ATS Resume Checker

See exactly which JD keywords your resume is missing.

Free ATS resume checker: score your resume against a specific job posting on keyword overlap. See matched must-haves, missing must-haves with importance, and the precise additions to make before applying.

Check keyword gaps

Match %Must-havesSpecific edits

Example report

A complete ATS Resume Checker report, start to finish — generated for a sample resume and shown in full below. Every section here is exactly what you get; nothing is trimmed, clipped, or hidden behind a paywall. Yours is built from your own resume in about a minute, no account needed.

7.4/10

KEYWORD COVERAGE

PARTIAL 74% MATCH

Solid keyword coverage with three high-value gaps

Matched keywords (with resume context)

✓

payments

Owned the payments roadmap…

✓

cross-functional

…launches across eng, risk, and GTM

✓

roadmap

Owned the payments roadmap…

✓

reconciliation

Designed the internal ledger and reconciliation…

✓

API

Shipped APIs consumed across the company

Missing must-haves (ranked by importance)

✗

people management high

The posting lists "manage a team of PMs" — currently absent from your resume.

✗

stakeholder management high

Named as a core competency; your cross-functional work proves it but never uses the phrase.

OKRs medium

Used as a planning-maturity signal across the posting.

Missing nice-to-haves

SQL
experimentation / A/B testing

Additional keywords to weave in

settlement
chargebacks
PCI
ledger

Where to add each keyword

Highlighted text like your number is a blank to fill in with your real data — we never add skills or metrics you don't have.

EDIT · Current role

Builds on: Mentored three junior PMs

Mentored and set direction for N PMs across the payments pod.

Surfaces the people-leadership signal using experience you already have.

EDIT · Summary

Builds on: launches across eng, risk, and GTM

Drive stakeholder alignment across eng, risk, legal, and GTM on a single plan.

Adds the exact "stakeholder management" phrase the ATS screens for, grounded in real work.

EDIT · Experience — current role

Builds on: Owned the payments roadmap

Set quarterly OKRs for the payments pod and reported progress to leadership.

Only add this if you genuinely ran OKRs — it covers the planning-maturity keyword.

Next steps

Weave in the four payments terms you genuinely own
Only add people-management framing that reflects real scope

↑ That’s the full example, start to finish. Run yours free — your own private report lands in your inbox. Check keyword gaps

What the keyword gap check looks at

The check compares your resume against one specific job posting and scores how much of the JD's required language is actually present. It returns a 0-10 coverage score plus a raw match percentage, then breaks the result into what is matched, what is missing, and the exact terms to add. Every matched keyword is shown with the resume context where it appears, so you can see whether the term is genuinely backed by evidence or just floating in a skills list.

Coverage score and match %

A 0-10 keyword-coverage score plus the raw percentage of JD must-haves your resume currently contains.

Matched must-haves

The required keywords already present, each shown with the resume line where it appears.

Missing must-haves by importance

The required terms you lack, ranked high versus medium so you fix the screen-out risks first.

Missing nice-to-haves

Secondary terms worth adding if you genuinely have the experience, separated from the must-haves.

Exact keywords to add

Specific terms to weave in, not vague themes, with a short note on why each one matters to the posting.

Where to place each edit

The section or role to add a term to, grounded in work you already describe, with the reasoning.

How to act on the missing keywords

A list of missing words is useless without judgment about which ones to add and how. The report ranks gaps by importance and grounds each suggested edit in something already on your resume, so you add the right phrase to the right section instead of stuffing terms. It will never invent experience for you: where a keyword has no real backing, the recommendation says to add the phrasing only if it reflects work you actually did.

Fix high-importance gaps first

Missing must-haves marked high are the most likely reasons an auto-screen drops you, so they come before medium ones.

Use context, not stuffing

Suggested additions are tied to real lines in your resume so the keyword reads as evidence, not filler.

Place terms where they count

Each edit names the section or role to update, since a phrase in the summary lands differently than one buried at the bottom.

Skip keywords you cannot back

Where a term has no genuine basis in your experience, the report flags it rather than inviting you to fake it.

Private to you

This is feedback for your own editing; it does not send your resume to the employer or the ATS.

Keyword pass-through is the gate, not the whole fit

Keyword coverage decides whether a human ever sees your resume, but it does not decide whether you are the right candidate. A generic ATS checker mostly counts words; this tool checks whether the resume shows evidence of the keyword, so a few years of hands-on Python reads as stronger than the word Python in a list. Once you clear the keyword gate, the harder questions about must-have proof, dealbreakers, and whether to apply at all live in the broader fit view.

Necessary, not sufficient

Strong coverage gets you past the screen; it does not prove you can do the job.

Evidence over tokens

The check judges whether the resume demonstrates the keyword, not just whether the literal word appears.

Different from a generic ATS scan

Word-counting tools miss context; this one credits proven experience and flags terms that are only name-dropped.

Pairs with the Apply-or-Skip Score

Use this for the keyword-only view, and the Apply-or-Skip Score when you need the holistic fit, dealbreakers, and verdict.

One step before tailoring

Close the keyword gaps first, then spend tailoring effort only on roles worth the time.

How it works

Three steps. No job-board doomscrolling.

Drop in the context

Resume, posting, target role, salary goal, or positioning question — whichever this free tool asks for.

Get the reasoning

JobLobster shows the score, gaps, leverage, and recommendation instead of hiding behind a generic answer.

Act on the next move

Use the report as-is, or continue into matching, tailored applications, interview prep, and approval-first follow-up drafts.

FAQ

A few straight answers.

Is this just word-counting?

No — it judges whether the resume has evidence of the keyword (context check), not just the literal token. "Python scripting" partially covers a "5+ years Python" requirement; "wrote 4 years of Python data pipelines" fully covers it.

How is this different from the Apply-or-Skip Score?

The full Apply-or-Skip Score is a holistic fit view (must-haves coverage, dealbreakers, application angle, score ceiling). This tool is the focused keyword-only view your ATS sees first. Use this if you suspect your resume isn't making it past the auto-screen.

Do I need a Job Lobster account?

No. You can run the free report from this page with an email address. We email a private report link to the address you provide as soon as it is ready.

What happens after I request it?

You get the free report first. If it helps, you can keep going into the full JobLobster workflow for matching, tailored applications, interview prep, and follow-ups.