How Can I Check My Resume's ATS Score for Free?

You have spent hours preparing your resume, refining bullet points, adding achievements, and getting the formatting right. But how do you know whether your resume is actually ATS-friendly?

More importantly, how do you know what is missing and what needs improvement before you start applying?

This is where an ATS resume score becomes useful.

An ATS score helps you evaluate how well your resume is structured, how effectively it communicates your experience, whether it contains relevant keywords, and where you need to make improvements.

In this article, I'll explain what an ATS is, how to make your resume ATS-compliant, and how you can check your resume score for free using MeraCareer.

What Is An ATS And Why Does It Matter?

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is software used by companies to manage recruitment and hiring workflows.

Whenever you apply for a job through a company's career portal, your resume is often processed through an ATS before it reaches the recruiter.

These systems help companies:

• Collect and organize applications

• Extract information from resumes

• Identify relevant skills and experience

• Search candidates using specific keywords

• Track candidates throughout the hiring process

Companies use platforms such as IBM, Oracle Taleo, iCIMS, Workday, and several others to manage their recruitment processes.

And as application volumes continue increasing, ATS adoption has become an important part of modern hiring.

Here is something you should understand: an ATS does not necessarily reject every resume that fails to meet a particular score. Recruiters still make hiring decisions, and different ATS platforms have different capabilities.

However, if your resume cannot be interpreted properly or does not communicate relevant experience, you may lose visibility during the initial screening process.

That is why creating an ATS-friendly resume matters.

For a complete guide on formatting, read how to write an ATS-friendly resume that actually gets shortlisted.

First, Make Sure Your Resume Is ATS-Friendly

Before checking your ATS score, you need to ensure that your resume follows some basic formatting principles.

I have covered ATS-friendly resume formatting in detail in another article, but here are the fundamentals you should follow.

1. Keep Your Formatting Simple: Use a clean, single-column layout with clearly separated sections. Avoid unnecessary design elements, complicated templates, multiple columns, and floating text boxes that may interfere with resume parsing.

2. Use Professional, Readable Fonts: Stick to standard fonts such as Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, or Times New Roman. Maintain consistent font sizes, spacing, and section headings throughout the document.

3. Avoid Images And Graphics: Your resume should primarily contain readable text. Avoid photographs, logos, skill-rating graphics, progress bars, and decorative icons that may not be interpreted correctly by ATS software.

4. Use Standard Section Headings: Use familiar headings such as:

• Professional Summary

• Work Experience

• Skills

• Education

• Certifications

• Projects

Avoid creative section titles that may make it difficult for systems to identify the information.

5. Use Relevant Keywords: Read the job description carefully and incorporate relevant skills, tools, technologies, and domain-specific terminology into your resume wherever they genuinely match your experience.

6. Use The Correct File Format: Follow the employer's instructions. PDF and Word (.docx) are commonly accepted formats, but make sure your PDF contains selectable text rather than scanned images.

Once your resume follows these fundamentals, you can move to the next step.

For a deeper look at tailoring keywords to a specific role, read exact AI prompts to tailor your resume to any job description.

How To Check Your Resume ATS Score For Free Using MeraCareer

This is fairly straightforward and takes only a few minutes.

Follow these steps:

1. Visit MeraCareer Resume Score Generator.

2. Upload your latest resume.

3. Let the AI analyze your resume and generate a detailed score report.

You will receive a report that evaluates different aspects of your resume, highlights potential problems, and recommends specific improvements.

But here is where things get interesting.

Don't just look at the overall score and close the report. The real value lies in understanding the different sections of the assessment.

What Should You Look For In Your ATS Score Report?

Your resume score report gives you considerably more information than just a number out of 100.

Here is what you should pay attention to.

1. Overall Resume Score

The first thing you will see is your overall resume score, along with an assessment of how effectively your resume communicates your experience.

The score gives you a quick indication of where your resume stands.

The report categorizes scores into three levels:

• Below 60: ATS rejection is likely.

• 60–75: Your resume may pass, but it may not stand out.

• Above 75: Your resume is better positioned for competitive applications.

You will also receive an overall assessment explaining what is working and what needs improvement.

For example, the report may identify strong experience details and relevant skills while highlighting missing contact information, weak action verbs, or insufficient quantification.

One important thing: treat this score as a diagnostic indicator, not a guarantee of shortlisting. Different employers use different ATS configurations, and there is no universal ATS score that guarantees selection.

2. Fix These First: Prioritized Recommendations

This is probably one of the most useful sections of the entire report.

Instead of giving you a generic list of resume improvement tips, it identifies specific issues in your resume and ranks them based on their potential impact.

For example, the sample report identified three important improvements:

A. Add A Clearly ATS-Compatible Phone Number: Your phone number should be included in a standard numerical format without unnecessary spaces, symbols, or decorative formatting that could interfere with parsing.

Your contact information is important because recruiters need to be able to reach you.

B. Increase The Percentage Of Bullet Points Starting With Action Verbs: Your resume should communicate ownership and contribution clearly.

Instead of writing: "Responsible for managing customer onboarding operations."

Write: "Optimized customer onboarding operations, improving processing efficiency by 28%."

Strong opening verbs make your contributions easier to identify and understand.

C. Reduce The Number Of Bullet Points Per Role: More information does not necessarily make your resume stronger.

If you have 9–10 bullet points under every job, you may be diluting your most important achievements.

A good starting point is 3–6 relevant bullet points per role, depending on your seniority and the relevance of the experience.

Prioritize the most impactful contributions instead of documenting every responsibility.

The report also estimates how your score could improve if you address these issues, helping you decide what to fix first.

3. Understand What Your Resume Score Means Across Different Categories

Your overall score is only one part of the assessment. The report also evaluates specific areas of your resume, including:

A. Keywords: This checks whether your resume contains relevant terminology and skills associated with the roles you are targeting.

For example, if you are applying for a Product Manager position, relevant terms could include:

• Product discovery

• Roadmap prioritization

• Stakeholder management

• Agile methodologies

• Product analytics

• Backlog management

If your resume contains relevant experience but does not communicate it using recognizable industry terminology, you may need to improve keyword alignment.

B. Quantification: This evaluates how effectively you demonstrate your achievements through numbers.

Recruiters want to understand the scale and impact of your work.

For example: Instead of writing: "Managed customer acquisition activities."

Write: "Acquired 450+ SME customers within 12 months, contributing to 18% growth in the regional merchant portfolio."

Whenever possible, quantify:

• Revenue generated

• Costs reduced

• Time saved

• Customers acquired

• Team size managed

• Projects delivered

• Operational efficiency improved

Numbers help turn responsibilities into evidence of impact.

C. Skills Match: This evaluates how relevant your listed skills are to your professional experience and target roles.

A long list of 30–40 skills is not necessarily useful.

Instead, prioritize 8–12 relevant technical and functional skills that align with the roles you are applying for.

For example, a Business Analyst could prioritize SQL, Power BI, Jira, Requirements Gathering, Process Mapping, and Stakeholder Management.

The idea is to make your strongest and most relevant capabilities immediately visible.

4. Section-by-Section Resume Breakdown

This is where the report becomes particularly useful because it evaluates individual sections rather than treating your resume as one large document.

You can see what is working, what is missing, and what needs to be rewritten.

Here are the areas it evaluates:

A. Summary / Profile: Your professional summary should communicate your experience, domain expertise, target role, and measurable achievements.

Avoid generic statements that simply list your responsibilities or describe you as a hardworking professional.

The summary should establish your professional positioning within the first few lines.

B. Skills: Your skills section should be prioritized rather than overloaded.

Avoid repeating similar skills across multiple categories or mixing soft skills with technical tools without a clear structure.

Highlight your strongest and most relevant capabilities first.

C. Work Experience: This is one of the most important sections of your resume.

The report identifies issues such as:

• Too many bullet points under individual roles

• Repetitive responsibilities

• Passive or generic language

• Missing business outcomes

• Lack of context around numbers and achievements

• Inconsistent punctuation and formatting

For example, writing "Managed 100+ requirements" is less informative than explaining how those requirements contributed to product delivery, operational improvements, or business outcomes.

D. Projects & Achievements: Don't simply list projects and awards without explaining your contribution.

For every important project, try establishing:

• What was the problem?

• What was your role?

• What did you do?

• What was the outcome?

Where possible, connect projects to measurable achievements.

E. Education: Include your degree, institution, and completion year or month where relevant.

You can also include academic projects, coursework, honors, or relevant achievements if they strengthen your profile, particularly if you are early in your career.

F. Contact Information: Make sure your resume includes:

• A valid phone number

• Professional email address

• Clickable LinkedIn URL

• Current location

• Portfolio, GitHub, or personal website wherever relevant

If you are applying for roles involving relocation or specific working arrangements, mentioning your location and relevant preferences can also help recruiters understand your availability.

The advantage of this section-by-section assessment is that you don't have to guess what is wrong with your resume. You can identify the exact areas that need attention.

4. Section-by-Section Resume Breakdown

This is where the report becomes particularly useful because it evaluates individual sections rather than treating your resume as one large document.

You can see what is working, what is missing, and what needs to be rewritten.

Here are the areas it evaluates:

A. Summary / Profile: Your professional summary should communicate your experience, domain expertise, target role, and measurable achievements.

Avoid generic statements that simply list your responsibilities or describe you as a hardworking professional.

The summary should establish your professional positioning within the first few lines.

B. Skills: Your skills section should be prioritized rather than overloaded.

Avoid repeating similar skills across multiple categories or mixing soft skills with technical tools without a clear structure.

Highlight your strongest and most relevant capabilities first.

C. Work Experience: This is one of the most important sections of your resume.

The report identifies issues such as:

• Too many bullet points under individual roles

• Repetitive responsibilities

• Passive or generic language

• Missing business outcomes

• Lack of context around numbers and achievements

• Inconsistent punctuation and formatting

For example, writing "Managed 100+ requirements" is less informative than explaining how those requirements contributed to product delivery, operational improvements, or business outcomes.

D. Projects & Achievements: Don't simply list projects and awards without explaining your contribution.

For every important project, try establishing:

• What was the problem?

• What was your role?

• What did you do?

• What was the outcome?

Where possible, connect projects to measurable achievements.

E. Education: Include your degree, institution, and completion year or month where relevant.

You can also include academic projects, coursework, honors, or relevant achievements if they strengthen your profile, particularly if you are early in your career.

F. Contact Information: Make sure your resume includes:

• A valid phone number

• Professional email address

• Clickable LinkedIn URL

• Current location

• Portfolio, GitHub, or personal website wherever relevant

If you are applying for roles involving relocation or specific working arrangements, mentioning your location and relevant preferences can also help recruiters understand your availability.

The advantage of this section-by-section assessment is that you don't have to guess what is wrong with your resume. You can identify the exact areas that need attention.

5. Understand What Is Already Working

This is another important distinction.

AI can help you:

• Rewrite weak bullet points using the XYZ formula

• Improve ATS keyword alignment

• Strengthen action verbs

• Generate professional summaries

• Tailor resumes for specific job descriptions

However, there are certain things only you can provide or verify.

You must:

• Provide accurate work history

• Add genuine and quantifiable achievements

• Verify technical accuracy

• Build your professional network

• Follow up with recruiters

Remember, AI can improve how your experience is communicated, but it cannot invent genuine professional achievements for you.

The stronger the information you provide, the more useful the recommendations become.

How Often Should You Check Your Resume ATS Score?

My recommendation is to check your resume whenever you make significant changes or create a new version for a different role.

For example:

• After creating your first resume

• After adding a new job or achievement

• After making substantial formatting changes

• When tailoring your resume to a specific job description

• Before applying to an important opportunity

Also, don't get obsessed with achieving a perfect score of 100.

A score of 85 with strong, relevant experience is far more useful than a score of 100 achieved through unnecessary keyword stuffing.

The objective is to improve the quality and relevance of your resume, not chase a number.

Final Thoughts

Your resume is often the first opportunity you get to communicate your professional value to a potential employer.

And in a competitive job market, you cannot afford to leave that first impression to guesswork.

Instead of repeatedly editing your resume without knowing what needs improvement, use a structured assessment to identify gaps, prioritize corrections, and make your experience more relevant to the roles you are targeting.

Start with the fundamentals. Keep your formatting clean, quantify your achievements, use relevant keywords, and make your contributions easy to identify.

Then run your resume through an ATS score assessment and work through the recommendations.

If you haven't checked your resume recently, this is a good place to start.

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