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Scannable resumes are important for job seekers and employers. They are formatted for easy scanning and loading into electronic programs. Tips for creating a successful scannable resume include using basic fonts, avoiding italics and bullet points, and using black ink on white or light gray paper.
Scannable resumes are one of the most useful tools today for both job seekers and employers who are looking for the right people to fill important positions within the company. A scannable resume is simply a document that has been formatted so that all of the information can be easily scanned and loaded into electronic programs that are managed with the use of optical character recognition software.
The creation of this bank of scannable resume templates makes it very easy for the employer to quickly and easily go through all archived resumes when a vacancy needs to be filled, using simple search criteria. Sometimes referred to as a text resume, the successful scannable resume features several attributes that help the document be more accessible to prospective employers. Here are some time tips on how to produce a quality scannable resume that has a very good chance of being noticed.
One of the first things to think about in terms of a scannable resume is the font used for the text. Whereas in years past, basic resume writing mandated the use of different fonts as ways to draw attention to the data. With a scannable resume, the emphasis is on ensuring that the OCR software will read all characters correctly.
For example, if you use a fancy font for all your job titles in the work experience section, the software might interpret the text to read that you have extensive experience as a “monoger” rather than a “manager.” This means that in keyword searches for people with management experience, your resume will be overlooked. Ditch the use of fancy script types and fonts and go with the basic types used for general business correspondence. While the finished product may look a bit simple, keep in mind that this is one instance where simple is way better.
Another point about fonts is to keep the size of the letters within an acceptable business writing range. While a small or large font may look nice, it can create some issues with the software’s ability to read text, which can result in some blank sections on the scanned document. Generally using between a ten and twelve character size will ensure that OCR will correctly detect every word in your scannable resume, increasing edits to be noticed during database searches.
Avoid the use of italics, underlining, and bullet points as much as possible in your scannable resume. If you must use bullets, make sure the bullet designation is a solid dark circle, rather than a light circle, asterisk, or dash. Remember that one of the key things about a scannable resume is that you want all information on the resume to be accessible by the search engine built into the OCR software. Special text variations and symbols can sometimes cause problems that prevent resumes from being classified as meeting the search criteria. Keep the format as simple as possible.
Paper also plays a part in the successful image capture of your scannable resume. Use only black ink and make sure the paper is white, ecru or a very light gray. While eye-blinding yellow and various pastel shades may work well for resumes in some lines of work, they do nothing when using OCR software. The colors indicate the possibility of dark spots on the resume image, which results in loss of important data.
Creating a scannable resume can involve a few changes to your resume writing habits. But if the goal is to win an opportunity at your dream job, making these simple concessions is well worth the time and effort.
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