Professional Resume Writing – Is Your Resume Computer-Friendly?
The HR professional scanning your resume is more likely to be a PC or a Mac and not a mortal, which makes this a very critical question when writing your resume. Since computers look at things differently than we do, your resume needs to be attractive to digital eyes. These digital eyes do not like photocopies or coloured paper, sometimes have difficulty with unusual fonts or point sizes smaller than 10 or larger than 14 and can become confused with decorative lines, vertical lines and underlining. It is possible that the information the computer cannot scan will be lost.
Resume Test Runs
Prior to submitting your resume online so do some test runs to friends to ensure the format you send is the same one they will receive. You may want to use Notepad or Wordpad to eliminate any special formatting that could damage the ability to scan your resume and ensure simple text is used throughout. Have you included the critical keywords that the computer will be looking for? These are the nouns used to describe the job and yourself. They encompass technical jargon, specific skills that relate to the job, degrees you hold, job titles, key personal traits and other buzzwords.
Resume File Names
Once you are sure your resume can easily be scanned and it contains all of the relevant keywords, what is the file name you have used? Sales Manager Resume.doc or IT Executive.pdf? Don’t miss the opportunity to get your name out there, include it when you save your document, Barbara Mackie Sales Engineer Resume.doc.
Hand Delivering Your Resume
If you are hand delivering your resume, which will likely be a rare occasion in today’s computer age, do not fold or staple it. If mailing it, use a 9 x 12 envelope and send by priority post or courier in order to obtain proof of receipt.
Do you know if your resume is computer-friendly? Email it for a
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