How to Improve Your ATS Score in 2026 — Step by Step

If you've just checked your ATS score and it came back below 75%, don't panic. In most cases, you can move from 60% to 80%+ in a single focused session of 30-45 minutes. The fixes are specific, targeted, and straightforward once you know exactly what to change.

Here is the exact step-by-step process.

Step 1: Check Your Current Score First

Never optimize blindly. Before making any changes, run your resume through an ATS score checker against the specific job description you are applying for. This gives you three critical pieces of information:

• Your current score (your baseline)
• Which keywords you are missing (your target list)
• Which keywords you already have (don't remove these)

Save this report. Every change you make after this point should be aimed at addressing the specific gaps it identifies.

Step 2: Fix Your Keyword Gaps — Highest Impact Change

Keyword matching is typically responsible for 60-70% of your ATS score. Fixing keyword gaps is the single highest-impact change you can make.

How to add keywords effectively

Do not just drop keywords into a skills list. Keywords carry significantly more ATS weight when they appear in your work experience section, woven naturally into bullet points that describe your actual work.

Use exact phrasing from the job description

If the job description says "stakeholder management," use that exact phrase. ATS systems match keywords as strings, not by meaning. "Managing stakeholders" and "stakeholder management" may mean the same thing to a human, but an ATS may score only one of them as a match.

Include both acronyms and full forms

Write "Search Engine Optimization (SEO)" rather than just "SEO." Some ATS systems do not automatically match acronyms to their full forms, so including both doubles your matching coverage.

Step 3: Rewrite Your Bullet Points

Strong ATS bullet points do two things: include target keywords AND quantify your impact. The formula is: Action verb + Technology/keyword + Result + Metric.

The "after" version includes the keywords "paid social", "Facebook", "Google Ads", "conversion rate", "customer acquisition cost", and "CAC" — all common job description terms — while also telling a compelling story for the human reviewer who reads your resume after the ATS.

Step 4: Fix Formatting Issues

Formatting problems can tank your ATS score even when your keywords are perfect — because the ATS cannot correctly parse your content. The most common formatting issues to fix:

• Two-column or multi-column layouts — Switch to single column immediately. This is the most damaging format issue.
• Tables — Replace any table-formatted content with plain bullet points.
• Text boxes or sidebars — Content inside these is often completely invisible to ATS parsers.
• Graphics, icons, or charts — Remove entirely. ATS cannot read images.
• Contact info in headers/footers — Some ATS systems do not parse headers and footers. Move your name, email, and phone into the main body.
• Unusual fonts — Stick to standard fonts: Calibri, Garamond, Georgia, Arial, or Times New Roman.

Step 5: Optimize Your Section Structure

ATS systems are trained to recognize specific section names. Non-standard headings confuse the parser and cause your content to be miscategorized or ignored.

Use these exact standard section headers:

• Work Experience (not "My Career" or "Professional Journey")
• Education (not "Academic Background")
• Skills (not "Competencies" or "What I'm Good At")
• Certifications (not "Credentials")
• Summary or Professional Summary (not "About Me")

Also ensure your keywords appear in your Work Experience section, not only in a Skills list. ATS systems weight keywords in the experience section more heavily.

Step 6: Re-Check Before Submitting

After making your changes, run your updated resume through the ATS checker again against the same job description. Compare your new score to your baseline. Aim to reach 75% minimum — 80%+ if you are targeting a competitive role at a large employer.

If you are still below 75%, look at which keywords are still missing and find additional natural ways to incorporate them into your experience bullets.

What Has the Biggest Impact on Your ATS Score?

The data is clear: keyword optimization — specifically adding missing keywords from the job description into your work experience bullets — is responsible for the majority of ATS score improvement. Start there every time.