CandidateLift methodology · Updated October 1, 2026
What a resume match score actually measures.
CandidateLift estimates how clearly your resume covers requirements in the job description you supply. The report shows its evidence, recognizes supported equivalents, and keeps missing experience visible. It cannot see an employer’s private screening rules.
Extract requirements, then check evidence
The matcher identifies required qualifications, responsibilities, preferred qualifications, and other context. It groups known equivalents, removes overlapping requirements, and handles alternatives such as “SolidWorks or AutoCAD.” A tool mention does not automatically establish a credential, seniority, advanced proficiency, or the requested number of years.
Direct terms and described work can support a match. Related experience may require your review. Negated statements such as “no SQL experience” should not earn credit for SQL. Extraction can miss context, so review the posting and the evidence rather than relying on the percentage alone.
The current scoring formula
Overall alignment = 100 × weighted coverage earned ÷ total requirement weight, rounded to the nearest whole number. A posting with no extracted requirements returns 0.
| Priority | Weight |
|---|---|
| Required | 3 |
| Responsibility | 2 |
| Preferred | 1.4 |
| Context | 0.6 |
A strong match earns 100% of its requirement weight; a mention earns 82%; related evidence requiring review earns 40%; a missing requirement earns 0%. Category scores summarize coverage within their category and use an unweighted average, so they need not average to the overall score.
For example, one strong required match earns 3 points, one responsibility needing review earns 0.8, and one missing preferred qualification earns 0. The total is 3.8 out of 6.4 possible points, or 59% after rounding. This is an illustration of the formula, not an assessment of a real candidate.
Edits earn coverage from the resulting text
Accepting a suggestion does not itself award points. CandidateLift applies the selected replacements and recalculates from the resulting text. Equivalent abbreviations already count as matches; changing “CAD” to its full name should not be treated as new experience.
If you add relevant facts that were absent from the original resume, you must confirm them. The report preserves the original score and shows the updated score. Removing those additions recalculates coverage again. CandidateLift checks text consistency, while you remain responsible for whether the facts are true.
An 80 target is a review aid
The interface shows points remaining to an 80 alignment target and highlights remaining requirements. That target is a product aid, not a universal employer cutoff. A resume may stay below 80 because the job requires experience you do not have. A score of 100 still cannot guarantee an interview, a parsing result, or a hiring decision.
Use the score to prioritize your review, then read the resume and job description yourself. The text matcher is deterministic; it does not ask a language model to invent skills or achievements.