# Compare your resume to a job description

> Upload or paste your resume, paste the job post, and see your fit out of 100, the must-haves you're missing and the 3 fixes worth the most. Free, no sign-up.

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| What you bring | Your resume (PDF, Word or text) and a job posting |
| Price | Free |
| Rendered page | https://atsprep.com/tools/resume-job-description-match |
| This document | https://atsprep.com/tools/resume-job-description-match.md |

Compare your resume to a job description free. Upload or paste both for a match score, the must-haves you miss and your top 3 fixes. No sign-up.

Updated 12 Nov 2026. Scored as in our [methodology](https://atsprep.com/methodology).

## How to compare your resume to a job description in five steps.

1. **Add your resume:** Drop a PDF or Word file, or paste the text. It's read in your browser and isn't uploaded.
2. **Paste the job description:** Copy the whole ad, from the job title down to the requirements, or paste a link to it. It needs at least 120 characters.
3. **Press Compare:** You get a job fit out of 100, how many of the must-haves your work shows, and the three fixes that move it most.
4. **Fix what's true:** For each gap you really have, add a bullet under the job where you did it, in the post's words. Leave out what you can't back up in an interview.
5. **Compare again, or tailor it in the Studio:** Paste the new version and compare again, or open both in the free Studio, where Job match counts as you edit and saves a PDF.

## How the match is worked out. The same rules as Job match in the Studio.

The number is ours: how much of this post your resume shows, and how well. It isn't the score an employer's ATS gives you, because there isn't one shared score. Each employer sets up its own system, and recruiters mostly search and filter by the skills they need.

1. **The post is split into what it asks for:** Lines under “Requirements”, “What you'll need” or “Must have” become must-haves. “Preferred”, “Bonus” and “Nice to have” become nice-to-haves. “What you'll do” becomes the duties. Pay, perks, benefits and how to apply are left out, so “dental cover” never counts as a skill you lack.
2. **Each line is looked for in your work:** A requirement shown in a bullet under one of your jobs is met. Named only in your Skills list, it counts as partly there, for a quarter of the credit: a list says you have it, a bullet shows where you used it. When only some of the words in a line are found, it gets that share.
3. **The groups are weighed:** Must-haves carry the most weight (0.8), the duties next (0.25) and nice-to-haves least (0.2), shared among the groups the post actually has. A post with no nice-to-haves doesn't hand out free points for them.
4. **Half the fit is the requirements:** The other half is how your bullets read: 30% for evidence (lines that say how much and what changed, with recent jobs counting most) and 20% for readability (contact details, dates, bullet length, spelling). Until 60% of the requirements show in your work, those two count for less, so a polished resume for the wrong job still scores low.
5. **Caps hold the number down:** Two or more must-haves not shown in your work stop the fit at 55. A licence, registration or location the job needs and your resume doesn't show stops it at 40. Fewer than two bullets with a scale or a result stop it at 55, fewer than four at 70. The result says which cap is holding yours.

Matching here is word for word, so it never credits a skill you didn't write. In the Studio, Job match can also check meaning: a requirement you said in other words then counts, and your number can go up. The post is read once by an open AI model, to sort what it asks for from its pay, perks and process; your resume is not.

## What a good match score is. Read the caps, not just the number.

There's no pass mark. A higher fit means more of what this employer asked for shows in your work. It doesn't promise an interview, and 100 isn't the goal: a resume that copies the post reads like one.

| Job fit | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| Over 70 | No cap is holding it. Most of what the post asks shows in your work and your bullets show results. Tailor the last gaps and apply. |
| 55 to 70 | Close. Either one thing caps it (the line under the count says which) or several asks are only partly there. The top fixes are where the points are. |
| Under 55 | Usually two or more must-haves aren't shown, a licence or location is missing, or few lines show a result. Fix what's true, or ask whether this job is the right one. |

### The word beside the number

It comes from the count of must-haves your work shows, so it reads the same however long the post is. Job match in the Studio uses the same three words.

- **Strong fit:** Half or more of the must-haves show in your work.
- **Good fit:** Two in five or more do.
- **Stretch:** Fewer than two in five do.

## Must-have or nice-to-have? The post's own headings decide.

Most job posts mix three lists, plus a few hard lines. They don't count the same, and the result keeps them apart.

- **Must-haves:** What the post says you need: the lines under Requirements, Qualifications, What you'll bring or Who you are. They carry most of the fit, and the count at the top of the result is how many of them your work shows. Two or more not shown hold the fit at 55, however good the rest is.
- **Nice-to-haves:** Preferred, Bonus, Nice to have, “is a plus”. Together they count about a quarter as much as the must-haves. Add the ones you really have, after the must-haves.
- **Duties:** What you'd do in the job. A resume that already shows that kind of work is a fit, so the duties count a little more than the nice-to-haves. Write your bullets about the same work, in the post's words where they're accurate.
- **Hard requirements:** Years of experience, a degree, a licence or certificate, a location or the right to work. Years are counted from the dates of your matching jobs, a degree from your Education, a licence from your Certifications, and a country from your header. A line about visas or the right to work is shown for you to answer, because a resume can't prove it.

## Where to add missing keywords. Only the ones that are true.

A keyword counts most where it shows what you did. Here's where each kind goes, from the strongest place to the weakest.

1. **In a bullet, under the job where you did it:** This is where a requirement counts in full. “Ran quarterly business reviews for 40 accounts” shows the skill, the scale and the place you used it. Recruiters read bullets; a search by skill finds them too.
2. **In your summary, if it's central to the job:** Two or three of the post's main asks, in its words, at the top. A summary line counts as partly there until a bullet backs it up.
3. **In your Skills list, for tools and certificates:** Name the software and certificates the post names, spelled the same way (“Salesforce”, not “SFDC”). On its own a skills list earns a quarter of the credit, so pair the important ones with a bullet.
4. **Use their words for the same thing:** If you wrote “client support” and the post says “customer success”, and both describe what you did, use theirs. Matching here is word for word.

### What not to do

- Don't add a skill you don't have. The interview is where it's found out, and a recruiter who spots one stretch reads every other line with doubt.
- Don't paste the job post into your resume in white or tiny text. Recruiters see it the moment the file is opened as text, and many ATSs show them exactly that.
- Don't repeat a keyword in every bullet. One line that shows it beats five that name it.

## A worked example. Jordan and a customer success job.

Jordan is an account manager applying to be a customer success manager at Brightline. Both are made up; the numbers below are the tool's real result for them, the same one the example above the fold shows.

Job fit: **56**. 5 of 7 must-haves shown in your work · Strong fit.

| The post asks for | On the resume |
| --- | --- |
| Reducing churn | Missing |
| Clear written communication with customers and internal teams | Missing |
| 3+ years in customer success or account management at a SaaS company | On your resume: 6.3 years in matching roles. |
| Salesforce or HubSpot | On your resume: “Kept HubSpot records up to date for a team of 8 account managers” |
| Growing renewals | On your resume: “Grew renewals from 82% to 91% in 2024 by running quarterly business reviews with every account” |
| Running onboarding | On your resume: “Ran onboarding and training sessions for 30 new customers, cutting time to first use from 6 weeks to 3” |
| Training sessions | On your resume: “Ran onboarding and training sessions for 30 new customers, cutting time to first use from 6 weeks to 3” |

### Jordan's top fixes

1. **Reducing churn.** If you've done this, add a bullet that says so in the post's words.
2. **Clear written communication with customers and internal teams.** If you've done this, add a bullet that says so in the post's words.
3. **Gainsight.** If you've used Gainsight, name it in a bullet that shows what you did with it.

Before adding anything, Jordan asks one question of each fix: did I do this? Reducing churn, yes: renewals went from 82% to 91%, so that bullet gets the post's word, “churn”. Clear written communication, yes: the help-centre guides, so that bullet says who they were written for. Gainsight, never used it, so it stays off. The fit goes up for what's true, and only that.

## Match, ATS checker or keyword scanner? Three free tools, three questions.

They share one engine and answer different questions. Use the one that fits where you are.

| Tool | You give it | You get | Use it |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Resume vs job description match (this page)](https://atsprep.com/tools/resume-job-description-match) | Your resume and one job post | A job fit out of 100, each must-have found or missing, hard requirements and the top three fixes | Before you apply to a specific job |
| [ATS resume checker](https://atsprep.com/tools/ats-resume-checker) | Your resume (a job post is optional) | What a parser reads from your file, notes on every bullet and a resume score | Once, to make sure the file itself reads cleanly |
| [Resume keyword scanner](https://atsprep.com/tools/resume-keyword-scanner) | A job post (your resume is optional) | The keywords the post asks for most | When you're reading a post and deciding what it really wants |
| [Job match in the Studio](https://atsprep.com/studio?match=1) | Your resume and the job, as you edit | The same match, live as you change each line, with help writing the missing bullets | When you're tailoring the resume you'll send |

How an ATS reads a resume, system by system: [the ATS guides](https://atsprep.com/ats).

## Questions

### How do I compare my resume to a job description?

Upload your resume or paste its text, paste the whole job post, and press Compare. You get a job fit out of 100, the post's must-haves split into the ones your work shows and the ones it misses, the nice-to-haves, any hard requirements such as years or a degree, and the 3 fixes worth the most. It takes a few seconds.

### Is it free?

Yes. Comparing is free, with no sign-up and no cap on how many posts you try. Tailoring your resume in the Studio is free too. PDF and Word downloads need a free account; the plain-text download doesn't.

### Is my resume uploaded anywhere?

No. Your file is read and scored in your browser, and its text isn't sent to ATSPrep. The job post is different: its text goes once to an open AI model that sorts what the job asks for from its pay, perks and legal lines, and only which line is which gets cached, so the same post isn't read twice. If you open the result in the Studio, it sorts your resume into roles the same way, with your name and contact details taken out first.

### What is a good resume match score?

Over 70 means nothing is capping it: most of what the post asks shows in your work, with results. 55 to 70 is close, usually held by one gap the line under the number names. Under 55 usually means two or more must-haves aren't shown, a required licence or location is missing, or few bullets show a result. It's a guide to what to fix, not a pass mark.

### Is this the same as an ATS score?

No. There is no single ATS score: each employer sets up its own system, and recruiters search and filter applicants by the skills and requirements they need. This shows how well your resume answers one post. To see how an ATS reads your file itself, use the free ATS resume checker.

### Is it the same score the Studio's Job match gives?

Yes. This page runs Job match's own count, so the same resume and post give the same number when you press Tailor. Two things can move it after that: the Studio also looks for skills you show in other words, which can only add points, and it re-reads your file's roles with AI, which can move it either way if a role was read differently here.

### What's the difference between must-haves and nice-to-haves?

Must-haves are the post's requirements, the lines under “Requirements”, “What you'll need” or “Qualifications”. They carry most of the score. Nice-to-haves come from “Preferred”, “Bonus” or “Nice to have” and count about a quarter as much. The duties, what you'd do in the job, sit in between. A missing nice-to-have never caps your score; two missing must-haves do.

### Why does it say a skill is missing when I have it?

It looks for the skill in your work, not only in a skills list. A skill named only in your skills section counts as listed, worth a quarter of one shown in a bullet. If you wrote “client retention” and the post says “reducing churn”, use the post's words where they're true. And if your skills are icons or a chart, write them as text.

### Should I add every missing keyword?

No. Add the ones that are true, in a bullet under the job where you did them. Never claim a tool, licence or result you don't have: a recruiter or an interview will find it, and it can cost you the job after an offer. If the top fixes are things you've never done, this post may be a stretch.

### How does it handle years, degrees and visa lines?

When a post states them, they show as hard requirements. Years are counted from the dates of your matching roles, and a degree from your education section. A line about work rights, sponsorship or relocation can't be proved by a resume, so it shows as check yourself: if it's true, say it in your header or summary.

### Which file types can I upload?

PDF, Word (.docx and .doc), RTF, OpenDocument, plain text and Markdown, up to 12 MB. A scanned PDF that's only an image has no text to read: paste the text instead. You can also paste your resume straight into the box.

### Can I paste a link to the job instead of the text?

Yes, for many job boards and company career pages: paste the link and the post's text is filled in for you. If a site blocks it, copy the post's text and paste that. Paste the whole ad, including the part that lists what they're looking for.

### Does it work for jobs outside tech?

Yes. It reads each post rather than checking a fixed skills list, so it works for nursing, sales, teaching, trades and office jobs as well as software. It does best when the post spells out its requirements in a list.

### How many jobs should I compare my resume to?

Every job you apply to. Each post asks for something a bit different, and the 3 fixes for one aren't the 3 for the next. Compare, tailor the gaps that are true for you, then save a version of your resume per job in the Studio so you don't start over each time.

Open the full resume Studio: https://atsprep.com/studio

## About ATSPrep

ATSPrep (https://atsprep.com) is a free resume and application workspace. Match experience to a posting, strengthen claims with evidence, and track the next action. Its PDF check shows text recovered by ATSPrep's extractor, not an employer's proprietary ATS or hiring decision.

- **Price:** Free plan forever: your ATS score, every fix, job match, 3 AI rewrites and PDF downloads, with no card or watermark. Optional ATSPrep Pro ($9 once for 7 days, $12/month, or $29 once for 3 months) adds 300 AI edits a day, Fix all with AI, AI tailoring, Word downloads, all 13 templates and unlimited practice with Pip.
- **Account:** none needed to import or edit a resume, or for its first check and 3 rechecks a day. A free sign-in is needed for PDF downloads (Word files come with ATSPrep Pro), to sync, and for more than 1 AI edit.
- **Your file:** parsed and exported inside the browser. The resume file itself is never uploaded.
- **Sent:** matching a job by meaning, on by default once you add a job (the lines involved). Only on a button press: AI edits (the lines involved), a job link (the link) and Pip voice calls (your speech). Never your contact details, and none of it is stored.
- **Connection:** some tools load on first use and need a connection to download. Local storage is not a cloud backup.
- **Accepts:** PDF, DOCX, TXT, Markdown, or pasted plain text.

Start here: https://atsprep.com/studio