An applicant tracking system reads a CV as structure, not design: recognisable section headings, consistent dates, parseable contact details, and the words the advert used. Two-column layouts, text inside images and invented headings are why qualified applications go unseen.
Check your CV
Nothing is saved. We read your CV to produce the report and then discard it.
Questions about ATS and CVs
What is an ATS, and why does it matter for my CV?
An applicant tracking system (ATS) is the software most medium and large South African employers use to receive and screen applications. It reads your CV file, tries to pull out your contact details, work history, education and skills, and stores them as fields a recruiter can search and filter. If it reads your CV badly, a recruiter may never see you — not because you were rejected, but because your experience never made it into their system in a searchable form.
Why does my two-column CV score badly?
A two-column or sidebar design is usually built as a table. Parsers read tables in document order, so the sidebar contents get interleaved with the main column and your job titles, dates and duties arrive jumbled together. The design looks good to a person and confusing to the software. The fix is not to give up the design — it is to send a single-column version to online applications and keep the styled one for email and interviews.
Is this ATS checker really free?
Yes, completely, with no account needed. Every check runs on our own servers using a fixed set of published checks — there is no AI cost per use, so there is nothing to meter. You only pay if you later want extra CVs or the premium design themes in the CV Maker.
Should I put my ID number and a photo on my South African CV?
A photo is optional and increasingly discouraged by larger employers, who strip photos to reduce bias in screening. Your ID number should not be on a CV at all. A CV gets emailed to strangers and uploaded to job boards, and a 13-digit South African ID is exactly what identity fraud needs. Give it later, directly to the employer, once you are actually being hired.
How do I use the job advert matching?
Paste the advert into the second box. We pull out the terms it uses most, then check which of them appear in your CV. Missing terms are not a to-do list to copy blindly — only add the ones that are genuinely true of you, in your own words, in the role where you did them. A CV stuffed with keywords you cannot speak to falls apart in the first interview.