Electronic Resumes

There was a time when we didn't have to worry about things like electronic resumes.  If we wanted to apply for a position at a company, we simply mailed that company a copy of our resume, and crossed our fingers it would actually reach the hiring manager.  While many smaller companies may still require the use of paper resumes, more companies are requesting job applicants to submit electronic resumes.

Advantages of Electronic Resumes

The switch from paper to electronic resumes can be directly related to the increased use of scanners and computers in the workplace.  In mid-to-large companies, the human resources department may handle thousands of resumes every year.  Finding the best candidate, or a qualified job applicant, among the thousands of applications received is a tedious and error-prone process.

By switching to an electronic format, employees working in the human resources area can now quickly match job applicants to open positions within their organization.  The actual matching process is important to understand, because it's based on keywords found in each of the electronic resumes submitted to the company.

To be successful making it through this first "electronic" screening of resumes, you need to make sure you have the right keywords appearing in your resume.

Electronic Resume Posting and Scanning

The process of collecting and storing electronic resumes in a database is fairly straightforward.  In general, you can submit or post your resume in one of four ways:

• Email - you can simply append your resume directly into the body of an email that you're sending to the company.
• Electronic Document - you can attach your resume to an email in the form of a word processing document such as Microsoft's Word.
• Online Forms - you might be asked to fill out an online form that is directly imported into the electronic resume database.
• US Mail - you can mail your resume to a company and they will scan the hardcopy into a form that is understood by their resume database.

The point here is that the process of getting a resume, even a paper resume, into an electronic format is easy to do.  But as a job applicant, you want to maximize the chances of your resume being pulled from the database, and that means you need to be mindful of some simple guidelines.

Electronic Resume Guidelines

The most difficult task for electronic resume software designers was converting the resume received from a job applicant into a form that the database understands.  To make this process more efficient, electronic resumes are stored in what is called an ASCII format.

If you don't know what ASCII is, don't worry about it, the resume database takes care of converting the electronic resumes received into the ASCII format.  What you need to remember is that ASCII is a very simplified way of looking at alphanumeric characters.  It does not make use of formatting such as bolding, italics, and underlines.

Guidelines for Resumes Being Scanned

If you're submitting a paper resume to a company, and you think the resume is going to be scanned into an electronic database, then you need to make sure the scanning process understands what you've written.  Remember, the database is going to store the resume in an ASCII format.

The tip here is to keep your resume format clean by following these rules:

• Make sure your name is the only item that appears on the first line of the document.
• Remove any graphics or artwork on your resume including shading, vertical and horizontal lines.
• Bulleted items can confuse scanners, so convert them to hyphens or asterisks.
• Move all text to the left margin.  Tabs, tables, and centered text can sometimes confuse the scanning software.
• Restrict your use of fonts to Times New Roman, Arial, or Helvetica.
• Use only one font size, preferably between 10 and 14 points.
• Remove all underlining, bolding and italics.
• Use 8.5" x 11" paper that is white with black ink, and print your resume only on one side of the paper.  This will improve the contrast of your text, and help the scanner to read your resume.
• If possible, do not fold or staple your resume.  That means mailing the resume in 9" x 12" envelope.

Guidelines for Other Electronic Resumes

If you're submitting your resume electronically via email or as an electronic document, then you'll also want to follow the same electronic resume guidelines mentioned above.  That is to say, you'll want to follow the rules such as keeping the fonts you're using simple, and aligning the text to the left margin.

In fact, you have an advantage when submitting your electronic resume by email:  You can send two copies of your resume.  One electronic copy can be the simple format that the human resources department can efficiently and accurately scan into the electronic resume database.

The second can be the elegantly designed resume format that uses bolding and italics to highlight the job titles and keywords you want to emphasize.  This brings us to our final point:  The importance of keywords in electronic resumes.

Keywords in Electronic Resumes

Since electronic resumes will be stored in a database, the screening process involves a keyword matching routine.  The hiring manager describes the skills and job titles that apply to the job opening, and the human resources person queries the resume database for those same terms or keywords.  Resumes are then screened and ranked based on the matching algorithm.

If you want to make it through the screening and ranking process, then you need to make sure you have the right keyword or key phrases in the body of your electronic resume.  Resume keywords are the nouns and adjectives that are relevant to the position to which you're applying.  That means the choosing of keywords for your resume requires a thoughtful process.

Keyword Summaries

In fact, keywords on electronic resumes have become so important that it is sometimes useful to place a keyword summary in the body of the electronic resume.  This can take the form of a dedicated section labeled Keyword Summary that includes the nouns and adjectives that you believe apply to your work experience or the job you're looking for.

If you're not sure what keywords to include in your electronic resume, then you have several options.

• Job Postings - one option you have is to look at the actual job posting itself or a similar job posting you might find online.
• Resume Samples - a second option you have is to look at resume examples for individuals you believe are qualified, or have held positions that are similar to the one you're seeking.
• Thesaurus / Synonyms - finally, nearly all modern word processing applications include a way to look up synonyms, or have a built in thesaurus.  A thesaurus can also help you to include more keywords without making your electronic resume look like you're purposefully repeating the same word or phrases.

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