Free ATS Resume Checker — Instant Score for Any Job

A generic resume score can't tell you much, because an employer screens you against one job: the keywords in that posting and its must-have qualifications. WadeCV checks against the job, too. Upload your resume, paste a job URL, and get a score from 0 to 100 with the strengths and gaps behind it. Then WadeCV rewrites your resume for that job.

Your first check is free: the credit you get on signup covers one fit analysis, and the tailored rewrite and cover letter after it cost nothing more. No credit card required. WadeCV reads your resume's text, not its layout, so formatting is the one thing to check yourself (see below).

How the WadeCV ATS check works

1Upload your resume or CV

Upload a PDF or DOCX, up to 10 MB. WadeCV works from the text in the file, not from how the page looks, which is also how an ATS parser reads it. A scanned PDF with no text layer is rejected on upload with a message, because an ATS would have read nothing from it either.

2Paste the job URL

Paste a link from Greenhouse, Lever, Workday or many company careers pages and WadeCV pulls in the job description. LinkedIn, Indeed and some other sites can't be read automatically, so for those, paste the description text instead.

3Get a fit score, strengths and gaps

The fit analysis compares your CV with that job. It returns a score from 0 to 100, what in your CV matches the job, and what the job asks for that your CV doesn't show. It uses 1 credit, and your first credit is free when you sign up. WadeCV can then rewrite your CV against those gaps and write a cover letter, at no extra cost.

What an ATS screens for, and what WadeCV does

The fit analysis returns three things: a score, the strengths, and the gaps. Here's how those map to what an ATS and a recruiter screen for, and the two things it doesn't cover.

Keywords from the job

Recruiters search an ATS for the job's own terms: tools, languages, certifications, methods. If the job says 'Tableau' and your CV says 'BI dashboards', that search misses you. WadeCV reads the job and your CV side by side, and a requirement your CV doesn't show appears in the gaps list. The tailored rewrite then uses the job's wording wherever your experience supports it.

Must-have qualifications

Years of experience, degrees, certifications (PMP, CPA, AWS, ACCA), clearances and languages are the requirements most often used to filter. The gaps list names the ones your CV doesn't clearly show, so you can decide whether to state them more plainly or apply anyway.

Fit for this job, not a generic grade

The score is always against the job you gave it. The same CV scores differently for two different roles, because the requirements differ. That makes it useful for comparing versions of your CV for the same job, and less useful as a single grade for your CV in general.

What already fits

The strengths list shows what the analysis matched between your CV and the job. The tailored rewrite leads with these, so the parts of your experience that already fit the role are the ones a recruiter sees first.

Layout and parsing (check these yourself)

Columns, tables, text boxes, icons, and contact details in the page header are the usual reasons an ATS misreads a CV. WadeCV does not audit layout: the analysis works on the text extracted from your file, so it can't see how the page is arranged. Use a single-column layout with standard section names (Work Experience, Education, Skills).

Dates and job titles (check these yourself)

Parsers build your work history from employer, title and dates. Give every role all three, in one consistent date format (for example 'Jan 2023 – Mar 2025'), and keep dates out of the bullet text. The fit analysis doesn't report date formatting.

Make sure your resume passes this ATS

WadeCV scores your resume against the job, shows what's missing, and rewrites it in the job's own wording where your experience supports it.

1 free credit on signup
AI-powered fit analysis
ATS-optimised formatting

ATS systems WadeCV checks against

WadeCV scores your resume against the job itself, whichever of these the employer uses. Where the platforms differ is formatting and search, so each has its own guide. Click any for the rules that matter on that system.

Workday

Used by KPMG, Deloitte, Amazon (internal), Rolls-Royce, Centrica. Parses into structured fields — headers matter, tables break it.

Greenhouse

Used by Airbnb, Stripe, Pinterest, Monzo, Revolut. Scorecard-driven — specific skill names and certifications surface you to reviewers.

Lever

Used by Spotify, Netflix, Farfetch. Talent pool keyword search — include every relevant skill as a term, even obvious ones.

SAP SuccessFactors

Used by Unilever, Siemens, BT Group, Lloyds. Keyword density matters — mirror the job description language precisely.

Oracle Taleo

Used by HSBC, NHS, Vodafone, Aviva. Strict date parsing, knockout questions, literal title matching.

iCIMS

Used by Boeing, UPS, Wayfair, Henkel. Qualification scoring against must-have criteria — hit every listed requirement verbatim.

Ashby

Used by Ramp, Linear, Vercel, Shopify (parts of hiring). Analytics-first — structured skills and clean formatting score higher.

JazzHR

Used by mid-market companies and SMBs. Collaborative hiring — reviewers tag keywords directly from your resume.

BambooHR

Used by Reddit, Quora, Grammarly (smaller teams). Cultural-fit weighted — soft-skill keywords matter as much as hard skills.

WadeCV vs other ATS resume checkers

The three most commonly compared ATS checkers are WadeCV, Jobscan, and Resume Worded. Here's how they differ.

Feature	WadeCV	Jobscan	Resume Worded
Job-specific score (not generic)	Yes — scored against the job you give it (link or pasted description)	Yes — requires pasting job description text	Partial — mostly generic resume scoring
Free to use	Your first check — 1 free credit on signup covers one fit analysis	Limited free tier, then paid	Limited free tier, then paid
Tailored rewrite included	Yes — the rewrite after a check costs no extra credit	No — rewrite is a separate paid tier	Partial — suggestions only, no rewrite
Cover letter included	Yes — free cover letter with every tailored CV	No	No
Reads job links	Yes — Greenhouse, Lever, Workday, many careers pages (not LinkedIn or Indeed)	No — manual paste only	No
Layout / formatting audit	No — the analysis reads your CV's text, not its layout	Yes	Yes
Download of the tailored version	Yes — DOCX or PDF	Partial	Paid tier only
Credit card required	No	No for free tier	No for free tier

See the full WadeCV vs Jobscan comparison or explore every tool in our 12 Best AI Resume Builders 2026 listicle.

8 common reasons a resume ranks low in an ATS

Some of these are about content, which the fit analysis covers. Others are about layout, which you check yourself.

Multi-column layouts

Many ATS parsers read left to right across the page, so a two-column template can merge your summary into your dates and your education into your skills. A single-column layout avoids it.

Missing exact-match keywords

If the job says 'Tableau' and your resume says 'BI dashboards', a keyword search won't match you, even though you have the skill. WadeCV's gaps list names requirements the job asks for that your CV doesn't show, and the tailored rewrite uses the job's wording where your experience supports it.

Skills buried at the bottom

A recruiter skimming a parsed profile sees the top first. Put a short skills section near the top, and name the key tools inside your bullets too, not only in a list.

Icons, graphics, and text boxes

Icons for contact details, skill bars and text boxes are often skipped by parsers or turned into stray characters. Write contact details as plain text and keep bullets out of text boxes.

Non-standard section headers

'My Story', 'Things I've Built' and 'Chapters' make it harder for a parser to find your history. Use the plain names: Work Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications.

PDF-as-image (scanned)

A PDF exported from Word or Google Docs is fine. A PDF scanned from a printout is an image with no text for an ATS to read. WadeCV rejects a file it can't extract text from, so you'll find out on upload rather than after applying.

Dates missing or inconsistent

Parsers build your work-history timeline from dates. Mixing 'Current', '2023-present' and 'Jan. 2024 -' causes misreads. Use one pattern, such as 'Jan 2023 – Mar 2025', on every role.

Years-of-experience gap vs must-have

If the job says '5+ years of Python' and your resume shows 3 years split across two roles, a screener may pass on you even if you have the skills. A must-have your CV doesn't clearly show appears in WadeCV's gaps list.

ATS scoring in 2026: what's changed

ATS scoring in 2026 is no longer just about keyword frequency. Workday, Greenhouse, and Ashby have all shifted toward semantic keyword matching — where synonyms ("led" ≈ "managed" ≈ "directed") score partial matches rather than zero. That means stuffing your resume with the exact words from the job description is less effective than it was in 2022, but keyword coverage still matters for the many older ATS systems still in use (Taleo, iCIMS, SuccessFactors on older contracts).

The second shift is toward structured-data parsing. Workday, SuccessFactors, and Ashby all extract work history into named fields (employer, job title, start date, end date, responsibilities) before scoring. If your resume uses a format where these fields are ambiguous — dates inside bullet points, employer name merged with job title, multi-column layouts — structured parsing fails and your resume is scored on raw text alone. That usually means a lower score than your experience warrants.

The third shift is must-have gating. More employers now configure their ATS with hard knockout questions ("Do you have 5+ years of X?", "Are you authorised to work in the UK?", "Do you hold an active security clearance?"). A resume with a 90% keyword match but a missed knockout gets auto-rejected. The knockout questions sit in the application form, which WadeCV doesn't see, but a must-have your resume doesn't show appears in the fit analysis's gaps list.

The fourth shift is AI-generated resume detection. Some ATS systems and recruiter tools now flag resumes that read as AI-generated (uniform sentence rhythm, vague achievement language, generic action verbs). A checker that only scores keyword match misses this. WadeCV's tailoring process rewrites your resume with specific, job-relevant language grounded in your actual experience — see our guide on how to humanize your AI resume for more.

Frequently asked questions

Is the WadeCV ATS Resume Checker actually free?

Your first check is. Signing up gives you 1 free credit, with no credit card, and that credit pays for one fit analysis against any job: a score from 0 to 100, the strengths and the gaps. Generating a tailored CV and cover letter from that analysis costs nothing more. For more checks, credits come in one-off bundles with no subscription: 20 credits for $8, 50 credits for $15, 100 credits for $20.

How accurate is the ATS score?

It isn't a copy of any ATS's own score. No ATS vendor publishes its ranking method, and each employer configures its own filters. The score is an AI assessment of how well the CV you uploaded matches the job you gave it. Use it to compare versions of your CV for the same job. The gaps list is the part to act on. The same CV against two different jobs gets two different scores, because the requirements differ.

Which ATS systems does WadeCV check against?

The analysis isn't tuned per ATS. It scores your CV against the job's content, whatever system the employer uses. WadeCV reads job links from Greenhouse, Lever, Workday and many company careers pages. LinkedIn and Indeed links can't be read, so for those you paste the description. For each platform's formatting rules, see the guides for Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, Taleo, SuccessFactors and iCIMS.

What is a good ATS score?

There's no universal cut-off, because no ATS publishes one and employers set their own filters. Read the gaps list instead: each must-have in it is a reason a screener might pass on you. Close the gaps you can close truthfully, then check again. A low score for a stretch role is information, not a verdict.

Do ATS systems actually reject resumes automatically?

Most ATS do not auto-reject on keyword score alone. They rank candidates and show recruiters the top matches. In practice, if you're ranked 50th out of 200 applicants, no recruiter will see your resume, so the effect is much the same. Some employers do auto-reject on knockout questions in the application form (for example 'Do you have 5+ years of X?' or 'Are you authorised to work in the UK?'). Those questions aren't part of your CV, so WadeCV doesn't see them. A must-have your CV doesn't show does appear in its gaps list.

How is WadeCV different from Jobscan or Resume Worded?

Three differences. (1) The rewrite is included: the others mostly tell you what's wrong, while WadeCV rewrites your CV for the job and writes a cover letter in the same flow, for the one credit the analysis used. (2) It reads job links directly from Greenhouse, Lever, Workday and many careers pages (LinkedIn and Indeed links can't be read, so paste their text). (3) Credits are one-off bundles, not a subscription. What WadeCV doesn't do is audit your layout: it reads your CV's text, so it won't flag columns or graphics the way a formatting checker can.

Will my resume pass a specific ATS like Workday or Greenhouse?

No tool can promise that, because each employer configures its own ATS. WadeCV doesn't run a different check for each platform. It scores your CV against the job and rewrites it with that job's wording. Formatting is where platforms differ, so see the platform guides for the rules that matter: Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, Taleo, SuccessFactors and iCIMS.

Can WadeCV check my resume if I don't have a job URL yet?

You need a job, but not a link. If you have the job description, paste it in. There's no job-less 'ATS health' check, because a score only means something against a specific set of requirements. If you don't have a role in mind yet, pick a real posting close to the job you want.

What file format should I upload?

PDF or DOCX, up to 10 MB. You can't paste your CV in as plain text, so if it's in Google Docs, download it as DOCX or PDF first. Avoid image-based PDFs (scanned from printouts): they contain no text, and WadeCV rejects them on upload, just as an ATS would read nothing from them.

Does ATS checking work for UK CVs?

Yes. The analysis scores your CV against whatever job you give it, UK roles included. It doesn't apply a separate UK rule set, so the UK conventions are yours to follow: two pages, no photo, and UK degree classes and qualifications (2:1, ACCA, CIMA, CIPD, PRINCE2) written the way UK employers expect. See the full UK CV builder guide for more.

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Score your resume against any job — your first check is free

Upload your resume, paste a job URL, and get a fit score with the strengths and gaps, then a tailored rewrite and cover letter. 1 free credit on signup — no credit card required.