Because of the volume of resumes employers receive, most of them now use some kind of resume tracking or applicant tracking system. This automates many of the tasks necessary for tracking candidates, and also makes it possible for an employer to find a resume they received months or years later. As a result of the technologies used, its important to keep your resume in a certain format that will be correctly read and interpreted by the systems. This used to be referred to as a “scannable” resume because of the hardware that used to scan paper resumes into the computer. While the technology has changed, and resumes are mostly submitted electronically, the principles remain the same.
Once your resume is stored electronically, employers use keywords to match the stored resumes with their open positions. In order to find the resumes, employers (and recruiters) use keyword search strings, very similar to the search strings you would use when you are searching for something in a search engine.
A resume that is formatted in a way that can be stored and searched correctly is called a scannable resume. Correct formatting of a scannable resume includes avoiding fancy fonts, graphics and other effects that don’t always make it through the technologies correctly. A resume that is not formatted correctly won’t appear in a search for matching keywords, which greatly reduces your chances of landing interviews. To increase rather than decrease your chances, its a good idea to create a scannable resume or convert your traditional resume into a scannable resume format.
Resume Format
The resume tracking applications attempt to match characters converted from your resume with standard letter shapes. So, it's important to format your resume in a font that conforms. It's the single-most important factor for making your resume format convert within the software.
For example, if you use a decorative font such as Bahamas, the software might misinterpret the fancy letter a as the letter o. This could result in a misinterpreted keywords, such as monoger for manager. Your resume then won't show up in a search for the word manager. Times New Roman and Arial seem to be the most easily converted fonts.
Font size is also important. The optimal font size is between 10 and 12 points. The size you choose depends on the font. For example, note that the characters in Times New Roman appear smaller and more compact than those in Arial. The more compact a font is, the harder it is for the software to separate the characters. So, if you go with Times New Roman, the properties of the 12-point size are likely best to allow for the variances in scanner quality, while 10-point Times New Roman might be too small.
It's a good idea to avoid Italics anywhere in your resume, since it skews characters into the white space between them. Also avoid underlining, since the underline limits white space under characters and cuts through some, such as the "tail" on the q or g.
You can spruce up your resume by using horizontal lines to separate sections, so they look good on paper. However, don't allow them to touch or get too close to text. Make sure they occupy at least one full line of space.
Avoid short vertical (|) lines and slash marks (/) in your resume. Scanners might try to interpret them as letters, such as a lowercase l or an uppercase I. Also avoid text leaders or trailers, such as periods (....). They might confuse the software.
Bulleted (•) lists are acceptable if they are solid, not hollow. That's so the software doesn't try to interpret them as letters, such as the letter o. They don’t always transfer or might display as some weird character when pasting them into plain-text resume forms at online resume banks. If they don't transfer well into forms, replace them with asterisks (*) or hyphens (-), plus a space before the text.
If you are applying for a job where it's important to show off your formatting or creative skills to land a job, such as a Web Designer or Graphic Artist position, distribute copies of your fancy paper resume at interviews. Better yet, send both a fancy and plain resume format, or create a fancy Web resume and portfolio, and include the URL in your emailed resume or cover letter.
Speaking of which, always include a correctly formatted “scannable” cover letter with your resume.