What is a good ATS score? (And why yours isn't 100)

You upload your resume, paste a job post, and get a number out of 100. It's tempting to read that number as a grade on your career. It isn't.

The score describes the match between two documents: this resume and this job post. Change the job and the same resume can score quite differently. That's the whole point.

What the score looks at

Jiffy CV reads the job post and picks out the skills and tools it asks for. Then it looks at your resume in three ways:

• Skills match. Does your resume show the skills the job asks for? This matters most.
• Job fit. How well your background fits the role itself.
• Resume quality. How clearly your resume reads to a recruiter, and to the software that reads it first.

What is a good score?

As a rough guide:

• 80 and above: a strong match. Your resume names most of what the job asks for.
• 60 to 79: a good match, with gaps worth closing before you apply.
• 40 to 59: a partial match. Key skills are missing from the resume.
• Below 40: most of the job's skills are missing. Check whether the gap is wording or real experience.

These bands only make sense for one job at a time. A 65 for a role that's a stretch can be a better use of your evening than an 85 for a role you don't want.

A low score should come with reasons

A number on its own doesn't tell you what to do. So your results show what's behind it: the skills the job asks for, split into the ones on your CV and the ones missing, with must-haves marked, plus what's holding back your job fit and resume quality, each with a one-line fix.

That helps you tell two very different problems apart:

• The skill is in your work but not in your words. You ran experiments, but the job says "A/B testing" and your resume never does. Clearer wording fixes this.
• The skill isn't in your experience at all. No rewrite should paper over that, and Jiffy CV won't.

What a rewrite can honestly improve

When you click AI Optimise, Jiffy CV prepares a tailored rewrite of your resume. Click Apply All and it improves what your resume can already back up: wording, tense, clarity, and naming your work the way the job post names it.

A missing skill is only worked into a bullet that already shows that work. Every changed line is checked against your original resume, and anything it can't back up keeps its original wording.

For the most valuable missing skills you may get a suggested line, which you can add or skip. The rest go on a short checklist: add to Skills only what you've actually done. You tick the ones that are true, and nothing is added without your choice. Degrees, certifications and licences are never offered — if you don't have one, it stays missing.

Numbers work the same way. Jiffy CV may point out up to three bullets where a real number would help, but you type in the number yourself, and it doesn't change that scan's score.

Why 100 is rare

A score of 100 means your resume shows everything the job asks for, with nothing left to fix. Most honest candidates are missing a few things — a tool they haven't used, a certification they don't hold, a few years less than the post asks for. No tool should pretend otherwise.

Repeating a keyword doesn't help either.

The goal isn't to force the number to 100. It's to see which gaps are about wording, which need your input, and which are real experience you don't have yet.

How to use your score

1. Start with the must-haves that are missing. Ask whether each one is real experience you haven't written down.
2. Make the quick fixes your results point out.
3. Click AI Optimise and look through the tailored rewrite.
4. Tick only the skills you've genuinely used.
5. Use Show Changes to see exactly what changed, then download your PDF or Word file.

Your score is a guide, not a hiring promise. It helps you make the experience you already have clearer for the job you actually want.

Check your score for free or see how it works.