Re: Resumes and HR scanning

[Nick Marino <rhetonic -at- GTE -dot- NET>]

Hello Robert:

I write re'sume's professionally and my advice to you is to be sure to use some
sort of reliable
sans serif font, such as Arial, Futura, Gill Sans, Swiss, or Univers.  Either
10pt or 12pt leading
(space above and below type) is best.  Use lots of white space.  Avoid unusual
markings and the
use of attributes such as bold, italic, or sub/superscript.  They do not fax
well, one use of
scanable re'sume's, and they often cause problems with many OCR software apps.
Be sure to use
"key" nounal words related to your field in your re'sume', words that are
easily categorized.
This is because your re'sume', after scanning, will be referenced in some sort
of HR database.

Avoid using web sites such as the one you mentioned below.  They are more often
than not black
holes that deliver your re'sume' information (they chop up re'sume's into what
they feel are
meaningful pieces of information) to amateurs, HR clerks, or office assistants
who follow some
company operating procedure for sorting out re'sume's.

Networking is still the most effective method of job searching and delivering
your re'sume' to
someone who will actually read it.

Your re'sume' is your personal marketing document of which you must always
maintain complete and
total control.

Nick Marino

Robert E. Garland wrote:

> I'm on the market again, and this time the world seems to want scannable
> resumes.
>
> I have a resume that has served me well.  The layout was created during
> outplacement seminars attended a few years ago. Unfortunately, this
> resume seems to break many of the rules for scannable resumes.
>
> What are the best ways to lay out a scannable resume?
>
> In a related issue, several companies have web sites where they want you
> to cut and paste your resume.  After I cut and paste, the resume looks
> quite bad.  Can those of you who are on the receiving end of "cut and
> paste" resumes submitted through the company website provide some
> information on how things look when they finally get to the hiring
> manager?
>
> --
>      Robert Garland                          Amateur Radio Station NX3S
>      Hilltown Township Bucks County                         Grid FN20ii
>      Pennsylvania USA                                   robert -at- jtan -dot- com
>
> From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000==