- Be persuasive. In those sections that allow you the freedom to dc so, don't hesitate to communicate your worth in the strongest language. This does not mean a numbing list of self congratulatory superlatives; it does mean truthful claims about your abilities and the evidence (educational, experiential) that supports them.
- Don't be cheap or gaudy. Don't hesitate to spend the few extra dollars necessary to present a professional looking resume. Do avoid outlandish (and generally ineffective) gimmicks like over sized or brightly colored paper.
- Find an editor. Every good writer needs one, and you are writing your resume. At the very least, it will offer you a second set of eyes proofreading for embarrassing typos. But if you are fortunate enough to have a professional in the field a recruiter or personnel executive critique a draft, grab the opportunity and be immensely grateful.
- If you're the next Michelangelo, so multi talented that you can easily qualify for jobs in different career areas, don't hesitate to prepare two or more completely different resumes. This will enable you to change the emphasis on your education and skills according to the specific career objective on each resume, a necessary alteration that will correctly target each one.
- Choose the proper format. There are only three we recommend chronological, functional, and targeted format and if s important you use the one that's right for you.
Like most other areas of everyday life, computers have left their mark in the resume business. There are the obvious changes the increased number of personal computers has made it easier to produce a professional looking resume at home and the not so obvious changes, such as the development of resume databases.
There are two kinds of resume databases: 1) An internal file maintained by a large corporation to keep track of the flood of resumes it gets each day (U.S. News and World Report stated that Fortune 50 companies receive more than 1,000 unsolicited resumes a day and that four out of every five are thrown away after a quick review). 2) Commercial databases that solicit resumes from job seekers around the United States and make them available to corporations, who pay a fee to search the database.
Internal Databases Mean the Old Rules Don't Apply
The internal databases maintained by large companies are changing some of the time honored traditions of resume preparation. In the past, it was acceptable, even desirable, to use italic type and other eye catching formats to make a resume more visually appealing. Not so today. Most of the companies that have a database enter resumes into it by using an optical scanner that reads the resume character by character and automatically enters it into the database. While these scanners are becoming more and more sophisticated, there are still significant limits as to what they can recognize and interpret
What does this mean to you? It means that in addition to the normal screening process that all resumes go through, there is now one more screening step that determines if the scanner will be able to read your resume. If it can't, chances are your resume is going to be one of the four that is thrown away, instead of the one that is kept. To enhance the chances of your resume making it past this scanner test here are some simple guidelines you can follow:
- Use larger typefaces (nothing smaller than 12 point), and avoid all but the most basic typefaces. Among the most common are Times Roman and Universal.
- No italics or underlining, and definitely no graphic images or boxes.
- Do not send copies. Either print a fresh copy out on your own printer, or take the resume to a print shop and have it professionally copied onto high quality paper. Avoid dot matrix printers.
- Use 8 1/2 x 11 paper, unfolded. Any words that end up in a crease will not be scannable.
- Use only white or beige paper. Any other color will lessen the contrast between the paper and the letters and make it harder for the scanner to read.
- Use only a single column format Scanners read from right to left on a page, so two or three column formats lead to nonsensical information when the document is scanned.
- While it is still appropriate to use action words to detail your accomplishments (initiated, planned, implemented, etc.), it is also important to include precise technical terms whenever possible as well. That's because databases are searched by key words, and only resumes that match those key words will be looked at For example, if a publishing company was seeking someone who was experienced in desktop publishing, they might search the database for all occurrences of "Page Maker" or "Ventura," two common desktop publishing software packages. If your resume only said "Successfully implemented and oversaw in house desktop publishing program," it would be overlooked, and you wouldn't get the job!
Commercial resume databases are also having an impact on the job search process in the 1990s, so much so that anyone about to enter the job market should seriously consider utilizing one of these services.
Most of these new services work this way: Job seekers send the database company a copy of their resume, or they fill out a lengthy application provided by the company. The information is then loaded into the company's mainframe computer, along with hundreds of other resumes from other job seekers. The cost of this listing is usually nominal $20 to $50 for a sue to 12 month listing. Some colleges operate systems for their graduates that are free of charge, so check with your placement 175 office before utilizing a commercial service.
Once in the system, the resumes are available for viewing by corporate clients who have openings to fill. This is where the database companies really make their money depending on the skill level of the listees and the professions covered, companies can pay thousands of dollars for annual subscriptions to the service or for custom searches of the database.
