Resume statistics, from the data.
Our AI has scored thousands of resumes: grades, Buzzword Density Scores, and, since September, the evidence in every bullet. These are the patterns, packaged for citing. Every stat links to its full report and copies with attribution in one click.
Buzzword density
What the Buzzword Density Score records across the 460 most recently scored resumes (September 29 to October 6, 2026).
The median resume scores 22 out of 100 on buzzword density (October 2026)
Across the 460 most recent scored resumes: median 22, middle half between 12 and 28, and almost none above 75 under the current calibration. About one resume in ten has no quotable offender at all. Scoring was recalibrated in mid-2026 to stop over-penalizing ordinary professional language, so earlier published medians aren't comparable.
“Cross-functional” is the phrase the detector quotes more than any other, on about one resume in ten (October 2026)
Each roast quotes a resume's five worst phrases. “Cross-functional” makes that list on about one resume in ten, roughly twice as often as anything else; “strategic,” “team player,” “spearheaded,” “detail-oriented” and “passionate” follow. Because only five phrases are quoted per resume, these are lower bounds on how often each appears, not full frequencies.
Bullet-level evidence, counted
Not opinions: for every resume graded since September 21, 2026, the scorer counts the experience bullets one by one before it ranks. These are those counts, aggregated. Refreshed 2026-10-06.
48% of resume experience bullets contain a number (394 resumes, 2026-09-29 to 2026-10-06)
Counted bullet by bullet across every experience entry: a percentage, a dollar figure, a count, a timeframe or a team size that measures the result. 10% of resumes have no such bullet at all; 41% quantify at least six in ten.
36% of experience bullets only describe a duty, with no result (394 resumes, 2026-09-29 to 2026-10-06)
"Responsible for", "managed", "assisted with": a task, and nothing that changed because the person did it. On 35% of resumes, duty-only bullets are the majority. Bullets that state a result, with or without a number, make up 58% of the total.
Resumes that quantify most of their bullets earn a B or better 64% of the time; resumes with no quantified bullets, 0% (394 resumes, 2026-09-29 to 2026-10-06)
The single strongest predictor of the letter grade is the share of bullets with a number in them. It is also the fix that changes nothing about the underlying experience: the same job, described with its results.
47% of resumes make at least one unsupported self-description (394 resumes, 2026-09-29 to 2026-10-06)
"Strong communicator", "results-driven", "detail-oriented", "proven track record": a claim with no bullet on the page that proves it. Median experience section: 16 bullets.
Only 51% of resumes open with a specific summary (394 resumes, 2026-09-29 to 2026-10-06)
Specific means it names the field and offers one concrete proof. 18% open with a summary anyone in the field could paste, and 31% have no summary at all or an objective statement about what the candidate wants. 25% of resumes carry at least one typo or visible formatting slip.
AI-written resumes
What the flagged phrases say about unedited AI output.
The phrases the detector quotes most are the ones language models over-produce
“Cross-functional,” “spearheaded,” “leveraged,” “strategic,” “dynamic”: ask a model to make a resume sound more impressive and it reaches for exactly the words recruiters skim past. The roast can't confirm whether a resume was AI-written, so we don't publish a share. The fix is the same either way: edit the output.
Grades
Where resumes land when graded A+ through F under the scale in place since late September 2026.
C+ is the single most common grade, on nearly a third of resumes (October 2026)
Across the 460 most recently graded resumes: C+ 31%, C 18%, B-minus 16%, C-minus 14%, B and B+ together about 10%, A range about 1%, D range about 10%. Grades are cut from a blind rank plus the counted evidence in each resume. The middle of the pile is enormous, which is exactly why unremarkable-but-fine resumes disappear in it.
Methodology note
These figures are directional estimates derived from patterns across resumes voluntarily submitted to RoastMyResume's AI tools. The sample is self-selected (people who chose to run their resume through an AI scoring tool) and analyzed by a consistent AI scoring system, not human reviewers.
Every figure marked “October 2026” is computed from stored scoring results over a rolling window of the most recent resumes (460 for the buzzword and grade figures at this update, September 29 to October 6) by scripts kept in the codebase, and refreshed periodically. We don't retain resume text, so we report only what the scorer records; where a number can't be computed that way, it isn't on this page.
This is not a peer-reviewed study. We report ranges and approximate proportions rather than precise statistics because the sample composition varies over time, and we'd rather be honestly directional than falsely precise. The full findings live in The State of the Resume 2026 and The 2026 Resume Buzzword Report.
Journalists and researchers: if you want to discuss the underlying patterns, reach out via @RoastMyResumeAI.
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