Free CV Check and ATS Resume Checker

What is an ATS and why does it reject resumes?

An applicant tracking system, or ATS, helps employers collect and organise job applications. Many medium and large employers use one to manage recruitment. It does not always reject a resume automatically. Employers choose how applications are screened and reviewed.

The software often reads your file as text rather than seeing the page as you do. Tables, columns and images can disrupt that reading order. Contact details or good experience may be missed when they sit in places the parser struggles to read. Missing terms from the job ad can also make relevant skills harder to find. Keep your layout simple, use clear headings and describe your experience honestly. A readable file helps, but it is not a promise of an interview.

What our free CV check looks at

Quick scan checks format and readability. The report combines checks returned by our scanning service with checks from the text extracted in your browser.

• File parsing

  The report checks whether text can be extracted from your PDF rather than finding only a scanned image.

• Standard section headings

  The report checks for familiar headings such as Experience, Education and Skills.

• Tables and columns

  The scanning service checks for table or multi-column layouts that may disrupt parsing.

• Date formatting

  The report checks whether dates use a consistent format.

• Contact details

  The report checks whether contact details appear in readable plain text.

• Bullet characters

  The report checks for broken or unreadable bullet characters.

• Keyword stuffing

  The report flags repeated phrases, keyword dumps and very small hidden text when detected.

• Resume length

  The report flags unusually sparse content that may leave too little information to assess.

• Spacing corruption

  The parse view flags words that appear joined together or split apart.

• Reading order

  The parse view checks whether text follows a single-column reading order.

• Table structures

  The parse view flags table-like content that may flatten during extraction.

Add a job ad for the optional keyword-match score, matched and missing skills, title alignment and suggested improvements. These job-specific details are separate from the format score.

How to read your score

Your format score is the rounded percentage of displayed checks that passed. With no failed checks, the report says your file is highly readable. With one or two failures, it is mostly clean with a few things to fix. With three or more, the report suggests fixes that could meaningfully improve it.

When you add a job ad

• 80 to 100: Strong match for this role.
• 50 to 79: Decent match, with a few gaps to close.
• Below 50: Significant gaps for this specific role.

Start with the failed checks and missing skills that reflect your real experience. There is no universal ATS pass mark.

CV or resume: what's the difference in Australia?

In Australia, CV and resume are often used to mean the same thing: a summary of your skills, education and work experience. A typical resume is around two to three pages, although the right length depends on your field and the employer's instructions. An academic CV can be longer because it includes research, publications and teaching. This checker works for both names. Upload a text-based PDF and focus on relevant experience, clear headings and an easy-to-read layout.

Common reasons resumes fail an ATS

• Text inside images or text boxes may not be extracted correctly.
• Contact details in headers or footers can be missed by some parsers.
• Unusual section names can make experience and qualifications harder to identify.
• Relevant skills may be missed if your wording differs from the job ad.
• Scanned PDFs may contain no selectable text for a text parser to read.
• Decorative fonts, tables and multiple columns can disrupt text extraction.

Fix it faster

Use the builder to organise your experience and work through the checks as you edit. When your resume is ready, explore jobs that fit your background.