Work search tools

Electronic résumés

The Information Age is rapidly changing the face of job searching. More and more, companies use the Internet for recruiting. This means that companies process the majority of résumés electronically, using OCR scanning technology and direct database input. Processing résumés this way is more efficient and cost effective than manually sorting and filing paper résumés.

Electronic résumés fall into a number of categories, but for the purposes of this article, electronic résumés refers to e-mail/ASCII résumés and scannable résumés.

Essentially, electronic résumés and scannable résumés are plain text (ASCII) documents without formatting such as bullets, special fonts, lines, or shading. Appearance is not important, since the purpose of e-mail résumés is to enable a recruiter to read it, regardless of his or her computer platform.

To create an e-mail résumé, begin with a copy of your presentation résumé. In your word processing program, save this document with a different filename and make any necessary changes. Remember to avoid the use of bullets, boldface, italics, specialty fonts, lines, and shading. You can then use your word processor's Save As function to save the new document as a plain text or text only file.

Close your word processing program, then launch it again. Open the document you've just created. You'll notice that any formatting enhancements that may have been in the document originally have been stripped.

Before sending an e-mail résumé to a prospective employer, it's recommended you send a copy to yourself first to see whether it displays as you intend it to.

What is OCR technology?

Optical Character Recognition or OCR technology is being used more and more by larger companies to scan and track résumés. You should find out whether the company to which you are applying uses OCR technology. As mentioned, OCR technology helps companies reduce the costs associated with recruiting. Another benefit—from the employer's point of view—is that OCR technology allows employers to quickly find qualified workers.¹

From the applicant's—your—point of view, there is the advantage of objectivity. While such things as gender, age, and ethnicity do not have anything to do with your ability to perform a job, often people have biases and misconceptions they use to screen out candidates from a particular job. Fortunately, OCR does not have these biases; you can be reassured that your résumé will be scanned and evaluated based only on the skills and qualifications required for the particular job.²

Keyword strategy

Companies electronically scan résumés and store the data in a corporate database. Résumés can then be filed and sorted according to keywords the software has been instructed to look for. Keywords are used to describe the type of work you would be doing if hired for the position. Any time the scanning computer finds these keywords on your electronic résumé, a hit is recorded. The more keywords you have, the more likely it is that your résumé will be found. This is called keyword density.³

Tips for choosing keywords

Review job ads and job postings and make a list of qualifications, industry jargon, personality traits, product knowledge, qualifications and technical expertise sought by employers in your chosen field or industry. Examples include:

• Job Titles
  Software Engineer, Management Consultant, Marketing Coordinator
• Skills and Responsibilities
  Business analysis, market research, rapid application development, strategic planning
• Acronyms or Industry Technology
  TCP/IP, SAP, AS/400, RAD, Microsoft IIS, Windows NT Server 4.0, Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Flash, Microsoft Excel, Computer-Assisted Drafting, AutoCAD
• Education or Certification
  MCSE, A+, Certified Network Administrator, Certified Management Accountant, CMA, Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, BA in Psychology

Have a printed copy of your résumé handy and use a pen to circle all the keywords you find. Take special note of these circled keywords because these represent your keyword hits so far.

Make a list of all the keywords you circled and try to find synonyms and all forms and tenses of any verbs you find. For example: manage, managed, managing, manager, management.

Look again at your résumé. Cirlce any acronyms. You may use these, but remember to write out less common abbreviations. You might do better to use both forms if you can. For example: Certified Management Accountant and CMA. IP and Internet Protocol.

As mentioned above, to be truly effective, your electronic résumé should be optimized as a keyword résumé. Are there other places you could try to use keywords? Have you thought about including keywords in your Accomplishments, Education or Summary of Qualifications? You can insert keywords in each of these sections to increase your keyword density.

You may want to add a keyword summary just below your identifying information, particularly if yours is a chronological résumé. A keyword summary is specifically intended for résumé search engines and will also help increase the chances that your résumé will be found. You can choose to use either a summary statement rich in keywords or simply a list of keywords. Use your own discretion: although a list of keywords is easier to write, it lacks the impact of a well-written summary statement.

Creating a scannable résumé

Scannable résumés are intended for OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology where paper résumés are scanned into a central system. Scannable résumés may be submitted by e-mail, regular mail or fax. Because a scannable résumé will be reviewed by electronic means before it is seen by a human reviewer, it's important that you remember these tips when preparing a scannable résumé:

• Remember that a scannable résumé is not a presentation résumé.
• Always put your name on the first line of your résumé. This is what the scanning computer will use to identify you. Place your contact information on a separate line.
• Avoid bullets, boldface, italics and numbering. These may be difficult for a scanner to understand. Similarly, avoid using graphics, shading, or lines. Scanning computers read letters and may not be able to recognize the difference between letters and lines.
• Look over your résumé and spell out words such as "and" and "percent". Some scanners have difficulty recognizing such characters as & and %. Clean up any odd spacing created by tabs, justification or centering. Ideally, your identifying information should be at the top, flush left. All text should be flush left—categories, with body text underneath.
• Use a font size that's easy to read. Use a sans-serif font or a serif font with distinctive edges. Your goal is to use a font in which characters don't touch one another, since this can cause problems for OCR technology.
• Use lots of whitespace between headings. This will allow the computer to recognize separate topics.
• Remember to use keywords in your résumé.
• Keep your résumé to one page if you can.
• Use standard 8 1/2 " x 11" white paper. As with presentation résumés, you should avoid ink jet or dot matrix printing and use laser printing instead. Avoid photocopies.
• Never fold or staple your scannable resume if sending by regular mail. Paper clips, folds, creases, and staples can create problems for scanners. Mail your scannable résumé in a 9" x 12" envelope. Always include your cover letter and if possible, your presentation résumé.
• If sending your résumé by e-mail, attach it as a Microsoft Word (.doc) or as a Rich Text Format (.rtf) file. Be aware there is always the danger the employer may not be able to accept e-mail attachments. You should therefore paste your scannable résumé into the body of your e-mail message as well.

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1. CaPS Tips on Electronic Resumes. Career and Placement Services. University of Alberta.
2. CaPS Tips on Electronic Resumes. Career and Placement Services. University of Alberta.
3. CaPS Tips on Electronic Resumes. Career and Placement Services. University of Alberta.