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Scannable Resume

Lets talk about the scannable resume. The resume you have been working on was designed to be appealing to a hiring managers eyes. To make your information and especially your qualifications, pop into the readers eye without effort.

To accomplish a "scannable resume", we have to appeal to only the computer.

You can if you wish, keep your resume in it's current format, and scan your resume, to be saved as a graphic image. You could also post online with a graphic resume.


A different method most people use is converting your resume to plain text. Even though your resume is text, plain text will get rid of all the formatting you took the time to put into your resume to make it appealing to people. This plain text document, transforms it, into a scannable resume.

If you plan on sending your resume to large organizations, it is a good idea to send both types. Or you can call and ask. For online submittal, either a graphic or plain text ASCII.

Saving your file as plain text ASCII, will cause you to loose all format, any pictures, and any objects in your resume. It is best for the first try, to just open notepad, and set the font for verdana 12.

Then open your resume, go to file, save as, to desktop, save file as at the bottom of the pop up, plain text. It should look ok. Like I said, all format will not be included, it will be plain text, which is a scannable resume.

Copy this from notepad and paste into word. Your document will need a lot more work now. Choose edit, select all and make sure the font is verdana 12. Move everything that is not to the left side, over to the left side. Hit spell check, go through the document then save.

You have a completed plain text document, ready for the employers scanner. Most scans are searching for key words. So to recap so far, change any resume format, by saving it to your desktop as plain text, plain text is now a scannable resume.

If you have posted your resume, some job post will let you know how many times your resume has been hit. If it's not what you were expecting, you should probably change your key word.

Key words for an accountant might be taxes, or cost management, while key words for a plumber could be pipe threading tools, fixtures, shower stalls. You get the point.

Research key words for the position you want to win, and place them in your resume where they make sense.

The best area to place these words are in the Objective and the Qualifications section.

I would really rather have a human look at my resume, but you have to be prepared for the scanner.

No BOLD, italics, or underlines in a plain text format.

No shadings or graphics.

No use of tabs, bullets or indents.

no parenthesis ( ) no brackets { }.

Page setup. 1.25" left and right margins and .5" header and footer.

Now as a test, after you have followed the above, and have your resume in plain text in word, open the file, choose select all, copy then paste it into your e-mail and mail it to yourself.

When it comes back, it should look just exactly like you sent it.

I followed the instructions above and I pasted it into my web editor. I did not change the original word resume document. I copied it, then pasted it into notepad.

I re-arranged only 2 lines by hitting enter on the keyboard in notepad. Then copied the resume again from notepad and pasted it into word. I know, I am double explaining here.

I selected all in word, copied and pasted here.

Yuck, no wonder the scanner likes it. A scannable resume is just any document or resume format, saved as plain text. Any plain text resume will look like this below. All of the format is lost, and the employer likes this no frills so there equipment can scan more efficiently.

Scannable Resume:

John Smith
2222 South 23nd Street ~ Terre Haute, Indiana. 47800
Home Phone (xxx) xxx-xxxx ~ Email jsmith@verizon.net

O B J E C T I V E ----------Tig Welder
A position as an active employee, involving responsibility and working with others as a team member to achieve growth for the company.

Q U A L I F I C A T I O N S
* Production Supervisor 4 years hands on experience.
* Supervisor of 25 employees in production and packaging depts.
* Business Owner Operator with 10 yrs hands on experience.
* Production line scheduling, purchasing production and packaging supplies.
* 30 total manufacturing years of experience.

W O R K H I S T O R Y
2000-2010: Quality Tester at CBS STEEL INC.
1998-2002: Production Supervisor Printing Company XYZ
1991-1998: Printing Company XYZ Position: Pressmen-Machine Operator * 8 color 10 inch Mark Andy---- 8 color Comco-10 inch

1985-1991 XYZ MOVING & STORAGE
Position: Manager
Duties: Customer contact, giving estimates, supervising 4 employees, loading and unloading truck from personal property to safes and machinery for business.

1983-1985 XYZ MOVING & STORAGE POSITION:
Truck Driver-2 years
Duties: Driving truck and responsible for loading and unloading trucks. Detailed paperwork responsibilities.

1973-1983 NBC
POSITION: Manufacturing Operator-10 years
Duties: Production on 12 hour rotating shifts. Substituted for supervisor during vacation.

E D U C A T I O N
Associates Business, 1970
ISU Terre Haute, Indiana
IVY Tech, Terre Haute, In.-Certificates of completion for courses and seminars.
Computer Proficient: Windows XP, All associated software programs Power Point, ect...

Go back to Resume Tips in case you missed the previous page, or you might want some help on our next page Resume Objectives.

Check out the inside pages for more details on creating your resume.

Joe Thurston-Owner of Resumes Cover Letters Jobs.com

Return to Free Resume Templates home page to find your new resume.

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