Frequently Asked Questions

Rezume is an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) resume analyzer specifically designed for software engineers. It analyzes your resume for keyword optimization, technical skills coverage, experience level detection, and provides actionable recommendations to improve your chances of passing ATS screening and landing interviews.

Yes! The core ATS analysis feature is completely free. The "Enhance Resume" feature (AI-powered resume improvement) is currently FREE for the first 100 users as a limited-time offer.

No traditional account creation is needed. When you upload your resume, we automatically extract your name and email from the PDF and use that to authenticate you. Your resume is stored locally in your browser for the web app, or in the browser extension's local storage.

We do NOT store your resume PDF on our servers. Your resume is processed in-memory and discarded immediately after analysis. We only save your name and email (extracted from your resume) for feedback purposes. For more details, see our Privacy Policy.

Currently, Rezume only supports PDF files. Make sure your resume is in PDF format before uploading. We recommend using standard PDF generation (not scanned images) for best text extraction results.

Our ATS score (0–100) is calculated based on:

• Keyword Coverage: How many relevant software engineering keywords are present (+0.5 points each)
• Critical Keywords: Missing must-have keywords for your experience level (−3 points each)
• Structure: Presence of essential resume sections (+5–10 points)
• Tech Stack Completeness: Coverage of common technology stacks

Rezume automatically detects your career level based on job titles, years of experience, and content:

• Fresher / Entry-level: 0–2 years
• Mid-level Engineer: 2–5 years
• Senior Engineer: 5–10 years
• Principal / Staff Engineer: 10+ years
• Engineering Manager: People management focus

Recommendations are tailored to your detected level.

Tech stacks are common groupings of technologies used together (e.g., MERN = MongoDB, Express, React, Node.js). Rezume analyzes whether you have complete stack coverage, which signals to ATS systems and recruiters that you have full-stack or specialized expertise. Missing components in common stacks are highlighted as gaps.

The Rezume browser extension:

• Auto-detects job descriptions on LinkedIn, Indeed, Greenhouse, Lever, and other job boards
• Instantly matches your resume against the JD — shows % match and missing keywords
• Tailors your resume with one click to optimize it for that specific job
• Stores your resume locally in your browser — never sent to our server unless you click Match/Tailor

1. Click the "Get Browser Extension" button on the home page
2. Download the rezume-extension.zip file
3. Unzip the file anywhere on your computer
4. Open chrome://extensions in Chrome, Edge, or Brave
5. Enable Developer mode (toggle in the top-right corner)
6. Click Load unpacked and select the unzipped folder
7. Pin the Rezume icon to your toolbar

Currently supported job boards:

• LinkedIn Jobs
• Indeed
• Greenhouse
• Lever
• Workday
• Most other job posting sites — the extension looks for common JD patterns on any page

If a job board isn't auto-detected, you can still manually analyze by copying the JD text.

The enhancement feature uses OpenAI's GPT-4 to:

• Add missing ATS keywords naturally into your resume
• Improve bullet point clarity and impact
• Optimize formatting for ATS parsing
• Enhance technical descriptions

The AI generates an enhanced version while preserving your original content structure. You can download the improved resume as a PDF.

The resume editor feature is currently disabled in the production version. We're working on improvements and plan to re-enable it in a future update. For now, use the "Enhance Resume" feature for AI-powered improvements, or edit your resume manually in your preferred PDF editor.

If the analysis doesn't seem right:

• Check PDF format: Ensure your PDF has selectable text, not a scanned image
• Try re-uploading: Sometimes PDF parsing can have hiccups
• Verify content: Make sure your resume includes clear job titles, dates, and technical keywords
• Contact support: If issues persist, visit our Support page

Try these troubleshooting steps:

• Make sure the Rezume server is running on localhost:3000
• Refresh the job page after installing the extension
• Check if the site is supported — LinkedIn, Indeed, Greenhouse, and Lever work best
• Click the extension icon in your toolbar to manually open the popup
• Ensure you've logged in by uploading your resume in the extension

Enhancement errors can occur if:

• The server doesn't have OpenAI API credentials configured
• Your resume PDF is too large or complex
• The OpenAI API is experiencing downtime

Try again in a few minutes. If the issue persists, contact support.

Yes. Since we only store your name and email (not your resume), you can request deletion by contacting us through the Support page. Your contact info will be removed from our records within 48 hours.

No. We do not share, sell, or rent your data to any third parties. The only exception is when you use the "Enhance Resume" feature, which sends your resume to OpenAI's API for processing. See our Privacy Policy for full details.