Email resumes...Web resumes...HTML resumes...Scannable resumes...
Keyword resumes...Text resumes...ASCII resumes...PDF resumes...Word
resumes...Traditional resumes...
A resume is a resume, right? But
then, what are all these different types of resumes you keep hearing
about? If you are confused and not quite sure what is being referred to
when you hear all these different names for resumes, you are certainly
not alone!
Over the past decade, the most common resume-related
questions asked by job hunters have progressively shifted. While still
of major importance, the majority of queries are no longer about
functional versus chronological resume styles, whether to keep or remove
experience from twenty-five years ago, or whether to include dates of
education. With the advent and subsequent explosive increase in the use
of the Internet during the job search, questions have turned
overwhelmingly to issues of electronic resume creation and transmission.
What are the different types of electronic resumes?
What are the differences between an e-mail resume, a scannable resume, and a web resume?
How do I know which resume format to use?
How do I format my electronic resume to ensure that the recipient can read it?
No
wonder there is so much confusion! In just a few short years, there has
been a complete revolution in the tools and techniques of job hunting.
As applicant tracking technologies have come into common use among
headhunter firms, large corporations, and even mid-size and small
businesses, recommended resume formats and methods of transmission have
rapidly evolved with the advancing technologies. Further complicating
things, have been the increasing availability of personal web space for
online resume portfolios and biographies.
What does this mean for
today's job hunter? While the Internet has opened unprecedented doors of
opportunity in the job search process, for those who have not taken the
time to learn and apply the rules it can mean disaster!
While few
job hunters have time to spend months studying the most recent
technologies and recommendations for the creation of electronic resumes,
before venturing onto the Internet with your resume it is critical that
you take the time to learn and understand a few simple concepts.
Knowing your audience and the formats most acceptable by those audiences
are essential pieces of knowledge for the Internet job hunter.
The
human reader - The traditional, printed, hard copy resume (yes, it does
still have a primary place in job hunting!) is created to attract the
human eye and attention. With the advantages of word processing
applications, sophisticated formatting is possible and should be applied
strategically to create eye-appeal and draw the readers' attention to
key qualifications.
The computer reader - The electronic or
computer-optimized resume is designed, first and foremost, to be
readable by the computer. There are several types of electronic resumes,
but the common element of all is the ability to be searched by keyword.
Of course, once your resume has been tagged as matching a keyword
search, it will be reviewed by a human. So compelling, easy-to-read
content is just as important in the electronic resume as in the
traditional resume.
Miss these points and the effects could be
devastating...you might send out hundreds of resumes only to sit at home
and wonder why nobody, not even one company or headhunter, has called
you for an interview. There are fundamental formatting differences
between traditional and electronic resumes. If you do not understand
these differences, your resume will make it into very few - if any -
resume databases.
RESUME FORMATS
What are the differences between keyword, scannable, web, traditional, and text resumes?
Traditional
resumes are designed, as already noted, to compel the human reader,
through persuasive language and design, to take further action and call
you for an interview. Layout and page design are critical and should be
planned strategically to draw the eye to areas of emphasis. The most
effective traditional resumes are focused on achievements and written in
powerful, active language that captures and holds the attention of the
reader.
Scannable resumes -- also a printed, hardcopy format --
are designed primarily for accurate scanning into a computer. Captured
as an image, scannable resumes are fed through OCR (optical character
recognition) software that reads and extracts the text. The extracted
text is databased for storage and later recalled by keyword from an
applicant tracking system. Scannable resumes are very rarely requested
any more. If you are asked for a scannable resume, the most efficient
option is to email the requestor your plain ASCII text resume (described
next).
Text resumes (also referred to as ASCII resumes) are just
what the name implies, an ASCII-formatted version of either your
traditional or scannable resume. Text resumes are universally readable
on all computer systems and platforms and are the preferred format when
you are emailing your resume. An ASCII resume received in email can be
entered directly into an applicant tracking system without the added
step of needing to scan it. Entry into the system is fast, easy, and
accurate and so many employers and recruiters prefer this format.
Is Your Executive Resume Placing You Among the Top 6 Candidates?.................