How to Improve ATS Score: 12 Proven Ways to Increase Your Resume Score

Can ATS scores be improved? What causes low ATS scores in the first place? And how much can you realistically increase your score?

Many resumes score below 60 because they are missing relevant keywords, use ATS-unfriendly formatting, or fail to match the job description. The good news is that most ATS issues can be fixed quickly. In many cases, candidates can improve their ATS score from 55–60 to 80+ without changing their actual experience.

The difference between a resume that gets rejected and one that gets read often comes down to a handful of adjustments — the right keywords, the right format, and the right structure. This guide walks you through 12 specific, proven ways to improve your ATS score.

What Causes a Low ATS Score?

Before you can fix your score, you need to understand what's dragging it down. Low ATS scores are rarely about your qualifications — they're almost always about how your resume communicates those qualifications to an automated system.

Missing Keywords. This is the number one cause. If the job description says "project management" and your resume says "led cross-functional initiatives," the ATS may not make the connection. The system reads exact words, not synonyms.

Poor Resume Formatting. Tables, columns, text boxes, headers/footers, and embedded images can all prevent an ATS from reading your content. If the system can't parse your text, it can't score your keywords — no matter how well-written they are.

Weak Skills Match. A generic skills section that lists "communication" and "teamwork" doesn't help when the ATS is scanning for "Salesforce," "Google Analytics," or "Forklift Certified." Hard skills carry more weight than soft skills in ATS scoring.

Incomplete Experience Descriptions. Bullet points that say "responsible for" without specifics give the ATS almost nothing to work with. "Responsible for customer service" doesn't contain a single keyword that would match a job description.

Generic Resume Content. Sending the same resume to every job without customization is a guaranteed way to get a low score. Each job description has different keywords, and your resume needs to reflect that.

Even strong candidates can receive low ATS scores if their resume doesn't align with the job posting. The fix isn't to change your experience — it's to change how you present it.

How ATS Systems Calculate Resume Scores

Not all ATS systems work the same way, but most evaluate your resume across the same core factors. Understanding how much weight each factor carries helps you prioritize your fixes.

Factor	Impact on Score
Keyword Match	High
Skills Match	High
Experience Relevance	High
Formatting	Medium
Education Match	Medium
Certifications	Medium

Keyword match, skills match, and experience relevance are the three biggest levers. If you want to improve your score fast, start with those three. For a deeper explanation of what different score ranges mean, see our guide on what is a good ATS score.

12 Proven Ways to Improve Your ATS Score

These are not theoretical tips. Each one addresses a specific factor that ATS systems evaluate. Start with the ones that apply to your resume.

1. Match Keywords From the Job Description

   This is the single most impactful change you can make. Open the job posting, highlight every skill, tool, and qualification mentioned, and make sure those exact words appear somewhere in your resume.

   For example, if the job description mentions "Customer Service," "CRM," "Sales Support," and "Client Relations," your resume should include all four of those terms — not just "customer service." The ATS is scanning for exact matches, so "client support" won't count if the posting says "client relations."

   Place keywords naturally in your skills section, bullet points, and summary. Don't force them, but don't leave them out either.

2. Add Missing Skills

   Your skills section is the easiest place to boost your keyword match rate. Compare your current skills section to the required and preferred skills in the job posting, and add anything that's missing and accurate.

   For example:

   Before: Communication Skills

   After: Customer Service · Conflict Resolution · Zendesk · CRM Software

   The "after" version includes four specific, searchable terms instead of one generic one. That's four more keywords the ATS can match against the job description.

3. Use ATS-Friendly Formatting

   Formatting issues are the silent score killer. Your resume might have all the right keywords, but if the ATS can't read them, they don't count. Remove these elements:

   • Tables
   • Columns
   • Text boxes
   • Graphics and images
   • Icons
   • Headers and footers

   Use a simple, single-column layout with standard section headings: Work Experience, Education, Skills, Summary. Save as .docx or .pdf (check which the employer prefers). For a complete formatting walkthrough, see our ATS resume format guide.

4. Include Relevant Job Titles

   If the job posting is for a "Customer Service Representative" and your resume says "Client Support Specialist," the ATS may not recognize the overlap. Use the target job title in your headline or summary, and include common variations in your experience section.

   For example, your headline might say "Customer Service Representative with 4+ Years of Experience," and your previous roles might include:

   • Customer Service Representative
   • Customer Support Specialist
   • Client Support Associate

   These variations give the ATS multiple ways to match your resume to the job title.

5. Customize Every Resume

   This is the step most people skip — and it's the one that makes the biggest difference. Sending the same resume to every job means you're relying on luck rather than alignment. Each job description has different keywords, different required skills, and different priorities.

   Customization doesn't mean rewriting your resume from scratch. It means adjusting your skills section, summary, and a few bullet points to match each specific job posting. Even 10 minutes of tailoring can push your score from 65 to 85.

6. Improve Your Resume Summary

   Your summary is one of the first things the ATS reads, and it's prime real estate for keywords. A weak summary like "Experienced professional seeking new opportunities" contains zero searchable terms. A strong summary includes your job title, key skills, and a quantified achievement.

   For example: "Customer Service Representative with 4+ years of experience in CRM software, conflict resolution, and client relations. Improved customer satisfaction by 15% across 200+ daily interactions."

   That summary contains five keywords the ATS can match: Customer Service Representative, CRM, conflict resolution, client relations, and customer satisfaction.

7. Quantify Achievements

   Numbers stand out to both ATS systems and human readers. They also add specificity that generic bullet points lack. Compare:

   • Handled customer inquiries
   • Handled 50+ customer inquiries daily
   • Improved customer satisfaction
   • Improved customer satisfaction by 15%
   • Reduced processing time
   • Reduced processing time by 20%

   The quantified versions are more compelling and more likely to contain keywords the ATS is scanning for. For a framework on adding numbers to your resume, see our guide on how to quantify resume achievements.

8. Use Strong Action Verbs

   Start every bullet point with a strong action verb. "Responsible for managing" becomes "Managed." "Helped with" becomes "Coordinated." Action verbs make your bullet points more readable and more likely to match the language in job descriptions.

   For a comprehensive list, see our resume action verbs guide — it includes verbs organized by category so you can find the right ones quickly.

9. Add Industry-Specific Keywords

   General keywords like "communication" and "teamwork" appear in almost every resume. Industry-specific keywords are what set you apart. If you're in marketing, terms like "SEO," "Google Analytics," "content strategy," and "conversion rate" are the ones the ATS is looking for.

   Find these keywords by reading job postings in your field and noting which technical terms, tools, and methodologies appear repeatedly. For a structured approach, see our guide on resume keywords for ATS.

10. Include Relevant Certifications

    Certifications are high-signal keywords. If the job posting mentions a certification and you have it, make sure it's prominently displayed. "AWS Certified Solutions Architect," "Google Analytics Certified," and "Certified Nursing Assistant" are all exact-match terms that ATS systems scan for.

    List certifications in a dedicated section with the full name and acronym. Don't bury them in your education section where the ATS might overlook them.

11. Fix Employment Gap Explanations

    Employment gaps don't directly lower your ATS score, but how you handle them can. If you leave gaps unexplained, the ATS may calculate your total years of experience incorrectly. If you fill gaps with irrelevant filler, you dilute your keyword density.

    The best approach is to briefly explain what you did during the gap — freelance work, volunteer experience, professional development, or caregiving — using keywords that are relevant to your target role. For specific strategies, see our guide on how to handle employment gaps on your resume.

12. Run an ATS Resume Check Before Applying

    The final step is the one most people skip: actually testing your resume before you submit it. Running your resume through an ATS checker tells you exactly what's missing and what to fix. It's the difference between guessing and knowing.

    After you've made all the changes above, upload your resume and check the score. If it's below 80, the report will show you which keywords are missing, which sections need work, and which formatting issues are holding you back.

Example: ATS Score Improvement

Here's a real-world example of how these changes work in practice. We took a mid-level customer service resume and applied the strategies above.

Before	After
Score: 58	Score: 86
Missing keywords	Optimized keyword match
Generic resume	Tailored to job description
Two-column layout	Single-column, ATS-friendly
Soft skills only	Hard skills + tools listed
No summary keywords	Summary with 5 target keywords

The candidate's actual experience didn't change. The only difference was how that experience was presented to the ATS. A 28-point improvement from formatting, keywords, and skills alignment — not from new qualifications.

How Much Can ATS Scores Improve?

The amount your score can improve depends on where you're starting. Here's a realistic range based on the fixes described above:

Most candidates can improve their score by 20–30 points with the strategies in this guide. The lower your starting score, the more room there is for improvement — because the biggest gains come from fixing fundamental issues like missing keywords and bad formatting.

Common ATS Score Improvement Mistakes

Not all optimization is good optimization. Here are five mistakes that can actually hurt your chances.

Keyword Stuffing. Adding keywords that don't fit naturally in your resume. If you list "project management" five times in a single section, the ATS may flag your resume as spam. Use each keyword once or twice, in context.

Copying Job Descriptions. Pasting the job description into your resume word-for-word. Some candidates do this in white text or tiny font to trick the ATS. This is a terrible idea — if a recruiter catches it, your application goes straight to the reject pile.

Using Fancy Templates. That beautiful Canva template with the sidebar, icons, and color blocks? It's almost certainly ATS-unfriendly. Stick with a clean, simple format that an automated system can read.

Ignoring Skills Sections. Many candidates bury their skills in bullet points and skip the dedicated skills section entirely. This is a missed opportunity — the skills section is the easiest place to add keywords without disrupting your narrative.

Sending the Same Resume Everywhere. This is the most common mistake. One generic resume sent to 50 jobs will score well on maybe 3 of them. A tailored resume sent to 10 jobs will score well on 8 or 9. Quality over quantity.

Check Your ATS Score Before You Apply

Related Resources

Want to go deeper on ATS optimization? These guides can help:

• What Is a Good ATS Score? — understand what different score ranges mean and what employers expect
• ATS Resume Format Guide — how to format your resume so ATS can read every section
• Resume Keywords for ATS — find the right keywords for your industry and role
• How to Pass ATS Resume Screening — a complete guide to getting past automated filters

Frequently Asked Questions