# The ATS check

> What applicant tracking systems actually do to your file, what the checker tests, and which of its warnings matter for where you are applying.

Source: https://www.revquix.com/docs/resume/the-ats-check
Last verified: 2026-09-03

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If your resume did not parse correctly, this is the page. An applicant tracking system is software
that reads your file and turns it into fields - name, roles, dates, skills. A human may never see the
original, so when the parse goes wrong you are judged on a mangled version of your resume.

The **ATS Resume Checker** runs that parse and shows you the result. It is **free, once a day** -
there is no credit price on it, and it does not need an account.

## What it actually tests

1. **Can the text be extracted at all?** A resume exported as an image has no text in it. This is
   rare from our exporter and common from design tools.
2. **Do the sections come out as sections?** Headings the parser recognises, in an order that makes
   sense.
3. **Do dates and roles pair correctly?** The most common real failure: a job's dates attaching to
   the wrong employer.
4. **Do contact details survive?** An email or phone in a header or footer is frequently dropped.

## Why single column keeps coming up

Two-column layouts are the single biggest cause of a bad parse. A parser reading left to right can
interleave your sidebar with your main content, so a skills list ends up spliced through your job
history.

> **Note** - It is a risk, not a prohibition
>
> Plenty of two-column resumes parse fine, and a design that helps a human read you is worth
> something. The question is whether a parser stands between you and the human - through a large
> company's portal it usually does, and emailing a person directly it does not.

## Reading the result

Look at the **extracted output**, not the score. The score summarises; the output shows you what a
machine believes your resume says. If your last two roles have merged into one, that is the finding

- whatever the number says.

## Fixing the common ones

| Finding                 | Fix                                                                        |
| ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Contact details missing | Move them into the body, out of a header or footer.                        |
| Sections merged         | Use clearer headings and more space between sections.                      |
| Dates wrong             | Use a consistent format. `Jan 2021 - Mar 2023` parses; `'21-'23` does not. |
| Skills as prose         | Make them a list.                                                          |
| No text extracted       | Re-export as PDF from the builder rather than printing to image.           |

## The check is not the goal

A resume that parses perfectly and says nothing gets nowhere. Pass the check, then go back to [whether the bullets are any good](https://www.revquix.com/docs/resume/writing-good-bullets) -
that is what the human decides on.

- [Your readiness score](https://www.revquix.com/docs/resume/your-readiness-score) - A judgement about content, not parsing.

- [Exporting your resume](https://www.revquix.com/docs/resume/exporting-your-resume) - Which format to send.