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Less than 25% of companies
will ask for a scannable resume.
Although most LARGE organizations now accept
online applications and resumes on their
web sites, some may ask you to mail a hardcopy
version of your resume. Chances are growing
that a human resources individual from a
large organization who receives your resume
in hardcopy will not preview your resume
- rather, they may use an "Electronic Tracking
System" to view multiple resumes and download
those resumes into a database where they
may search for qualified candidates using
keywords. Organizations who use such tracking
systems will request that you send them
a "scannable resume"
when you apply.
What
is a scannable resume?
A scannable resume is specially FORMATTED
and has CONTENT designed to maximize a computer's
or scanner's ability to interpret
your resume so that an employer may easily
find your resume when they search for candidate
resumes using keywords.
Why May I Need A Scannable Resume? Due
to the sheer volume of resumes that organizations
receive, hiring recruiters at organizations
who have an "electronic tracking system"
typically do not review a resume unless
it is found while searching their database
of applicants using keywords. To receive
an interview at such companies, it is critical
that you have a scanner-friendly resume
that is easily interpreted by an electronic
tracking system, and can be easily found
by recruiters using keywords.
How Does The Scanning Process Work?
Organizations with electronic tracking
systems will request that applicants submit
a hardcopy "scannable resume"
while applying. The organization uses document
imaging technology (an industrial scanner)
to scan paper resumes in bulk into their
computer as an image. OCR (Optical Character
Recognition) software then looks at the
image line-by-line to distinguish each letter
and number on your paper resume and creates
a text file for your resume. The software
then reads the text and extracts important
information about you, such as your name,
address, phone number, work history, years
of experience, education, and skills.
Knowing this scanning process is helpful
because your paper resume must be "clean"
for scanner software to read every letter
of your resume and accurately collect your
career information.
Formatting
your scannable resume:
Example
scannable resume
The most difficult resumes for a company's
scanner to read has poor print quality,
has unusual fonts, or has unusual formatting.
A quality scannable resume has standard
fonts and a crisp, dark type like a laser
printer would produce, which is most easily
read by scanners.
Do:
- Send a regular copy of your resume along
with the scannable version.
- Use occupation or industry keywords
throughout your resume
- Left-justify your entire resume
- Print on white 8 1/2 x 11 paper,
black ink, printed on one side only.
- Print using a laser printer only. Do
not send a copy of resume, or a resume
with "fuzzy" letters..
- Use popular, non-decorative typefaces
like Helvetica, Arial, Courier New, Times.
- Use font size of 10-14 point. Your name
may be up to 28 point.
- Place your name at the top of each page.
- Use standard address format below your
name.
- Place phone numbers and email addresses
on their own line.
- Use CAPITAL letters for section headings
and to replace bold text.
- Use white spaces between sections. Computers
use them to recognize that one topic has
ended & another has begun. NOTE: too
much white space confuses scanners...so
use white space strategically.
- Replace bullets with "*" or
"+".
- Omit accent marks in words like "resumé",
and avoid special characters that are
not normally on the keyboard.
Do Not:
- Do not use Microsoft Word resume templates.
None of them scan well.
- No italics, underline, shadows and white
letters on black background. CAPITALIZED
words are ok.
- Avoid multiple columns, or the "newspaper"
look.
- Don't condense space between letters...letters
that touch cause errors.
- Avoid vertical and horizontal lines,
graphics, boxes and shading...they confuse
company scanners.
- Do not fold, staple or paperclip your
paper resume. Mail flat in a large envelope.
Keywords
- The best way for your resume to get noticed?
Employers search their resume tracking
systems using keywords related to specific
open positions that they have. It is important
to have as many keywords as possible related
to your field scattered throughout your
resume so that your resume is found during
those employer keyword searches. For clues
on keywords you should use, view job postings
for positions in your field that you are
seeking.
- Tip: Create a section at the
end of your scannable resume named "Keywords",
then use words & variations of words
in this section to describe your skills
i.e. (for a webmaster: Webmaster, Internet,
IT, IS, ITS, HTML, XML, Javascript, FrontPage,
DreamWeaver, Shockwave, PDF, Perl, CGI,
SQL, Oracle, Fireworks, Photoshop, SSI,
etc...).
- Describe your experience with concrete
words rather than vague descriptions.
For example, it's better to use "managed
a team of software engineers" than
"responsible for managing and training
employees".
- Use words/jargon and acronyms related
to your specific industry.
- List specific software or knowledge
related to your industry.
- Use common section headings such as:
Objective, Experience, Employment, Work
History, Positions Held, Appointments,
Skills, Summary, Summary of Qualifications,
Accomplishments, Strengths, Education,
Affiliations, Professional Affiliations,
Publications, Papers, Licenses, Certifications,
Examinations, Honors, Personal, Additional,
Miscellaneous, References, etc...
- Use complete school name, degree, and
dates.
- If you have extra space, describe your
interpersonal traits and attitudes: skill
in time management, dependable, positive,
optimistic, high energy, leadership, etc...
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