Frequently asked questions.
No hedging, no overclaiming. Where the honest answer is "we can't," we say so, because the whole point of this product is that it does not bluff.
Does an ATS actually reject my résumé?
Rarely on formatting or keywords alone. The two documented auto-reject mechanisms are knockout questions, a yes/no screen on minimum qualifications applied before anyone reads you, and a parse so incomplete you become unsearchable. Recruiters surveyed said Workday, one of the most widespread systems, does not auto-reject for a missing keyword by itself. A bad parse does not reject you so much as bury you. We wrote the full case, with sources, in Does an ATS actually reject your résumé?
Are these real ATS scores?
They are modeled estimates, not live runs. We model how each of the six systems is documented to parse and rank a résumé and score yours against those models. We do not connect to those systems and we do not submit your résumé to them, so a score estimates how a résumé is likely to be read, not a measurement taken from the live platform. Real results vary with each employer's configuration and the version they run. More on that in how it works and our disclaimer.
Which platforms do you cover?
We model six of the most widely deployed applicant tracking systems: Greenhouse, Workday, Lever, iCIMS, Taleo, SmartRecruiters. We name them only to identify the systems we model. FirstRound is independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of them. You can read each one's playbook, with its rules traced to a source.
Will this guarantee me an interview?
No. Using FirstRound does not guarantee your résumé will pass any ATS, be seen by a recruiter, rank in any search, or result in an interview, offer, or employment. Hiring decisions depend on many factors outside our control, including knockout questions, the specific job, and each employer's configuration. What we can do is make your résumé parse cleanly and surface the way each screener is documented to read it. We will not promise a result we cannot control.
How is my résumé data handled?
The scoring runs on the text you provide, and how your data is stored, retained, and shared is spelled out in our Privacy Policy. Read it before uploading anything you would not want processed.
Why should I trust these numbers?
Two reasons. First, the engine is deterministic: the same résumé always scores the same, with no randomness and no clock in the scoring path, and the projected after-score is a real re-audit of the actual rewritten text, not a promise. Second, we show our sources: each platform's rules trace to a documented research corpus of vendor docs, parser-vendor engineering posts, and recruiter reports, each claim tagged with a confidence tier. We would rather show our work than ask for faith. The detail is in how it works and the screener playbooks.
Still have a question? Reach us at pranavongole@gmail.com.
FirstRound is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Greenhouse, Workday, Lever, iCIMS, Taleo, SmartRecruiters, or any other applicant tracking system. Product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used only to identify the systems FirstRound models.