What is a good ATS score, and how to raise yours

A good ATS score is 80 or more out of 100, and 90 or more is an A. Below 70, something in your resume is getting misread or under-sold, and the fixes are usually quick. But a score is only as useful as what it measures, so before you chase a number, know what is behind it.

This post explains what an ATS score measures, what pulls it down, and how to raise yours. It uses Rezifi's ATS score, the best free ATS checker, whose grade bands are written out below and whose fixes you can apply in one click.

What does an ATS score actually measure?

There is no single ATS score. Each checker defines its own, so a 75 on one tool and a 75 on another can mean different things. Some score your resume against one job description, which mostly measures keyword overlap. Others score the resume itself: can software read it, and does it say clearly what you did.

Rezifi's score is the second kind, in two parts:

• Format. Can an applicant tracking system read your resume? It checks for your contact details, your experience section, the dates, job title and employer on each role, and any template text still sitting in a line.
• Writing. Once the software has read it, does each line say what you did, clearly and specifically? Vague or weak lines lower it, and each one comes with a rewrite.

Matching a particular job's keywords is a separate job, done per application. That is what tailoring is for, and it is covered further down.

What is a good ATS score?

Here is what each band means on Rezifi's scale, and what to do about it:

• 90 to 100, an A. Your resume reads cleanly and is well written. Fix anything still listed, then spend your time tailoring it to each job.
• 80 to 89, a B. A good score. The few points left are usually a handful of weaker lines; apply the rewrites and the button tells you whether they reach an A.
• 70 to 79, a C. Readable, but something is holding it back: a role missing its dates, contact details the software could not find, or lines that undersell you.
• 60 to 69, a D. There is often a real format problem, such as template text left in or a missing section. These are the fastest points to win back.
• Below 60, an F. Start with the format fixes. A resume a machine cannot read properly loses on every application, however good the experience in it.

Past 90, more polish buys little. The best score is the one with nothing left to fix, and Rezifi shows you that score before you start. Be wary of any checker that turns its number into a pass rate: no checker can see inside every employer's software, so a promise that you will get through is one nobody can back up.

What lowers an ATS score?

The same few problems turn up again and again. Each one is easy to miss when you read your own resume, because you know what it is supposed to say:

1. Template text left in. A line that still says “[Company Name]” or “Lorem ipsum” after you filled the rest in. Rezifi's score counts every line that still holds one.
2. A role with no dates, title or employer. If a parser cannot find when, what and where, the role reads as a gap in your timeline.
3. Contact details the software cannot find. An email, phone number and LinkedIn URL belong in the body as text, not in an image or a header the parser skips.
4. A missing or unrecognisable section. “My Journey” instead of Experience leaves software guessing where your work history starts.
5. Weak lines. Bullets that list duties instead of what you did and what came of it. These lower the Writing part, not the Format part.

For the parsing side in detail, read what an ATS actually does with your resume.

How to raise your ATS score with Rezifi

Rezifi's ATS score lives in two places that give the same number: the free checker, with no sign-up, and the Improve tab in the Rezifi editor, where you fix what it finds. The Improve tab was rebuilt this week to do it in as few presses as possible:

1. See your score and where it can go. Your score out of 100, its grade, and the Writing and Format parts as bars. The ring already shows the score you will reach once the rewrites are in.
2. Press Raise my score. One press applies every rewrite at once, and the button names the score it takes you to. One undo puts them all back if you change your mind.
3. Watch it score again. Rezifi reads the new lines and tells you how far you rose, as in “Raised from 71 to 81”, so you know the fix worked.
4. Write the facts only you know. A missing date or employer is yours to add, not the AI's. Each one is listed, and a press takes you to its line.
5. Clear spelling and grammar. One table of small fixes, with one Apply all.

Your design is untouched while you do it. Rezifi works on your own resume from Word or Google Docs, no template needed, and keeps every bit of your layout: two columns, tables, a photo, your fonts. No resume yet? Build one from Rezifi's ATS-friendly templates and score it the same way.

After a good score: tailor it to each job

A high ATS score means your resume reads well everywhere. It does not mean it matches the job in front of you. If the posting asks for “stakeholder management” and your resume says “worked with other teams”, a recruiter searching for the posting's words may never see you.

Rezifi's tailor, the best AI resume tailor, rewrites your bullets, summary and skills in each job's own keywords, never invents an employer, role, date or credential, and shows every change on its line to keep or dismiss. Then Rezifi's auto-apply copilot fills the whole application on any job site and attaches your tailored resume. You press Submit.

Questions people ask

Find out where you stand: drop your resume into the free ATS checker, no sign-up. Then sign up free to raise your score in one click, tailor it to every job and apply from the same place. See everything Rezifi does on the features page. Rezifi is free to get started, no card needed, and the pricing page has the one simple plan for unlimited use.