Scannable Resume Design
The Basics
Place a call to your favorite store or bank, and you?re usually dealing with voicemail and automated menus, rather than a real person. The same is now true when you send your resume to the HR department of major corporations (and even some smaller companies). Because many candidates apply for one opening, software is used to ?weed out? those who don?t match the job criteria. To make the most of your job search, it?s essential for your resume to be in a format that can be read by Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. Sound daunting? It doesn?t have to be when you know the tricks of the trade in creating a modern resume.
OCR Technology Optical Character Recognition (OCR) was developed in the 70?s by Ray Kurzweil. Although Mr. Kurzweil?s intent was to develop a machine to help the visually impaired read printed materials, OCR technology has since become indispensable in modern business.
With OCR, it?s a computer, not a human being, which will be scanning your resume for appropriate content. Since machines are not impressed by font styles and other formatting enhancements, content is all-important, as is the presentation of your document in a scanner-friendly manner.
Name It?s wise to put your name on each page of your scannable resume. Why? If one of the pages gets separated, it will be nearly impossible to know where it might belong. It?s best to avoid this situation by putting your name at the top of each page, along with a page number. Contact Information In addition to your street address, include an e-mail address. Choose an address that?s businesslike in tone, rather that one reflecting a special interest or a nickname. For example, the following are inappropriate: ? savethewhales@net.net ? pinballchamp@net.net ? overthehillgal@net.net
Always be professional ? and avoid using work e-mail addresses. Hiring managers are rarely interested in interviewing someone who is using their current employer?s time to look for another job. It?s wise to include a cell-phone number along with your home number, especially if that?s your easiest point of contact. However, be certain of the quality of your phone and service before offering it. Nothing is more frustrating to a hiring manager than to conduct a conversation through static and breaks in conversation.
In modern resumes, fax numbers are rarely provided. Also, never include current work numbers.
Scanner-Friendly Fonts Since scanning equipment may differ from company to company, it?s best to err on the conservative side when choosing fonts. Avoid all "designer" fonts and stick with classics like Arial or Times New Roman. Other good choices are Garamond, Bookman, Courier New, and Century Schoolbook.
Don?t make the software work extra hard to read all the characters in your resume, as this may lead to mistakes and missed keywords. It?s best to use a font size between 9 and 12.
Formats Unlike resumes being read by a human audience, scannable resumes must be easy to read by computer software. Stick to basics and avoid formatting headaches. Your best choice is to: ? Be certain all type is flush left. ? Separate sections with white spaces, rather than dashes, dots, or tildes. ? Not use tables or graphics. ? Put section headers in ALL CAPS.
Scannable Resume Design
Keywords Keywords are nouns or noun phrases indicating your skill set or qualifications. For some federal job openings, a resume must have a 95 percent or higher hit rate for a candidate to be given serious consideration.
Some Examples The more keywords, or ?hits,? that an OCR scanning program finds, the more likely it is that your resume will be read.
Examples of keywords for an administrative assistant might be: ? Typing 90 wpm ? Dictation ? Microsoft Word ? Microsoft Excel ? Microsoft PowerPoint ? Reception ? Phone Support
For an accountant, keywords might be: ? Tax Accounting ? Reconciliations ? General Ledger ? Profit-and-Loss Statements
Finding Keywords A great place to start in the hunt for keywords is your current and previous job descriptions. Pull out nouns or phrases that show what you do on a daily basis, so long as those tasks are still relevant to your job search. You may also cull data from the Experience and Skills sections of your current or old resumes. These will provide relevant and significant keywords for your scannable resume.
Finally, look at your job postings. These are perhaps the most significant resource you can use. By dovetailing past experience with required qualifications and skills, you effectively target the new job.
Working Keywords In To work keywords into your scannable resume, you have two options. You can create a list at the beginning of your resume, or you can sprinkle them throughout. Remember, the more closely your background matches the qualifications of the new job, the more likely it is that you?ll be invited to interview.
Samples The following are "classic" scannable resumes in which all formatting enhancements have been removed. These resumes can be read by all OCR software.
With technology advances, scanning software is available that will read more formatted resumes. However, unless you're sure that the employer you?re targeting is using this new software, it?s best to stick with an easy-to-read format that emphasizes keywords and content.
ResumeEdge.com is one of the nations leading resume writing service providers, offering professional resume writing, editing, and guidance. Visit http://www.resumeedge.com for access to free sample resumes and much more.
Related Articles:
Morehead Webinar Discusses Measuring Employee Retention Across Employment Lifecycle
Collecting retention-related data during the entire employment lifecycle minimizes employee turnover.
Online Flextime Employment Site Offers Free Access To Job Boards In Celebration Of National Work And Family Month
Ohio online employment site, specializing in flextime work schedules, is honoring National Work and Family Month by offering free access to their new flextime job boards for employers and job seekers.
New Job Site Delivers Diversity Jobs from 30 Job Boards
DiversityJobs.com lets minority job candidates simultaneously search job listings from over 30 job boards with a single click to find career opportunities from diversity-conscious companies.
Auto-Disqualification - When Your Resume Never Reaches the Decision Maker
How would you know if your resume did or didn't reach the appropriate decision maker? You can truly never know for certain. However, there are steps you can take to ensure that your resume does not get "auto-disqualified", or provide obvious reasons not to be hired.
Resume Tips To Take You From SAHM to WAHM
When looking for a telecommuting position, it is very important to have your resume in tip-top
shape. This is often the only thing that a potential employer has to base a hiring decision on
since they most likely will not be interviewing you in person, your resume has to make that
great first impression for you.
Newspaper Publisher Secures Top Resume/Job-Search Expert for Career Column
Highly credentialed career expert, Teena Rose, becomes columnist for Ohio Publishing Company.
Finding The Best Entry Level Finance Jobs
In the financial job market, there are many obstacles for graduates seeking to rise quickly in their professional lives. Financial organisations, ranging from banks to international stock-brokers, adopt high standards for their middle and upper management professionals. Indeed, the delicacy of the marketplace and the attitudes of individual clients towards their financial situation requires a high level of experience and good aptitude for a management position. The financial graduate who is just leaving university to find a job, however, can accelerate the process of rising quickly in the field of finance by choosing the right entry-level finance job.
Computer Software Engineer Jobs In The UK
The field of Computer Software Engineering has become more popular among UK university graduates in recent years. Students are entering university with a more sophisticated knowledge of information technology than undergraduates from a generation ago. This knowledge is coupled with a realisation that many of the best jobs available in the UK involve computer technology, creating a desire within university students for success in the IT world. However, as graduates leave the university setting for the professional world, they begin to realise that their dream of working as a computer software engineer may be difficult to achieve.
Job Search Expert Predicts Healthy Growth for Jobs in San Francisco
President of San Francisco-based staffing firm sees opportunities, especially in the financial services job market.
Eye Catching Resumes' New Slam Dunk Approach to Resume Creation
Unique and exciting opportunity for job seekers. CD Resume Cards™ deliver an eye catching, attention grabbing and unforgettable resume to decision makers.
A Bird's-Eye View of Biotech Jobs
The term "biotech," short for "biotechnology," refers to the application and manipulation of biological resources to develop products and processes that fulfill industrial and other human objectives. While popular imagination tends to latch onto controversial fields of biotechnological research like DNA typing, cloning, and stem cell research, the fact is that biotechnology has commonplace applications ranging from bread production to wastewater recycling that influence our daily lives. The consequence of this wide reach of biotechnology is that the number biotech jobs continues to grow faster than the numbers of jobs in other sectors.
Nursing Employment Opportunities
There has been a dramatic increase in nursing employment opportunities around the world in recent years, which is great news for qualified and experienced nurses worldwide. Once you understand the reason for the increase in nursing vacancies you will understand that this is a long term opportunity that nurses can take advantage of to boost their careers and life experiences.
What is Contract Programming? An Alternative to the Conformity of Everyday Employment
What is contract programming, you ask? Well, when companies need specific computer programming expertise, for temporary periods of time, they generally hire a contract programmer or an employee of a consulting firm. Contractors almost always have a higher hourly wage than a salaried employee and are often paid for overtime.
The Best Jobs In Insurance
The insurance industry in the United Kingdom is one of the hottest areas of job growth over the last decade. Home-owners, drivers, and other people concerned about accidents, unforeseen incidents and possible injury purchase insurance to protect themselves against the risk of financial ruin. In response to the high customer demand for insurance policies, companies have created thousands of new positions in a variety of departments. Young professionals with a business, accounting, or financial background could thus do worse than taking a position with an insurance company. Several jobs within the insurance field are particularly lucrative at the moment and deserve due consideration.
Hottest Thing In Golf Employment Today ? Being A Golf Teacher
If you want to get involved in the game of golf, there are several ways to do it. Most people love to play the game during their free time. Others, however, love golf enough to want to make a career out of it. While lots of people are able to make a living by hitting straight drives, sinking long pressure putts, and posting low scores in the clubhouse, not everyone is blessed with that type of talent. Still, you do not have to be extraordinarily talented to get involved in the golf industry. One of the most popular and most rewarding forms of golf employment is the job of being a golf teacher. By having a great understanding of the fundamentals of the golf swing and a passion to teach others, you can be a great candidate to have awesome gol...