Resume And Cover Letter Templates (Page 9 of 23) in pdf

•

Set an appointment with your reference to discuss the issue of providing a reference for you. Bring

supporting materials in your favor when talking with the individual. The meeting will allow you to gauge

the reference’s response to your request and your materials will provide discussion points for the person

providing the reference, helping them use stronger language/examples in a phone reference, and write a

stronger recommendation letter if applicable.

•

Prompt the reference every Thursday to give them the status of your search/application process—this will

remind them of their commitment to serve as a reference, or write a reference letter for you if applicable.

•

Thank your references for providing phone references and/or letters of recommendations—send them a

thank you note or letter.

•

Make sure to get at least one reference from your job/internship search target field of work.

•

Ask for one more letter of reference than what the application requires, when applicable.

•

Ask references to customize their recommendations to each job/internship you are applying.

SCANNABLE RESUMES

What are Scannable Resumes?

At many large companies, human resource departments have computers equipped with OCR (optical character

recognition) systems. Resumes are scanned into this software program, which reads them, stores information in

text files and rates the candidate’s qualifications for a position based on predetermined job criteria.

What to Keep in Mind When Writing a Scannable Resume

Employers will generally indicate when they would like a candidate to submit a scannable resume. You have to

understand what the company is looking for and communicate that information so that the computer will select

your resume to be read by a human being. Searches are usually conducted using keywords and phrases that

describe the skills and education required for the position, thus, use terms and familiar industry acronyms that

describe your skills and experience. Below are some tips to get you started.

Scannable Resume Tips

Use white or light colored 8 ½ x 11 paper, printed on one side only.

Don’t use dot matrix or poor quality copies; provide the employer with an original laser printed version.

Send the resume in a large envelope; do not fold your resume.

Use standard typefaces such as Arial, Helvetica, New Century Schoolbook, and Times New Roman; avoid

decorative fonts.

Use a font size of 10 to 14 points (avoid Times New Roman 10 point).

You can boldface and capitalize all section headings, but make sure that the letters don’t touch one another.

Never use italics, underline, shadows, bullets, slashes, dashes or contractions.

Don’t use lines, graphics, boxes, or shading.

Use a very traditional format for your resume; don’t use a two-column format.

Your name should be placed on the first line of the resume; avoid starting your resume with “Resume of”

or with your address on the top line.

Use a standard address format below your name (name on top line; street address and box/apartment

number on one line; city, state and zip on one line; phone number on one line; email address on one line).

Left justify text.

If your resume exceeds one page, place your name at the top of each additional page.

Tips for Getting Resume Selected

Use lots of key words to define your skills, experiences, education and professional affiliations.

Be specific about your abilities.

Use action words to express achievements.

Increase your list of key words by including specifics (e.g. list the names of software programs you use

such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Access or PowerPoint, HTML, Dreamweaver)

Use common headings (e.g. Objective, Experience, Employment, Work History, Positions Held, Skills

Summary, Summary of Qualifications, Accomplishments, etc.)

You might consider including a “Summary of Accomplishments” section after your objective. This will

allow you to focus on results you achieved in the field rather than specific duties or responsibilities.

Resume And Cover Letter Templates Page 9

Related Articles

Related forms

Related Categories