www.sampleresume.net

How Resume Screening Software Affects Your Job Search

You may not be aware of it but resume screening software now exists today and it is used by most companies when they are sorting through resumes and looking to fill positions within their company. There are different things that can affect your job search but resume screening software is actually one of them. But you can learn how to make it through this process and it all starts with how you write and format your resume.

Many companies are now using resume screening software as part of their acquisition process. This will help them to weed out the many options that usually come flooding in and really take time to find the best ones. When you apply for a position, anything from the small to large company, you will need to know how to get past the initial screening process. How you write and format your resume can actually affect how you are seen and processed by the software.

Here are some tips to help you get through the resume screening process:

• Make sure you are qualified for the position you are applying for

• Be sure to send your resume in the proper format. If the format is not specific, use text format. This ensures it gets past the resume screening software.

• Avoid graphics. While they look attractive to the human eye, they are not readable to the software and will only bump your resume down on the list when scanned.

• Don't forget to include your address. This will not cause you to be restricted geographically as many people believe. In fact, no address at all could cause you to be filtered out. You will fall to the bottom automatically if there is no postal code included with the resume.

• Avoid fancy Word formatting like headers and footers. The software will not be able to scan these at all so any information obtained within will be skipped. They are seen as images and ignored by the software.

• Keep formatting predictable. On things like addresses and phone numbers, keep the spacing predictable to make it easier for the software to know what it is scanning.

• Use reverse chronological ordering. When listing jobs and other experiences, stick with the standard reverse chronological method of listing.

Today's scanning software programs are much more sophisticated than those of the past so you don't have to worry about text-based formatting like bold, italics or even colors. However, the things above should be noted if you want to be absolutely certain your resume will pass through the different scanning software programs available today.

Now that you know how resume screening software affects your job search, you are on the right track to get your resume noticed right away. You want to put the best possible foot forward by creating a resume that will pass all types of scanning software. This is the best bet to make sure you get put near the top of the list for the jobs you want.