Electronic Resumes Info Sheet

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Electronic resumes (or "e-resumes") have moved into the mainstream of today's job market at lightning speed. A typical Fortune 1000 corporation processes as many as 2,000 electronic resumes per day. Approximately 25% come directly through the company's web site, 25% come through major online job banks such as Monster.com, 20% arrive via email, and the rest get entered into a company's resume database through scanning devices.

HELPFUL HINT: If a company has a website and you can apply at their site directly, you should do this rather than applying through a job bank such as Monster.com. By applying directly, you will increase your chances of an interview.

KEYWORDS are extremely important when creating an e-resume. Employers search resume databases using keywords. Keywords are words, mainly nouns, that describe your education, skills and experience. To determine which keywords to use, pay attention to words that the employer uses in the job description.

NOT ALL E-RESUMES ARE THE SAME -- A different type of electronic resume is required depending on the method by which it is being sent. You should save each type of resume on your disk and give it a different name so that you can find it easily later (i.e., Susan's Text-Only Internet Resume, Susan's Text-Only Email Resume, Susan's Scannable Resume, Susan's HTML resume, etc.). It is best to start with a regular resume (the one with bullets, bold, etc. that you will be mailing, faxing, and delivering in person) and then creating your e-resumes from that one.

NOTE: Even if you are mailing or faxing a resume -- especially if it is a large company with an HR Department -- it is best to make a phone call to personnel or the hiring manager and ask if they prefer a "scannable" resume. (You never know when a company uses a scanning process for all resumes that they receive.)
Follow these important tips when using a scannable resume:
• use laser quality print
• use white or near white resume paper. Blue, gray, or tan paper is not advised.
• use keywords that relate to the position you are seeking
• font should be in the 10-14 point range and common fonts like Helvetica, Times Roman or Palatino.
• No horizontal or vertical lines.
• No tables or columns.
• Avoid boldface, italicizing, script, shadowing, graphics, borders, and underlines.
• Place the name on the first line after your 1 inch margin and begin the street address on line two.
• Use tabs or margin controls to establish layout.
• Use caps to highlight major headings such as OBJECTIVE and use the * to highlight important lines.
• Don’t fold or staple
• Don’t use abbreviations or acronyms unless they are highly common in the industry.

Creating a "Scannable" Resume:
Resume scanning is a process by which employers convert a hard copy resume into an electronic resume and input that information into a computer database. This process helps them quickly enter numerous resumes into their computer system and then find qualified employees by telling the computer to search for KEY WORDS.

At the press of a button, the scanner creates an electronic image of your resume. This image is then processed by the system's OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software and recreates your resume as a Text File. The company has just transformed your hard copy resume to an e-resume!!

The problem with Resume Scanning:
Resume scanning technology has a major problem of MAKING MISTAKES. No matter how perfectly you follow the directions for making a scannable resume, the OCR is bound to make some errors in translating your characters. The result is words that are unreadable and therefore unsearchable unless an employee of that company actually catches the mistakes and manually corrects them.

Avoiding Resume Scanning Problems:

The way to solve this problem is to avoid scanners whenever possible by sending an e-resume instead of a hard copy resume. So, is you see an ad that says, "send or email your resume," EMAIL IT!!!! Your emailed resume will bypass the resume scanner because it's already an e-resume. If you MUST send a hard copy resume, call the Human Resource Department or the Hiring Manager and ask if your resume will be scanned into a database system. If they say, "yes," request that they forward guidelines to you so you can tailor your resume specifically for their system. If they DO NOT scan their resumes, ask whether it would be best to send a hard copy of your resume, a resume through their recruiting web site, or to email a resume (remember to ask if you can send it as an attachment in MS Word or if you need to cut and paste a text-only resume).
Directions for Making a Scannable Resume:
1. Open MS Word and pull up the document that contains your original resume.
2. Click on FILE in your toolbar and select SAVE AS:
3. Under "File Name," type in a new name for this document (example: Karen's scannable Resume).
4. Under "Save as Type," click on the down arrow to the right and highlight TEXT ONLY.
5. Click on the SAVE button to the right.
6. Now go back to your toolbar and click on FILE and then CLOSE. (**Do not close MS Word.)
7. Click again on your toolbar on FILE and OPEN. Now open the text file that you just named/saved. (**Make sure you open your text document while in MS Word.) You have just completed the initial converting of your resume to a text format. Notice that there is no longer anything fancy on your resume -- it has been stripped of fancy formatting such as bullets, bold, etc. This IS what it is supposed to look like. "It is now fixin' time!"
8. Make sure you cursor is at the very beginning of your document (go to top left and click on left mouse). Click on FILE on your top toolbar. Click on PAGE SET UP. Change your Left and Right Margins to 1.0 inches and then click the OK Tab in the same box.
9. Make sure your font size is 11 to 14 points in size. Anything smaller tends to look squeezed together to scanners. Anything larger tends to run together and blur.
10. Use one of the following Font types: Helvetica, Futura, Optima, Univers, Palatino, New Century Schoolbook, Courier, Times, or ITC Avante Garde Gothic.
11. Make sure your NAME is listed at the top of your resume.
12. Because some scanners have a hard time reading parentheses, do NOT use parentheses around any telephone or fax area codes [i.e., (503)287-1689].
13. Make sure there are no vertical or horizontal lines, borders, shaded bars, or boxes on this resume.
14. Note: You CAN use indents, columns and centered text on your scannable resume. These will ad visual appeal to your resume and will not hinder scanning.
15. Avoid a two-column format or a resume that looks like a newspaper or newsletter.
16. Boldface may NOT be accepted by all systems. Because of this, it is recommended that nothing be in bold on your scannable resume.
17. Take off any italics, script, underlined words, graphics, or shading.
18. Do NOT use abbreviations. (The scanner may not properly pick up an abbreviation.)
19. Use understandable words (don't use fancy synonyms)
20. Use ALL CAPS for words that need special emphasis. Since "Text Only" stripped your resume of all bolds, bullets, etc. used for highlighting words, use capitalized letters to draw attention to important words, phrases, and headings. For best overall effect, use all caps sparingly.
21. Replace each bullet point with a standard keyboard symbol. Bullets, triangles, arrows, etc. do not transfer well electronically. Suggested replacements are Asterisks (*), Double Asterisks (**), Dashes (-), and Plus signs (+). Use a Space Bar to place a single space immediately after each symbol (and before the words).
22. Keep all your DATE RANGES (i.e., dates of employment) on a single line by themselves.
23. If you are using any quotes (""......."") on your resume, they are probably Curly Quotes. These type of quotes will not transfer accurately and may appear as little rectangles. Because changing these quotes through the AutoFormat in MS Word will reformat your document, go through and delete all your quotes.
24. Type the word "Key Words:" at the bottom of your resume and type in key words (as NOUNS)--separated by three spaces (Space Bar) -- that may not currently be listed on your resume but that you may want a company database to pick up if resumes are stored this way.
25. Lastly, click on FILE on the toolbar above and PRINT PREVIEW. View your text and click on CLOSE. Rearrange your text as needed. Do a line-by-line review of your document to make sure there are no odd-looking wraps, extra spaces, or words scrunched together in the body. This may include inserting commas between items that were once in columns.
26. You have now created a Scannable resume. But you need to know a few more things before sending it.....

PRINTING YOUR RESUME AND OTHER TIPS:
Once you have created your scannable resume, here are some additional tips:
• Print your resume in black ink ONLY
• Print your resume on plain white (not gray or beige) paper
• Print on regular 8.5" X 11" paper
• Do NOT fax your resume. Fax machines lessen the quality of the print, making it hard for the OCR to recognize characters. (If the resume MUST be faxed, make sure it is set on "fine modem" --see the STS staff for this procedure.)
• Do not fold or staple your resume Send an ORIGINAL copy of your resume. In other words, print it from MS Word to the printer and turn that copy in. Do not send in a photocopy.
Source:http://dwp.bigplanet.com/steps2success/scannableresumes

Online Applications:
Other employers show a clear preference to applicants who complete online applications that are embedded in the employer’s home page or for applicants who send their resumes via e-mail to a designated recruiter. Online applications and email resumes differ significantly in content and layout from traditional resumes. Candidates who use these methods may be a step ahead of candidates who use mail services to deliver a traditional resume. But, job candidates who use technology to get their resumes into the hands of employers must be sure that they make the necessary adjustments to their job search process and correspondence. Follow these simple tips when using an online application:
• must be free of grammatical and spelling errors
• have another person review your online application before you submit it
• draw attention to your application, special skills and qualities that match the employer’s needs
• use keywords--on average, your online application should have 20 keywords or phrases that match the employer's needs and preferences
• customize your online application by having available a copy of your traditional resume, your self assessment lists of traits, skills, and achievements, and documentation of occupational research on the employer.
E-mail Resumes
Email resumes are similar to scannable resumes in layout and content, but they have their differences. The most significant difference is that email resumes use the Internet for transmission as opposed to land based mail systems (snail mail). Email resumes are very efficient at avoiding the resume traps often found with snail mail. An email resume can be sent to the decision-maker if you know the person’s email address thereby avoiding a pre-screener who limits the number of resumes reviewed by the decision maker. Further, an email resume can arrive at a decision-maker’s computer within minutes of a request for your resume. That is more effective than a few days to a week that a decision-maker could wait for a resume using snail mail!
The draw back of email resumes is that the Internet has limitations in transmitting your resume. Like scanning systems that read scannable resumes, the Internet has difficulty transmitting many formatting codes, fonts, and graphics. Another limitation of email resumes is that the receiver may not have compatible software for opening up your email resume if it is sent as an attachment. These limitations are easily overcome and you can quickly begin sending email resumes to your targeted employers by following these simple pointers:
• set margins in your page format so that no more than 70 characters are on one line. This usually results in about a 2 inch right margin.
• Left justify your text and continue with a 12 point sans serif font like Times Roman or Helvetica.
• Put your name on the first line and your address on the second and third lines. Phone numbers would be on the fourth line and email address on the fifth line.
• Use the space bar to create white space between text on a line. DO NOT use tabs to indent information.
• Always put a line or two after each job description.
• Make sure that the star * which highlights a line of text is followed by 1 –2 spaces before beginning text.
• Use keywords and nouns in the content of your resume.
• Avoid slashes like "design/develop."
• Don’t put parentheses around the area code.
• Prepare a cover letter for email using similar rules as the email resume.
• Save both your cover letter and email resume as a text only file or in ASCII format.
Keyword Resumes
Keyword resumes often include a section called 'Keyword Summary' near the beginning of the document. These keywords are designed to 'get you noticed' by a very objective sorter - a computer database search engine. Words such as facilitator, designer, coordinator that match the employer’s needs.