# Why is my resume's ATS score low and how do I raise it?

Source page: https://cvposh.com/solutions/low-ats-score-how-to-fix

Last updated: 2026-11-13

A low checklist score means one or more simple rules fired. In the CVPosh checker the biggest deductions are under 200 words (-20), fewer than three of the four section names (-20), no email (-15), and no phone, too few bullets, tabs or odd characters (-5 to -10 each). Find which rules fired, fix each, and re-run. The score is a checklist, not a hiring prediction.

## Why scores come out low

The CVPosh ATS checker starts at 100 and subtracts points when a rule fires. A low score therefore has a short list of causes, and each is visible. The most common surprises are mechanical: a resume pasted with tabs, a heading named something unusual, bullets drawn with symbols the checker does not count, or a very short text because content sits in images.

It helps to know what a score is not. It is not a simulation of Workday, Greenhouse, Lever or any other employer system, and nothing links a higher number to more interviews. The score is useful because the rules are common-sense hygiene checks a person can act on in minutes.

The checker can also be wrong about a good resume. It counts words in the extracted text, so a resume that is mostly an image scores as "too short". It counts a bullet only when a line starts with a bullet, hyphen or asterisk followed by a space, so lines that start with other symbols, like a square or a circle, are not counted even though a human sees bullets. Knowing that, you can tell a real problem from an artefact.

## The fix for each rule, in order of points

Work from the top of the table down; the first rows cost the most.

1. **Word count under 200 (-20) or over 800 (-10).** Under 200 means the checker found little text: add detail to your experience, or confirm the file has real text and is not an image. Over 800 means the resume is long: cut older or less relevant material.
2. **Fewer than three of the four section names (-20).** The checker looks for the words experience, education, skills and summary or profile anywhere in the text. Use those plain headings.
3. **No email address (-15).** Add one in a normal line near the top, in the body of the page and not in a header or text box that may not be extracted.
4. **Fewer than five bullet lines (-10).** Use lines that start with a bullet, a hyphen or an asterisk and a space. If your resume uses other symbols, switch to standard bullets. Convert dense paragraphs into bullets.
5. **Tab characters (-10).** Tabs usually mean a table or aligned columns. Replace them with plain lines or single spaces.
6. **No phone number (-5).** Add a phone number in a common shape, for example 555-010-4477 or +91 98765 43210.
7. **The characters ™, ® or © (-5), and readability below 30 (-5).** Remove the symbols. For readability, shorten sentences and replace jargon with plain words where the meaning allows.

**All the rules that change the CVPosh checker score**

| Rule | Points | What it looks at |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Word count under 200 | -20 | Words in the extracted text |
| Word count over 800 | -10 | Words in the extracted text |
| No email address found | -15 | Something shaped like name@domain.tld |
| No phone number found | -5 | A phone-number shape (several international formats) |
| Fewer than 3 of 4 section names | -20 | The words experience, education, skills, summary or profile anywhere in the text |
| Fewer than 5 bullet lines | -10 | Lines starting with •, - or * and a space |
| ™, ® or © present | -5 | These characters |
| Tab characters present | -10 | Tabs in the text |
| Readability (Flesch) below 30 | -5 | Flesch reading ease with each line treated as a sentence |

Missing links, action verbs and numbers are shown as tips with no deduction. The score is clamped between 0 and 100. Rules are from the checker code; the full page with a worked example is "How the ATS checker scores".

## When to use CVPosh for this

Use the CVPosh ATS checker to find which rules fired and to re-run after each fix; the issues come with a suggestion for each. Because the rules are fixed, the same text always gets the same score, so you can see what each edit changed.

Do not chase 100 as a goal. A resume that scores lower because it is short or has a table can still be the right resume for a given job, and a perfect score says nothing about content. If a rule fires wrongly (for example a bullet symbol that is not counted), fix it only if it makes the file more readable, not just to move the number.

Through MCP, the tool is ats_check: it accepts a saved CV (cvId) or resumeText and returns the score, issues, suggestions and stats.

## Copy-paste prompt for an AI assistant connected to CVPosh

```
Assign to CVPosh: run ats_check on my newest saved CV (find it with list_cvs) and list each rule that fired with the points it cost. For each one tell me whether it looks like a real problem or an artefact of how the text was extracted, and what I would change. Do not edit anything; show me what you did so I can approve each fix before I make it.
```

## Questions

**What is the highest score I can get?**
The checker clamps the score between 0 and 100. A resume that trips no rule scores 100. That says the simple checks passed, not that the resume is good.

**Why does my text count as under 200 words?**
The checker counts words in the extracted text. If the file is a scan, or most content is in images or text boxes that do not extract, the count is low. Run the copy-paste test to see what is extractable.

**Do missing links or numbers lower my score?**
No. They produce tips (no link, no action verb from a short list, no number), with no points deducted.

**Does a higher score mean more interviews?**
There is no evidence of that link, and CVPosh does not claim one. Use the score to catch avoidable problems.

## Related problems

- [How do I check my resume's ATS score?](https://cvposh.com/solutions/check-resume-ats-score)
- [What makes a resume template ATS-friendly?](https://cvposh.com/solutions/ats-friendly-resume-template)
- [How do I write resume bullet points that sound strong and not like a job description?](https://cvposh.com/solutions/write-resume-bullet-points)
- [How do I convert a Word resume to PDF without breaking the formatting?](https://cvposh.com/solutions/convert-word-resume-to-pdf)
- [ATS resume checker](https://cvposh.com/tools/analyzers/ats-checker)
- [How the ATS checker scores (full rules, worked example)](https://cvposh.com/tools/how-the-ats-checker-scores)
- [Blog: best ATS resume tips](https://cvposh.com/blog/best-ats-resume-tips)