ATS Checklist

This is the free check to run before you hit send.

Most résumés get ranked out of sight before a person ever reads one. Screening

software matches your résumé against the posting's exact language, so a strong

candidate can still rank low just for describing the same work in different words.

WHAT'S INSIDE

13 checks across the three areas that decide whether yours gets read:

- Keywords — what to pull from the posting, and where to put it

- Format — what screening software can and can't read

- Content — what convinces the human on the other side of the bot

WHY IT EXISTS

I've written 250+ résumés for clients since 2016, and I evaluate AI output for a

living. The same small set of details decides whether a résumé gets read, and all

of them take minutes to fix. This is that list — free, because getting read should

come down to your experience, not to knowing the rules.

HOW TO USE IT

Print it, or keep it open in a tab. Run every application through it before

submitting. Two minutes, and your résumé reaches the person it was written for.

Want this done for you instead? The prompt toolkits at resumeprompts.io build a

tailored, ATS-optimized résumé and cover letter for any posting, using the free

version of Claude.

LICENSE — This checklist is yours to use for your own job search, for as many

applications as you like, forever. Please don't resell it, repackage it, or

include it in anything you charge for. Happy to have you tell people about it —

just send them the link rather than the file. Using it with clients, students,

or a class? Just reply to your confirmation email and I'll sort out a license

that works.