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Important Information on Scanable Resume Design
Why is scanable resume design important? You may not even be familiar with this term, but today many companies place resumes in a database for later use when looking for a suitable job candidate. If you want your resume to be easily accessible so that your chance of employment are increased, it is essential that you understand scanable resume design, so that you can create your resume in a way that employers easily locate it when searching to fill an open position.
Today, not every resume in seen by the human eye. Many candidates send their resume in, and it is placed in a database with perhaps hundreds of other individuals resumes. For this reason, it is essential that you use a scanable resume design so that when an employer does look for suitable candidates, your resume comes to the top of the list.
What format should you use?
In order for your resume to be easily read by computer scanners, it is essential that you use a simple format. All text should be aligned to the left of the page, and designed without graphics or tables. To be most effective in a search, headings should be written in all caps, and there should be no dashes, tildes or dots. Simply separate each section with plenty of white space. Also, avoid fancy or designer fonts and stick with those that are simple and easy to read like Arial and Times New Roman in a 9 to 12 point size, depending on the font you choose.
Keywords are essential in scanable resume design
Perhaps the most important aspect of creating a scanable resume is using keywords specific to that career field or industry. How can you decide which are the best keywords to use? Simply read the job advertisement to see what words or phrases they have included. You might also research on forums related to the industry, in order to determine the trend or current buzz words being used.
Once you have decided which keywords and phrases will likely have your resume come to the top of the results should an employer be searching for candidates, use these keywords and phrases often, but in a way that sounds natural. Be sure to use them in headings and descriptions where possible.
How to convert a standard resume to one that is scanable
If you have created your resume in MS word or another word processing program, it's simple to convert it to a text file.
1. From the “file” menu, select the “save as” option.
2. Once the “save as” menu has opened, you will see a drop down box toward the lower section of the window. Click on the arrow beside the “save as type” drop down menu, and select “text.txt.” This will place your resume in to Wordpad or Notepad.
3. Open your document in whichever text editor you use, then check the formatting. Remove any gaps or other errors, and align all text to the left. Once you have corrected any problems, save the file again.
Now you understand why a scanable resume design is important. Use these tips, and you can create your own scanable resume easily.
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