors the exact terms, skills, and phrases in the job description. The single biggest factor.
Relevance and recency of your roles. ATS checks job titles, company names, and duration against requirements.
Hard skills, tools, and certifications listed in the posting. Exact phrasing matters — "MS Excel" vs "Microsoft Excel".
Degree level, field of study, and institution. Some roles have hard cutoffs that ATS enforces automatically.
Clean structure the ATS can read. Tables, columns, images, and fancy formatting often cause parsing failures.
Properly formatted contact info and proximity to the job location. Missing details hurt your completeness score.
ATS scores are typically expressed as a percentage match. Here's how to interpret where you land — and what to do about it.
Immediately filtered out. Never reaches a human.
Unlikely to proceed. Requires major improvements.
May pass, but not competitive. Optimize further.
Likely to reach recruiter. Good standing.
Top of the pile. High interview probability.
These are the highest-impact strategies to increase your ATS match score and get in front of real hiring managers.
Read the job posting carefully and incorporate the exact keywords, phrases, and terminology used. If they say "project management" don't write "project oversight" — exact match is king.
Highest ImpactStick to single-column layouts. Avoid tables, text boxes, headers/footers, images, and fancy fonts. Use standard section headings like "Work Experience", "Education", and "Skills".
CriticalATS systems search for recognized titles. If your official title was "Growth Ninja", include the standard equivalent like "Marketing Manager" alongside it. Recruiters search standard titles.
ImportantNumbers stand out to both ATS and humans. "Increased sales by 34%" scores better than "improved sales performance". Add metrics wherever possible — percentages, revenue, team size, timelines.
High ImpactWord documents (.docx) are the safest format for ATS compatibility. If using PDF, ensure it's text-based (not scanned). Avoid creative PDF formats built in Canva or Illustrator.
FormattingOne-size-fits-all CVs rarely score above 60%. Tailor your CV to each role by adjusting your summary, highlighting relevant skills, and re-ordering experience bullet points to match.
StrategyStop guessing. mastering.cv analyzes your CV against real job descriptions, identifies missing keywords, and generates an optimized version that gets past the bots.