Have you been applying for a ton of jobs but not gotten any responses? One of the reasons may be that your resume is not friendly to a company's applicant tracking system.
Most companies today use ATS to help sift through the high number of resumes that come in each and every day. That means there's a chance your resume will get thrown out before ever even reaching a human.
"Corporate recruiting software is notorious for 'parsing' resumes that are submitted for specific positions," notes an article from Examiner.com. "This means that the software is designed to be 'sensitive' or 'responsive' to certain words or phrases. What most applicants do not realize is that a resume submitted with fancy font styles, border or section segmentation lines or powerful bullet-pointing may not be making it past the software into the hands of a recruiter."
On top of that, the nation's high unemployment rate has caused an influx in the number of resumes employers are receiving, making it even harder for yours to get noticed. And even if it does get through, chances are you'll be up against tougher competition than usual.
There are many things you can do to increase the odds of your resume making it through an ATS. Using a free resume builder often helps, because it offers you a variety of formats and features, without making your resume clunky and overloaded.
Here are some tips to keep in mind when creating your resume, as compiled by MissionTalent.com:
- Plain is better.
- Microsoft Word is the preferred format.
- Always mention your organization before your job titles, for example: UNICEF Senior Fundraiser.
- Do not mix different fonts.
- Do not send scanned CVs.
- Do not use columns, tables or underlines.
- Do not use graphics.
- Do not use headers or footers.
- Do not use page numbers.
- Do not use templates.
- Keywords are the method by which your resume will be retrieved in searches, not looks. use proper words which are specified to your skill sets throughout your resume.
- Back up achievements with examples: instead of increased sales, use increased sales by $750,000 in six months.
- Remove all "centering," "right hand margin," and "justification" alignments.
- Use blank lines between sections, but do not use blank lines within paragraphs.
