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Upcoming Events |
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Public Service Town Hall & Career Fair
July 16, 2008 |
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Study Abroad Fair
September 9, 2008 |
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Internship and Part-Time Job Fair
September 10, 2008 |
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Graduate & Professional School Fair-Graduate School Day
September 22, 2008 |
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Graduate & Professional School Fair-Law Schools Day
September 23, 2008 |
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Fall Career Fair 2008 - three day fair
October 15, 2008 |
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Fall Career Fair 2008 - three day fair
October 16, 2008 |
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Fall Career Fair 2008 - three day fair
October 17, 2008 |
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Bioscience Internship and Career Fair
November 6, 2008 |
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Green Industry Career Fair
November 12, 2008 |
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Scannable Resumes
What is
a Scannable Resume
Scannable
resumes are plainly formatted to be suitable for
scanning into a computerized resume database.
At one time, resumes were designed to appeal only
to humans. Italics, lines, underlining, etc were
encouraged. Now, many employers input
resumes into a
computer
database for searching and retrieval.
The paper version is probably discarded.
The problem with scanning is that the program may
not
"read" the
words accurately and the recruiter's search will not find your
resume.
So, a scannable resume needs to do two things:
- increase the
computer's ability to "read" your resume
;
- maximize
the chances of finding your resume during an employer search.
Our sample
resume is a scannable resume.
Top
When to Submit
a Scannable Resume
1. The
recruiter requests it.
2. The employer's Web site says it
prefers or requires
a scannable resume. If you cannot find this information,
ask the employer—by phone or email.
3. A resume is submitted to a large organization or
even a medium-sized organization receiving a high volume of resumes. Most
likely, all of them will be scanned.
You probably don't need a scannable resume, if seeking employment
in an industry or field such as a small
association,
non-profit,
or
very
small company. However, it is always
good to check.
Top
Formatting a
Scannable Resume
Design it nice
enough for the human eye, but without the formatting elements computers
can
misread.
1. No
italics.
2. No underlining.
3. No shading or other unusual enhancements.
4. No vertical or
horizontal lines, graphics, or boxes.
5. Bolding or ALL CAPITAL letters are okay, but make sure the individual
letters do not touch each other. The human eye can differentiate the letters;
the computer "eye" can't.
6. Use a sans serif font, such as Arial,
Tahoma, Helvetica, or Universe. These fonts do not have the small markings
on the edge of each letter (serifs).
Do not use serif fonts, such as Times
New Roman.
7. Use a font size of 10, 11, or 12. Note that font sizes are not
created equal.
A 10-point Arial is not the same size as a 10-point Century Gothic.
8. Bullets are okay, but use solid round ones not squares, hollows,
arrows, or graphical ones.
9. Print using a laser printer on white paper. Do not use an
ink jet printer which can bleed the ink so the letters touch.
10.
Do not use
paper with a heavy texture that could interfere with the clarity of
the
print.
11. When mailing, do not fold or use staples. Paper clip
your cover letter and resume, then insert them into a 9 x 12 envelope.
Insert cardstock or cardboard around your documents to reduce wrinkling
and folding.
Top
Scannable Resume Content
Use keywords,
particularly nouns.
Recruiters retrieve scanned resumes by using keyword searches,
just like searching an
online library catalog. The keywords are likely to be nouns. For
instance, a recruiter would search for "project
management," not "manage projects."
Research the industry and/or the requirements of the jobs
sought
in order to
include words that a recruiter would use to search. Put yourself in the
recruiters chair and think how you would find your resume in a database.
Review the position description. Include key terms
in your resume where appropriate.
Revise your resume slightly for different positions or keep several versions.
Insert a summary or keyword section, if you can't work
nouns into the bulleted experience statements. Some keyword examples are:
customer service, chemical engineer, manager, graphic design, process
modeling, trainer, Spanish, co-op,
PowerPoint, etc. Be specific.
Use terms and acronyms specific to the industry.
In listing acronyms, spell out the full name; i.e., IEEE, Institute
of Electrical and Electronic Engineers or Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers, IEEE.
A resume with misspelled words will not be found in a keyword search. If
you misspell a critical word, you have effectively left it off your resume.
As with any
resume, spelling and typographical errors are unacceptable.
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