workforce2.org

Electronic resumes

An E-resume is an electronic version of your resume specifically to be used and read online using a computer, because e-resumes are so versatile they have become very popular with both job seekers and employers alike. The benefits of an online resume are:

• It can be read from a computer anywhere
• It can be saved on your hard disk or a removable disk
• It can be sent anywhere over the internet
• It can be found by search engines when it is online with a e-resume service
• It can be converted into different file types for use in different applications, such as databases
• It can be printed out when needed

Why are e-resumes successful?

Online resume databases are essentially online filing cabinets which vary in complexity from simply being stored online to allowing potential employers and recruiters to:

• Tag and later identify how company’s received the resume
• Assigning resumes requisition numbers which indicate job objectives
• Allow company’s to search resumes using keywords
• Give resumes a ranking depending on keywords
• Generate reports about the resumes

The key to why online resumes are so successful is their ability to be searched by keyword so recruiters can come across your resume when they search for particular words, for example if they are looking for someone with excellent computer skills and you have put in your resume that you are proficient with computers, your resume will show up.

Some understanding of this process will help you to understand and use this technology to your advantage. Studies have show that company’s process thousands of e-resumes on a daily basis with small and medium size businesses viewing resume banks daily in the search for possible candidates.

Keywords

Keywords are critical for your resume to be a success, each database will have a built in search engine that is setup specially to pick out certain words relating to the position that the company has to offer.

There are no special keywords as these will vary from company to company depending on the position that is open so keywords will be chosen by the recruiter. However keywords that you should put into your resume should hold all the important information about the skills and achievements that you hold, these could be:

• Your technical expertise
• Your management skills
• Your knowledge of the industry
• Your education and training
• Your geographic location
• Your previous employment history

The company looking for candidates will set up their search engine with keywords and scan resumes and locate any that have the keywords their looking for in them, they will then count the number of keywords found and rank them accordingly. Since keywords are what makes your e-resume a success or failure here are some tips for good keyword placement:

Listing your keywords

• On a piece of paper list between 20 to 60 terms that best describes your skills and achievements.
• List terms that are both technical and non technical, for example computer software that you are good at such as Adobe Photoshop or Quark Express as well as business management skills such as resolving conflicts and negotiating.
• List your keywords as nouns rather than verbs, for example facilitation rather than facilitate. * List acronyms and their spelled out version, for example if you list ISDN on your resume spell out integrated services digital network too.
• Put all your keywords into your resume using statements in your resume text.
• Look for opportunities to put in your keywords under headings.