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How to Conduct Career Research | Electronic Resumes

All you need to know about the ELECTRONIC RESUME

The rapid emergence and continuous development of internet –based technology has revolutionized the recruitment practices of a wide
range of organizations. Most employers use technology to search and rank resumes that have been scanned in or entered electronically into their automated applicant tracking system or resume bank. Hence, if your resume has not been designed to be scanned or read by a computer, you may miss out on the best job opportunities. These computerized screening systems are often the first “eyes” to see a resume.

Since computers read resumes differently than people do, the most successful job seeker must learn to write a resume that will grab a computer's attention. Once resumes are stored in these databases, a human reviewer decides which keywords best identify the skills and qualifications needed in candidates, and based on those keywords, the system performs a search.

The reviewer usually includes several keywords that are mandatory, and others that are desirable. When the search engine recognizes a keyword in your resume, it is referred to as a “hit.” Your resume is ranked according to the number of keyword hits. The system only selects those resumes that have the mandatory keywords. Resumes that have more of the desired keywords are then ranked and those that rank higher will be selected first to be read by a human reviewer.

Therefore, the most effective way of optimizing electronic resume is through the use of keywords, whether you submit it in paper form to be scanned into an automated applicant tracking system, or submit it in plain text form either via e-mail or pasting into an online resume bank submission form. Keywords are usually nouns or phrases that reflect skills and experiences sought by a potential employer. The keywords that would work best for you are determined by your unique career objectives and background. Essentially, keywords may be placed into four major categories:

• Hard Skills
• Areas of expertise
• Computer programs
• Languages
• Qualifications
• Technical skills
• Terminology
• Years of experience
• Soft Skills
• Attitude
• Communication skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Organizational skills
• Personality traits
• Planning skills
• Work ethic/habits
• General Information
• Affiliations
• Area codes
• Company names
• Industries
• Job Titles
• Locations
• Products
• Academic Qualifications  
• Certifications
• Colleges
• Course titles
• Credentials
• Degrees
• Training programs
  Where to look for keywords:
• Career Web sites (job postings)
• Company Web sites (job postings, “about us” or “mission page”)
• Professional associations (newsletters, meetings, conferences, networking)
• Dictionaries (technical or business dictionaries)
• Formal job descriptions
• Informational interviews with industry contacts
• Classified ads (especially ads that include details)
• Publications (how-to-job-search books, Occupational Outlook Handbook)
• Trade journals
• Online Yellow Pages

There are some differences between traditional and electronic resumes. If you do not pay special attention to these differences you will have a difficult trying to make it into most resume databases. The traditional resume is designed to attract the human eye and attention, while the electronic resume is designed to attract the computer's attention.

Traditional Resume (Formatted Resume)

A traditional resume is designed to create a visual impact by utilizing a variety of formatting features (bold, italics, underline, bullets, horizontal lines, etc.) To strategically draw the reader's attention (human eye) to areas of emphasis. You may use the traditional resume when you are sending a hard copy to an employer that you know for sure does not utilize an automated applicant tracking system (you can obtain this information by contacting the organization's Human Resource Department). If you are not sure, send versions, the traditional and the scannable.

titlehough you may forward a traditional resume to an employer as an e-mail attachment, it may be deleted or unopened due to concerns about computer viruses. In addition, it may be incompatible with recipient's computer system. However, you can use it when the employer specifies that an attachment is acceptable, or when employers request a formatted resume. To be on the safe side, you need to create a plain text version of your resume and paste to the body of the e-mal, even if you decide to send the traditional version as an attachment.

Scannable Resume

A scannable resume is a paper that is likely to be scanned by the employer into an automated applicant tracking system (resume database). You should always send a scannable version if you know or suspect that the organization uses a database system to search and retrieve resumes.

Plain Text Resume (Electronic Resume)

A plain text resume (also known as an ASCII – American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is an electronic version suitable for submission via e-mail or for pasting into online resume bank submission forms. This is the fastest and most reliable way to contact potential employers and to apply for jobs online.

Steps to following when translating a resume from a word-processed one to an ASCII Resume:

• Open your formatted or traditional resume
• Change the margins of your document to prepare it to fit within the smaller, electronic space: left margin – 1 inch; right margin inches. Make sure that the document has approximately 60 characters per line, which will work with most email applications and forms.
• Change all text to 12 point size in the plain type style, i.e. no bold, italics, underlying, etc.
• Use a non-proportional font such as Courier or Monaco
• Remove all graphics
• Replace all non-ASCII characters (such as “bullets”) with ASCII characters (such as asterisk and hyphens). All characters you can type on your basic keyboard are ASCII characters.
• Move all text to the left margin.
• Remove tabs, use space bar to indent.
• Use all CAPS for words that need special emphasis
• Spell check your resume.
• Save the file using a different name

For Email:

• Click File, then Save as. In the box that appears, next to file name, type in the name of your file followed by the word digital followed by the letter e (for email). End with .txt (for example, my_resume.doc becomes my_digital_resume_e.txt)
• In the same dialog box, where it says Save as type, click the dropdown arrow and select Text only with line breaks. A warning box may come up indicating that you will lose some formatting. Click “OK” or “Yes”.
• Click Save
• For Inputting To Online Profiles:
• Click File, then Save as. In the box that appears, next to file name, type in the name of your file followed by the word digital followed by the letter o (for online). End with .txt (for example, my_resume.doc becomes my_digital_resume_o.txt)
• In the same dialogue box, where it says Save as type, click the dropdown arrow and select Text only without line breaks. A warning box may come up indicating that you will lose some formatting. Click “OK” or “Yes”.
• Click Save.
• Open this new file with a plain text editor such as Notepad (PC) or Text Edit (MAC). This will display your resume as it will be seen in ASCII format in an email program, an automated applicant tracking system, or an online Resume Bank.
• To launch Notepad (PC), click the start button, then click Programs, then Accessories, and then Notepad.
• Check for any remaining non-ASCII characters. Non-ASCII characters will show up as question marks, square blocks, or other odd characters
• Make sure that your text lines are no longer than 60 characters across.
• Build white space by hitting the “Return” or “Enter” key once or Twice in between sections.
• Use equal signs (=), plus signs (+). Or asterisk (*) to decorate your text resume
• Before submitting your electronic resume to a prospective employer, practice sending your resume to yourself and to a friend who uses a different internet provider than you to make sure it looks clear and professional.
• To send it, copy your newly formatted text (ASCII) version of your resume into the body of an email. (Keep in mind that you must start your email message by introducing yourself through a cover letter and then you place your electronic resume beneath your cover letter.)
  

Advantages of the ASCII Resume:

• Compatible with all systems, i.e. universally readable, no matter what computer system the recipient uses
• Easily manipulated and entered into a resume tracking database
• Easily transportable
• Guaranteed to be free of computer viruses as long as it is not sent as an attachment
• Can be copied and pasted easily into different programs
• May be delivered in seconds to an employer

When to use the Electronic Resume (ASCII Resume):

• To respond to job postings that state “email your resume to …”
• When an online “apply here” button opens your email program.
• When using resume builders or e-forms at company or career web sites
• To supply a resume to Internet resume-distribution services\
• To make cold contacts with employers or recruiters
• To solve systems disparities (Mac vs. IBM, Word Perfect vs. Word)

When conducting your job search via email, keep in mind the following suggestions:  Avoid mass emailing

• Mass emails are more likely to get caught in spam filters.
• Include a cover letter in your email and address it to the recipient
• Whether or not you are responding to an advertised opening, the cover letter will introduce you and specify how you meet the needs of the employer. This will encourage the recipient to read your full resume.
• Always send your resume in the body of the email message, not as an attachment (or even if you send it as attachment)
• Most employers do not open attachments and there are some systems that reject all attachments
• Follow the job posting directions
• If you do not follow directions (such as providing the job code or other identifier in the subject of your email), you might give the impression that you are either inept (not able to follow directions) or lazy (did not bother to read them).
• Get attention with your subject line
• Unless you are responding to an advertised position (with a specified subject line) or the recipient is expecting an email from you; you need to get his/her attention to ensure that your message is opened and read. Hence, you must pay special attention to your email subject line. This is as important as the content of your message: if it fails, so does your message.
• Complete the “To:” field last
• In order to avoid embarrassing yourself by accidentally clicking “Send” before your message is ready, it is highly recommended to wait until your message is perfect to fill in the recipient's address.

Recruiters Preferences

In 2000 survey conducted by Manchester, Inc. of Jacksonville , Florida , more than 400 recruiters clearly indicated their preferences for how applicants should send resumes:

• 82% prefer to be contacted by email
• 8% prefer that resume be sent by fax
• 7% prefer that resume be sent by regular mail