ATS Check: the 10-minute tune-up your résumé actually needs
Anitha Subramanian
July 4, 2025
•ATS Check: the 10-minute tune-up
If recruiters skim, ATS doesn’t—it searches. Think of Applicant Tracking Systems as Google for résumés. If the right words and structure aren’t there, your story never even shows up. That’s why I love the ATS Check: it’s a fast, no-nonsense way to see what a hiring bot sees—then fix it before you hit “Apply.”
What you get (in plain English)
What ATS Check Shows | Why it Matters | What You’ll Do Next |
|---|---|---|
ATS Score (%) | A gut-check on how findable/parseable your résumé is | Tackle the biggest gaps first to move the needle quickly |
Strengths | The sections/phrases already working for you | Double down—mirror these across summary, experience, skills |
Weaknesses | Formatting quirks, vague bullets, missing metrics | Clean structure, add numbers, split long sentences |
Improvement Suggestions | Keywords to add, top skills, missing skills | Plug gaps aligned to the role you’re targeting |
AI-Powered Next Steps | A ready-to-use professional summary draft | Paste, then personalize with your impact and stack |
The usual culprits (and quick fixes)
Common Issue (from real scans) | 60-Second Fix |
|---|---|
Fragmented bullets and mixed full sentences | Make all bullets action-oriented: Built, Automated, Deployed… |
Vague outcomes (“multiple automations,” “dashboards”) | Add numbers: “Automated nightly backups → cut RTO by 40%.” |
Skills scattered or buried | Move to a clean Skills block: Linux, Jenkins, Ansible, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Prometheus, Python, Azure/AWS |
Contact + links mixed into paragraphs | Keep a single header line: email · phone · LinkedIn · GitHub/Portfolio |
Dates formatted inconsistently | Use one style everywhere: MMM YYYY – MMM YYYY |
Wall-of-text responsibilities | 3–5 bullets per role, each with an action + tool + outcome |
How I run an ATS-smart edit (the 3-step sweep)
Scan it → Run ATS Check and note the top 3 weaknesses.
Sharpen it → Rewrite bullets with action + tool + metric:
“Implemented CI/CD with Jenkins + Ansible, cutting release time from 4h to 35m; reduced rollbacks 60%.”Stack it → Ensure the Skills section mirrors the job post (truthfully):
Kubernetes · Docker · Terraform · Prometheus/Grafana · Linux · Jenkins · Ansible · Python · Azure/AWS · Git/GitLab CI
A résumé summary that actually sounds like you
DevOps engineer who ships reliably, not just quickly. I build lean CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab), automate infra with Ansible/Terraform, and keep systems healthy with Prometheus/Grafana. Recent wins: cut deploy time from hours to under 40 minutes, standardized Kubernetes rollouts across teams, and drove a 50% drop in incidents via better monitoring and runbooks. Now looking to bring that calm, repeatable delivery to a team that values ownership.
Pro tip: keep one “master résumé,” then clone a version per role and let ATS Check fine-tune keywords each time.
Before you apply—30-second checklist
Job title mirrored in your summary
8–12 skills that match the JD (no buzzword stuffing)
Every bullet has a metric (time, cost, reliability, scale)
Dates, headings, and bullets are consistent
Links work (LinkedIn, GitHub, portfolio)
Ready to see what the bots see—and fix it fast?
👉 Run your résumé through ATS Check, then hit Build My Resume to lock in the upgrades.