The honest answer is that we do not have a reliable source that settles it.
What is documented
- An applicant tracking system is described by Workday as a central database for candidate information (Workday).
- Employers can configure rules. Greenhouse lets an employer set automatic rejection based on an applicant's answer to a specific application question (Greenhouse Support).
- Parsing differs by vendor. Greenhouse says an unparsed resume can stay attached to the candidate record for manual entry (Greenhouse Support), and Workday notes that parsing "results can vary based on resume format and order of words" (Workday Documentation).
The vendor documentation describes configurable rules and parsing behavior; it does not compare hiring outcomes or measure bias in screening.
What this means if you are applying
You cannot know in advance how a particular employer's system works. Plain steps are the safest: keep the layout simple, use conventional headings, answer application questions accurately and describe your experience in the posting's terms where it is true.
FilteredIn's free resume check lets you paste or upload a resume (PDF or TXT) and, optionally, a job description. It returns feedback on content and keywords. A score is product feedback to help you revise; it is not a prediction of any employer's ATS or hiring decision. Try the free resume check.