Free ATS resume keyword scanner

How this keyword scanner ranks a job posting

The scanner tokenizes the posting, removes common English and job-ad filler words, preserves technical punctuation such as C#, C++, CI/CD, and Node.js, and recognizes a curated set of hard skills and common professional methods. It then raises terms that repeat or appear in requirement-heavy lines such as “must have,” “qualifications,” “proficient in,” and “experience with.”

Multi-word skills stay together where possible, so “product management,” “machine learning,” and “Google Analytics” are more useful than isolated generic words. When resume text is present, matching is literal for phrases and lightly stemmed for single words. The table exposes the term, priority, repetition evidence, and match state so you can inspect the reasoning yourself.

What the percentage means—and what it does not

Weighted coverage is the share of this tool's extracted keyword weight found in the pasted resume. Recognized skills and requirement signals count more than medium-priority terms. It is useful for comparing your own drafts against the same posting. It is not a universal ATS pass score and should not be compared as if every vendor uses the same formula.

A five-step keyword workflow that stays honest

1. Use the complete original posting. Include responsibilities and qualifications; a title alone contains too little evidence.
2. Review high-priority gaps first. Separate skills you possess from requirements you do not meet.
3. Place exact terms inside proof. Put a tool in Skills, then demonstrate it in an achievement bullet with scope or outcome.
4. Preserve human readability. Use the employer's language once where natural; do not paste a hidden or repeated keyword block.
5. Check the rest of the document. Keyword coverage cannot diagnose broken PDF text, missing dates, vague bullets, or screening questions.

After the keyword pass, run the resume parser test on your final file, or use the full ATS checker to combine job matching with structure, impact, clarity, and parsing checks.

Why exact language still matters

Recruiter tools do not all behave identically, but keyword search is a documented feature—not an internet myth. Greenhouse shows recruiters using full-text search over resumes and candidate profiles. Oracle Taleo documents exact-term, related-term, and conceptual keyword modes, as well as required, desired, and excluded criteria. That variety is precisely why no outside checker can promise one magic match score.

The practical response is modest: name the specific tools, certifications, methods, and titles that truthfully connect your work to the vacancy. Spell out an acronym once when both forms matter, keep important text in the document body, and let achievement evidence carry the human case.