Does the ATS Really Reject 75% of Resumes? A New U.S. Study Says No — Here’s What Actually Happens

If you’ve ever applied for a job online, you’ve probably heard the scary statistic: “75% (or 80%, or even 90%) of resumes are instantly rejected by Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) before a human ever sees them.”

It’s been shared thousands of times on TikTok, LinkedIn, and career blogs — usually with urgent advice to buy an “ATS-friendly” template or pay someone to “beat the bots.”
But is any of it true?
A new in-depth study just interviewed 25 experienced U.S. recruiters who use ATS software every single day, and the results are eye-opening.
Spoiler: The robots are not the villain most people think they are.

The Myth Everyone Keeps Repeating

You’ve seen the headlines:

• “Why Your Resume Never Gets Seen”
• “How to Make Your Resume ATS-Proof in 2025”
• “75% of Resumes Are Automatically Trashed — Here’s How to Survive”

These articles almost never include a source for the 75% claim. When researchers dig, the number usually traces back to a single 2012 pre-study or a misquoted comment that got recycled for more than a decade.
So Enhancv, a resume-building platform, decided to go straight to the people who actually click the buttons inside these systems.
Between September and October 2025, they held structured interviews with 25 recruiters across tech, healthcare, finance, retail, education, manufacturing, and more. Company sizes ranged from fewer than 100 employees to over 50,000. They use at least 10 different ATS platforms — Workday, Greenhouse, iCIMS, Bullhorn, BambooHR, Lever, Phenom, and others.
The central question: “Does your ATS automatically reject resumes because of formatting, missing keywords, or low AI match scores?”

The Answer: 92% Said “No”

Twenty-three out of the 25 recruiters (92%) said their systems do not auto-reject resumes based on content, design, or formatting.
Only 2 recruiters (8%) had content-based auto-rejection turned on — and even then, it was tied to hard requirements (e.g., “reject if fewer than 7 of 10 required skills are detected” or a minimum match-score threshold), not because someone used the wrong font.
What about the famous “knockout questions” (Are you authorized to work in the U.S.? Do you have a bachelor’s degree?)?
Every single recruiter (100%) uses those when they apply, but they’re basic eligibility filters — not sneaky tricks to trip you up over margins or bold text.

So Why Do So Many Applications Disappear?

If the ATS isn’t throwing your resume in the digital trash, what is happening?
Volume. Pure, overwhelming volume.
Here’s what recruiters told the researchers:

• Entry-level and administrative jobs routinely pull 400–600 applications.
• Remote customer service and tech roles often hit 1,000+ in the first week.
• Popular software engineering postings can reach 2,000–4,000 applicants in days.

One recruiter said a single data-analyst posting would easily get 500 resumes in a week. Another described getting 130+ applications overnight — sometimes in just a couple of hours.
Recruiters are human. They have limited hours in the day. Once they find 10–20 strong candidates, many simply stop looking, pause the job post, or move straight to interviews.
As one VP of HR put it: “I hate to say it — first-come, first-served — just because I don’t have the time to go through that many resumes.”

Timing Matters More Than Template

Because of this flood, applying early can make a real difference — not because you “beat the bots,” but because you reach the recruiter before they’re buried.

• 48% of recruiters start reviewing within the first 3 days.
• 36% wait about a week.
• 16% wait until after the official closing date.

Many will actually unpublish or pause a job listing once they have enough solid applicants to keep them busy for weeks.

AI Scores Exist — But Most Recruiters Don’t Trust Them Blindly

Forty-four percent of the ATS platforms these recruiters use offer some kind of AI “fit score” or match percentage.
However:

• 56% either ignore the score completely or don’t have the feature.
• 36% use it only as a quick sorting hint and still read the resume themselves.
• Just 8% treat it as a hard cutoff.

Multiple recruiters described the AI scores as “hit and miss” or something they double-check every time.

What Recruiters Actually Want to See

When asked what makes a resume stand out (or get skipped), the answers were refreshingly human:

1. Clear, easy-to-skim structure – 92%
2. Relevant experience and skills – 88%
3. Natural use of job-description keywords (no stuffing) – 76%
4. Short bullet points instead of paragraphs – 72%
5. Simple, consistent formatting – 68%
6. One or two pages max – 64%
7. Measurable achievements (“increased sales 35%”) – 52%

Very few mentioned fancy templates, icons, or two-column designs as a positive. Several actually flagged heavy graphics and Canva-style layouts as harder to read quickly.

The Bottom Line: Write for Humans, Not Robots

The big takeaway from all 25 interviews is simple:
Your resume is almost certainly reaching a real person.
The reason it might not get a response has almost nothing to do with columns, fonts, file type, or secret keywords.
It’s usually because:

• Hundreds (or thousands) of other people applied,
• The recruiter ran out of time, and
• Your experience wasn’t shown clearly and quickly enough in the 7–15 seconds they could give it.

How to Actually Improve Your Odds in 2025 and Beyond

1. Apply within the first 48–72 hours whenever possible.
2. Tailor lightly — mirror the exact phrases from the job description for your most relevant skills and experiences, but keep it natural.
3. Lead with proof — put your strongest, most relevant achievements in the top third of the page.
4. Keep it skimmable — short bullets, plenty of white space, standard section headings (Experience, Skills, Education).
5. Consider a short, personalized cover letter or LinkedIn message — several recruiters said this can push a borderline resume to the top.

The ATS isn’t your enemy. Overwhelming volume and limited human bandwidth are the real hurdles — and understanding that changes everything about how you apply.
So the next time you hear someone claim “75% of resumes are rejected by robots,” you’ll know the truth: it’s a myth that’s been debunked by the very people who use the software every day.
Your resume isn’t being deleted by an algorithm.
It’s competing in a crowded field — and a clear, human-focused resume is still the best way to rise to the top.