Designing
a Scannable Resume
by ResumeEdge.com - The Net's Premier Resume Writing and
Editing Service
What happens when
you create a beautiful paper résumé and mail or fax it to a company that scans résumés
into a computerized database instead of forwarding it to a hiring manager for review? It
ends up in cyberspace instead of on someone's desk. This automated process requires some
special design considerations in order to make your résumé scanner friendly, which is
what this section addresses.
According to U.S.
News & World Report, more than 1,000 unsolicited résumés arrive every week at most
Fortune 500 companies, and before the days of applicant tracking systems and résumé
scanning, 80 percent were thrown out after a quick review. It was simply impossible to
keep track of that much paper. As companies downsize and human resource departments become
smaller, it is even more important to manage the job application and screening processes
in an efficient manner.
Today, nearly half
of all mid-sized companies and almost all large companies are scanning résumés and using
computerized applicant tracking systems (still just 30 percent of all job openings,
though). Some smaller companies turn to service bureaus to manage their scanning or to
recruiters who scan résumés because of the volume of résumés they receive every day.
If you are sending your résumé to one of these companies and your paper résumé is not
formatted in such a way that a scanner can read it, the words won't be spelled right. And,
if the words aren't spelled right, a keyword search will never turn up your résumé.
This section is
devoted to helping you avoid the pitfalls that commonly cause a résumé to scan poorly.
This includes choosing the right fonts, laying out the text of your résumé in such a way
that it is scanner friendly, selecting the right paper color, etc. With these guidelines,
your résumé will be ready for a hiring manager's computerized keyword search.
If you would rather
not worry about whether your résumé is scannable, then simply send your formatted
résumé (styled any way you like) along with an unformatted (ASCII text) résumé. Your
recipient will then have a choice whether to scan the "ugly" one or to send the
formatted one to the hiring manager for review. You can never go wrong when you send both
styles.
