It’s safe to say the majority of us apply for jobs online these days. I’ve written about this before, but it bears repeating. If you apply for jobs online — and that’s virtually everyone —you need to make sure your resume is formatted properly or it simply won’t be seen.
Employers large and small now use the Internet as a recruiting tool, and with the volume of candidates the Internet brings, employers cannot keep up with the volume of resumes they receive. To sort through all those resumes, applicant tracking system software has been developed.
So, when you apply online, chances are very good the first person to scan your resume won’t be a person at all, it will be a software program. And, these programs respond best to a resume that is in plain text or ASCII format.
A plain text-format resume is not visually appealing, and unless you are a computer programmer, you can get lost in the content. However software tracking systems are drawn to plain-text resumes with keywords and if you are not sending this format, your resume likely will be stored in a database with countless others.
Here are some tips to make your resume more effective when submitted online:
Use keywords described in the job posting throughout your resume, key words are noun phrases, industry terms and technical skills that reflect those listed by the employer.
Convert your resume to plain text and use a simple font. Stay with New Times Roman or Ariel.
Capitalize headings, employers’ names and job titles.
Embed keywords throughout your resume — in your summary, accomplishments, education, certification, and role descriptions
Have you tweaked your resume when sending it online?
