Many employers will request the job books of the job seekers that they want from job applicants. In many cases, we do not do detailed reviews on each of these resumes (it takes too much time), but we use search technology to search for resources that contain keywords that match the requirements. Since only resumes that pass this initial filter will be reviewed, it is important to maximize the possibility of passing through this scan stage.
The first thing to understand is what the scan software does. Search for specific keywords or phrases in your resume and find matches. If none of the keywords is found (there are possibilities for various reasons such as no related item), the candidate uses an abnormal expression or the keyword is spelled incorrectly. Resume will be discarded. Regardless of the arrival format of the resume, you can use the scanning process.
- If the resume arrives in electronic format, this scanning process will work directly in the electronic file.
- If the resume arrives on paper, convert the document to an electronic image file using the image scanner and convert it to electronic text using OCR software. However, this process is much better depending on the type of document than other documents, and carefully designing resume must be carefully designed. Otherwise it will not appear on the keyword search.
So what can you do to maximize the scanability of your resume? Here are some tips:
- Whenever there is a choice please submit your resume in electronic form instead of paper. This will eliminate the possibility of search / OCR error and will not be displayed on keyword search.
- When submitting a paper please print your resume only on one side of the blank sheet. If your resume is running on more than one page, make sure the page is numbered and the name is in the upper left corner of each page. Please do not staple the page. Otherwise, a busy scanner operator using a hardware sheet feeder may erroneously scan the top page only.
- Avoid fancy layout: Do not use tables. Stick to the sentences from left to right, avoid bold, italic, underline. Use common fonts such as Times Roman and Arial (all of the same font is preferred) and use all the text with a size of 10 or 12 points.
- Do not use special symbols such as copyright symbols or percent signs. Many OCR packages do not deal with such characters well.
- Use power words to explain your experience and qualifications. Many recruiters search by such words.
- Please use the same term as the employer. For example, if you use specific words to describe the qualifications they are seeking in recruitment ads, make sure that words similar to your resume and cover page appear.
- Avoid abbreviations and alternative spelling that do not match keyword search.
- Check all spelling carefully. If you misspelled a word, your resume can not be found by keyword search!
