Resume banks

Some large international employers use electronic resume processing systems (or "automated applicant tracking systems") to handle large volumes of resumes, although the use of these systems in South Africa is hardly notable. A smaller employer may subscribe to a scanning service that offers them a way to automate this function for their small (or non-existent) human resource department.

Because your resume will be scanned, not only must it include relevant keywords, you must avoid fonts and formatting that will not scan properly into the system such as italics, bold and fancy typefaces. A scannable resume emphasizes distinctive edges and recognizable characters.

To enhance the "scan-ability" of your resume:

• Do not use line or borders
• Do not use bold print, italics, or underlining
• Use Large and clear typestyle
• Leave large margins all the way around the resume
• Do not use any color paper other than white or very light ivory.
• Be sure to center your name, address and phone number at the top.

In order to satisfy the idiosyncrasies of the scanning process, keywords are used. These refer to those words or phrases that are used for searches of databases for resumes that match. This match is called a "hit" and occurs when one or more resumes are selected as matching the various criteria (keywords) used in the search.

As resumes are reduced to ASCII characters and keywords, cover letters play an increasingly important role as a selling tool.

The most direct method used to distribute resumes across the Internet is e-mail. The file format most universally preferred when receiving resumes electronically is ASCII (identified by the .txt extension).

Other file formats can be sent as e-mail attachments, but it is essential to determine whether the recipient has the necessary programmes or translators to open and view your document. There is nothing worse than sending an unopenable file as few recipients might take the time to e-mail you and request you to re-send the file in a readable format.

The advantage of submitting your resume as an ASCII file, is that it is universally recognized by PC's, Macintoshes, UNIX workstations, and mainframe terminals. The disadvantage of an ASCII resume is that it is plain text with no formatting - something to get used to in an era of resumes with fancy fonts printed on specialty papers.

There is an even simpler approach: resumes posted directly into the body of the e-mail message with no text-formatting, flush-left text, with text describing each position held in one continuous line. In other words, use hard carriage returns at the end of paragraphs instead of lines.

This is a debatable option. Certainly individuals should not expect a job offers to pour in from recruiters who have stumbled across their homepage or website. Essentially, this concept is only appropriate if any of the following apply:

• The page or site is well-designed and constructed and displays profficiency in working with this medium. (Remember that depending on the position, see below, what you and other web surfers think is cool, may not appear that attractive to recruitment personnel.)
• The position involves this medium.
• Your objective is to display a level of knowledge about the Internet.
• There is some other cogent reason such as if your Web resume supports, not replaces, the other version of your resume.

Sources: JobSmart, What Color Is your Parachute? and Career Magazine.