Key Metrics Used in Resume Scoring (e.g., Keywords, Formatting)

In today’s competitive job search, having a resume get in front of a hiring manager can feel like a roll of the dice. You spend hours crafting your work experience and quantifying your accomplishments and polishing your personal statement, only to have your application disappear into a digital black hole. Unfortunately, this happens all the time, and, in most cases, this happens due to resume scoring, a concept developed because of advanced software that acts as a gatekeeper for thousands of job opportunities.

For many decades, the first line of reviewing resumes was done manually and could take a long time. Recruiters would skim through stacks of paper or digital files, searching for relevant keywords and required criteria. Knowing about human behavior was nothing new, but it was also a potential risk for human mistakes, bias, and taking much longer to review. For job openings, there would be hundreds of applications, which was nearly impossible for them to thoroughly review and stay objective.

The explosion of digital applications and online job boards spurred the creation of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that would filter through this overwhelming volume. A piece of software became the first point of contact rather than a human being, and these systems not only categorize applications, but they actively assess, rank, and sort in a specific way based on defined criteria. This is the foundation of AI resume screening, a process that could help or hurt your job search before any human reviews your name or application.

Knowing how these systems work has gone from an option to a requirement. This article will provide information regarding the identified measures used in scoring. Furthermore, the day-long process provides ways in which to best enhance your resume to make it work through the automated system and translate to a human being.

Why Resume Scoring Matters in Modern Hiring

A resume score is a numerical value (usually a percentage) that indicates how closely your resume matches a given job description. This score is calculated by software that uses complex algorithms to compare parts of your resume to the job description and requirements. It’s all about efficiency and precision: when hundreds (or thousands) of applications are received for one job, it would be impossible for a person to read all of them! 

The score is an important metric. If you have a high score, it means you have a stronger match for the job and are more likely a good fit than someone with a lower score. A low score might lead to your resume being flagged for a quick review or, in some cases, automatically screened out. The whole idea is to identify the best-fit candidates who will then be sent on for a human review.

It is not intended to supplant human judgment; rather, it is intended to supplement it. By automating the early assessment, organizations can ensure that recruiters are engaging with the best of the best, while properly applying their limited recruiting time. It means as a job seeker, you now need to think about your resume in a way that works for both a machine and a person.

If you create a resume that only speaks to either artificial intelligence or a human recruiter, you could be passed over despite being a qualified candidate. The resume match rate is the first barrier you need to overcome on your road to an interview.

The Role of Keywords in Resume Scoring Systems

The most obvious, important part of applicant tracking system scoring is the inclusion of relevant keywords, or the particular words and phrases from the job advertisement that are relevant to the position, because they inherently highlight the key elements of the role. These will consist of words related to the following: 

• Job titles: “Senior Software Engineer,” “Marketing Manager,” “Data Analyst.” 
• Skills: “Python,” “Project Management,” “SEO,” “Public Speaking.”
• Industry-specific terminology: “Agile methodologies,” “Financial modeling,” “Customer Relationship Management (CRM).” 

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) will scan your resume for these words and add points based on the frequency and placement of the words you can include. The more you use the job descriptions’ keywords, terms, and phrases, the higher your score. Again, this is not a suggestion to “keyword stuff” your resume without context.

The ATS is also smart enough to identify this, and it may negatively affect your score. It is essential to review the words from the job description and fit these words into your professional summary, work experience, and skills sections.

For instance, if a job posting states, “Experience with Agile and Scrum methodologies a plus,” it’s not enough to simply write “Agile” and “Scrum” under your skills. Instead, you could write a bullet under your experience section, such as, “Managed a team of 8 developers using Agile and Scrum methodologies, resulting in a 20% increase in project delivery time.” This shows not only that you have the keyword, but that you have experience using it.

Read More: ATS Resume Scoring Tools Free Online

How Formatting Affects Resume Readability and ATS Results

Although content is king, a resume’s formatting is its crown. A resume may have all the right qualifications and keywords, but if an ATS can’t read the document accurately, you may already be eliminated. This is where an ATS-friendly resume comes into play.

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are designed to read simple, text-based formats. Complicated designs, graphics, and non-standard fonts can confuse the software, so it will not interpret correctly or may even skip it altogether. For example, an ATS might not read information that appears in a table or column format, nor recognize any text in an image.

To make certain that your resume is easy to read, choose a clean and uncomplicated design. Use standard fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri. Do not use a fancy template, and stick to clear headings and bullet points to format your content. The best resumes for ATS purposes are simple and formatted.

Also, be sure that your resume is in a file format that the ATS system can read. Some systems can read PDF files, while others prefer Word documents (.doc or .docx). If there is no explicit instruction in the job posting, it is generally better to save your resume as a Word document. A few systems have a “resume scoring” system that will check your formatting and give feedback. You can also check online if your resume has the right formatting, it may be called a Resume checker.

Relevance and Job Matching as Core Resume Metrics

An ATS not only scans for keywords but also evaluates how relevant your experience is to the position you are applying for. This is an area where having a tailored resume really pays off. A standard resume, no matter how impressive, simply cannot compete with a tailor-made one for the specific job. The software needs to find an alignment between the roles, responsibilities, and requirements of the job description and your prior experience.

If you were to apply for something like “Senior Project Manager,” and your duties were listed as “project management,” “team leadership,” “budgeting,” etc., these would rise to the top of the ATS report. It would also analyze your previous titles and at least try to match the titles to the roles. A history of using titles like “Project Coordinator” or “Team Lead” would be deemed more relevant than titles that bear no resemblance whatsoever.

The system is also looking at the quantifiable achievements you have included in your resume. Data-driven accomplishments like “Increased sales by 15% through strategic market analysis” will always trump something general like “Responsible for sales growth.”

Data to back your accomplishments provides the real evidence of your skills and their resulting impact. It is tangible and confirms your worth as an employee. It is all justifiable information and will be an important factor in the resume scoring value.

Experience and Education Weighting in Resume Scoring

The importance of experience and educational background in each resume scoring is different depending on the position. Typical of entry-level jobs, education and degrees will weigh heavily than work experience. For roles at the senior level, experience and proven success are often the strongest considerations in the scoring system.

The Experience Component

With the experience section of a resume, the ATS is not only reviewing the years you have worked, but also searching for high-quality experience that is relevant to the job description. It wants to verify your experience with:

• Job Titles: Do your previous titles match the title you are applying for?
• Company Names: Did you work for respectable or relevant companies in the field?
• Tenure: Were your other jobs held for a reasonable amount of time that represents stability?
• Quantifiable Successes: Do you have realistic data to support your achievements?

A resume with a long but consistent list of promotions, accomplishments, and responsibilities would likely receive a high score. It shows changes in the career trajectory. Hiring managers and recruiters may flag resumes with frequent job changes or just long periods not non-work.

The Role of Education

Education, particularly in technical roles, is an important scoring element in the resume scoring board. The ATS will consider your:

• Degree: How relevant is your degree to the job? A computer science degree will score highly in a software engineering role.
• Institution: How good is your university or college? Not their most important item, but some systems will give an extra point or two for achieving a degree from a prestigious university (often only for the first job).
• GPA: For people who have just graduated, a high GPA can be a strong indicator of academic success.

While education is important to a career, it’s rare to outscore relevant experience in senior-level positions. In most jobs, the key to scoring high is a percentage of the right education and good work history.

Measuring Skills, Certifications, and Achievements

In today’s world of specialization, skills and certifications can be just as valuable (if not even more valuable) than a degree. An ATS is built to acknowledge and reward skills and certifications. 

Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills

Hard skills are tangible, technical skills such as “Java programming,” “data analysis,” and “Adobe Photoshop.” These are completely identifiable to an ATS and are often the biggest score influencer for your initial resume scoring. You should categorize these skills, ranking them, and, when possible, include how you have used your skills in practice.

Soft skills, such as “communication,” “teamwork,” and “leadership,” are less recognizable by an ATS. While you still want to showcase your soft skills, it is preferable to denote them through an example from your work history rather than just writing them out. For example, rather than write, “I have excellent communication skills,” you could write, “Presented project updates to C-level executives on a weekly basis, resulting in a 10% faster decision-making cycle.”

Certifications and Achievements

Certifications can be a very strong method of showing your expertise and commitment to your field. Whether a PMP for project management, a CPA for accounting, or an AWS credential for cloud computing, these items can help non-ATS and ATS computers lean toward a “better” resume scoring. Make sure these are listed clearly with the issuing organization and the date awarded.  

Next are achievements. Achievements, especially ones with numbers behind them, are another key metric. All of the “specialty” software, meant to sift through resumes for ATS and every human recruiter, wants you to give evidence of your value.

There is nothing stronger to show impact than data and metrics. Whether it’s showing improved efficiency, assessing increased revenue, or measuring customer satisfaction, data and metrics will always lead toward supporting evidence of your accomplishments. Again, a Resume Score will often weigh more for measurable achievements because they are an indicator of future success. 

The Impact of Clarity, Structure, and Writing Style

The human side of the hiring process is incredibly important, too, and a well-written resume is really important to getting through the last cut. Just because the ATS gave your resume a good score does not mean it will be excused for being poorly written or difficult to read.

You want a clear, concise, and professional writing style; you should start your bullet points with action verbs and avoid jargon or complex sentences. You want the accomplishments and responsibilities to be easy to read at a glance. 

A well-organized resume will have well-organized formatting in defined style headings for each category (i.e., “Professional Experience,” “Education,” “Skills”) so that it is easy to read for both the ATS and a human reviewer. Utilize uniformity as much as possible in your fonts and sizes. In the end, while it is best practice to optimize your resume for machines, do not lose sight of the fact that a human will be reading your resume at some point.

The best resumes utilize the best practice guidelines for machine-read and are human-friendly. If you’re going to use AI for Resume just keep the human aspect in mind.

Optimizing for ATS: Balancing Human and Machine Scoring

When it comes to maximizing your resume scoring, it’s all about intentional optimization, not merely a game of luck. There are things you can do to maximize your chance of getting beyond the automated screen and into the recruiter’s hands.

The first step is to customize each resume you send out for each job you are applying for, something that is more than just swapping the job title. You need to analyze the job description and pull out the most relevant keywords, skills, and experience for the position. Then work them into your resume. Don’t be afraid to rephrase your experience to address the job duties and qualifications in the job description. This level of customization will lead to a better resume match rate and score.

An AI Resume Optimization tool is another worthwhile consideration. These tools take in your resume and the job description and will give you a thorough breakdown of your score, as well as a detailed set of suggestions on how to improve. They can identify keywords you have missed, suggest more powerful action verbs, and will even check to see if your resume is properly formatted. These tools are useful, but remember it is meant as a guide, not a replacement for your judgement.

Another valuable approach is to use the “master resume” strategy. Build a thorough, detailed resume that incorporates absolutely everything you have ever done – whether it’s jobs, skills, and accomplishments – and when the time comes to apply for a position, simply copy and paste the most relevant material, supplying the targeted resume. This eliminates the time of writing a resume from scratch each time you apply, and gives you the confidence of submitting an exceptional and optimized document.

The Human Element: When a High Score Isn’t Enough

Although a great score is essential, it isn’t the only measure that matters. A human recruiter will make the final decision, and they will be looking for some personality or to discover the person behind the qualifications. They will also be looking for some potential red flags that the ATS is less likely to catch.

Red flags can include a disconnected work history, a resume filled with typos, or an unprofessional email address. A human can also tell when you have keyword-stuffed your resume, which can be off-putting.

In the end, your resume must tell a cohesive story of your professional journey. A good score will open a door, but a good, clear, and interesting story will get you to the interview.

Now, with all we have said, you might be thinking: “Should I opt out of AI resume screening?” Continue reading to find your answer!

Should I Opt Out of AI Resume Screening?

There are some platforms where you can select “opt out” for AI resume screening, but this is hardly a good idea. What it means to opt out is that your application is very likely not formatted or scored correctly. Instead of opting out, the better strategy is to learn how systems work and tailor your resume to them.

This does not mean you become a machine; it means you create a resume that is easy for a machine to read or score. When you make it easy for the machine, you also make it easy for a human. Everyone wins!

Understanding the Algorithm: A Look Behind the Curtain

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) utilize various complex algorithms to score your resume. While the specifics of these proprietary systems are not publicly disclosed, we can understand the basic principles. 

1. Parsing: First, the ATS will parse your resume, breaking it down into structured data. It will recognize headings such as “Experience,” “Education,” and “Skills,” and pull that information relevant to the section.
2. Keyword Matching: Then it will perform a keyword match against the job description. The ATS will look for exact matches or synonyms. The ATS may even recognize variations of the word, such as “managed” and “management.” 
3. Scoring / Ranking someone received from the ATS: Finally, the ATS will assign a score to your resume using a weighted system. The ATS will weigh keywords, experience, and education differently, with the most important getting the most points. The ATS will rank each applicant from highest to lowest score.

Conclusion: AI Resume Screening

The advancements in technology have radically changed the way companies hire. The integration of Applicant Tracking Systems and AI resume screening creates a need for resume scoring to be a key aspect of the process. Knowing how these systems function is no longer optional for a job seeker; it is necessary. 

By focusing on the critical metrics these systems use (keywords, formatting, relevance, and quantifiable achievements) you can greatly enhance your chances of passing the first automated screen. Keep in mind that your resume must be a document that attracts both machines and humans. You can master the current job search and land the job that you’re worth through your clear, well-structured resume that uses relevant, data-driven content.

FAQs about Resume Scoring