How Maseera scores your ATS readiness

When Maseera shows an "ATS score", here is exactly what it measures and why — so you can trust the number and act on it.

There is no single "ATS standard"

Applicant Tracking Systems are built by many companies — Workday, Greenhouse, Taleo, iCIMS, Lever and others — and each parses a CV slightly differently. There is no official specification or certification to comply with. What does exist is a consistent set of CV-parsing best practices, documented by the ATS vendors themselves and by university career centres. Maseera's score measures your CV against that documented consensus.

What the score checks

Formatting & parseability

0–25

Whether an ATS can read your CV cleanly in the first place.

Single-column layout — multiple columns scramble the parse order
Columns are found in the file itself, not guessed from the text: in a PDF from where the text sits on the page, in a Word file from its structure (section columns, layout tables, text boxes), in a photo from what the page shows. A file with side-by-side columns gets at most 12 of the 25 formatting points
Standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills)
No tables, text boxes, or columns holding important content
Contact details in the body, not in a page header or footer
Standard fonts; no images or icons carrying key information
Consistent, machine-readable dates

Keyword match

0–25

How well the CV matches the role you are targeting.

Role-relevant skills and terms recruiters search for
Headline and summary aligned to the target role

Clarity & evidence

0–25

Whether your experience is specific and believable, not vague or inflated.

Each line says what you did: the task, the tools, the scope
Real numbers where you have them; a clear line with no number still counts
Plain wording that fits your level: buzzwords and inflated verbs lose points

Completeness

0–25

Whether the CV has everything a recruiter and an ATS expect.

All key sections present — summary, experience, education, skills, contact
Every role has a title, a company, and dates
Length kept to one or two pages of content

Where the rubric comes from

Every item above traces to CV-parsing guidance published by major ATS vendors and by established university career centres. It is the documented consensus on what helps a CV parse correctly — not a Maseera invention.

What the score is — and isn't

The score is an ATS-readiness estimate, and it is always the sum of the four parts above. The same CV, target role and market show the same score for 30 days; change the CV and it is scored again. It tells you how well your CV follows widely-documented parsing best practices. Because every employer's ATS behaves a little differently, it is guidance — not a guaranteed pass at any specific company. Use it to remove the formatting and keyword problems that commonly cause a CV to be misread.