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Electronic Résumés. Do we need another kind of résumé?. Digital résumés are the primary contact medium for 70 percent of today’s employers 1 Résumés are often scanned into database and keyword searches determine which ones will be viewed
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Do we need another kind of résumé? • Digital résumés are the primary contact medium for 70 percent of today’s employers1 • Résumés are often scanned into database and keyword searches determine which ones will be viewed • Traditional résumés do not work well as scannable resumes 1Source: “Your e-mail address helps project image of yourself” from Scripps Howard News Service by Thelma Domenici
What are Keywords? • Screening tools for employers • Job ads are full of them • Keywords are not the same as action verbs; they are nouns and noun phrases
Where do Keywords belong on my résumé ? • In the profile or summary AND sprinkled through your document
How do I determine which Keywords to use? • Job Opening Advertisements • Job Descriptions • The Dictionary of Occupational Titles • Occupational Outlook Handbook • Salary.com • The best source is….Your Text!
How do I know what to look for? • Certifications/Types of Degrees • Computer Languages/Software • Foreign Languages • Industry Jargon/Buzz Words • Personality Traits/Transferable Skills • Position Titles • Company and School Names • Honor Societies • Products/Industries • Technical Skills
How do I know what to look for? • Certifications/Types of Degrees - MOUS • Computer Languages/Software - JAVA • Foreign Languages – fluent in Spanish • Industry Jargon/Buzz Words - TQM • Personality Traits/Transferable Skills - Creative • Position Titles – Peer Advisor • Company and School Names – NWMSU • Honor Societies – Delta Mu Delta • Products/Industries - Healthcare • Technical Skills – Payroll
Résumé types • Traditional, paper • Electronic • As a word processing file • Printable/Scannable • ASCII text • E-form • PDF • RTF • HTML
Traditional Paper Résumé • Beginning point for electronic résumés • Incorporate keywords • Still used when a human reader views your résumé
Electronic: Word Processed File • The traditional paper résumé saved in a word processing format • Can only be opened with corresponding word processing program • Maintains most or all formatting • Can be emailed as attachment
Electronic: Printable/Scannable • Changes made to remove elements that do not scan well • Saved in word processing software program format • Can be printed for scanning
Electronic: ASCII text • An electronic file where traditional formatting is lost • Saved as .txt file • Can also be used for scanning • Compatible with all computer programs • Can be sent as attachment
Electronic: E-form • When submitting via e-form, there is a limit of 65 characters including spaces per line • Text is copied and pasted into E-form
Electronic: Portable Document File (PDF) • File is saved as .pdf and can be attached to an email • File maintains all formatting • Files are very large • Requires special software to make .pdf files; reader software can be downloaded free
Electronic: Rich Text Format • Maintains most formatting • Saved as .rtf file • Can be opened with other word processing programs
Electronic: HTML • Résumé saved as html file and uploaded to the web • Anyone with Internet access can view • Can link to portfolio or documents • Confidentiality and privacy issues • Omit reference names and contact information
Our Recommendations • Students should have an attractive paper résumé with keywords • Students should be prepared to email their résumé as an attachment in the word processing format • Students should have a text only résumé saved as a .txt file • Students should always follow an employer’s instructions if they are provided