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OCR software attempts to match characters scanned from your resume with standard letter shapes. This makes it imperative that your resume is formatted with a font that OCR can recognize, font choice
single most important factor in creating a scannable resume. Simple, conservative typefaces such as Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana and Courier are some of best choices.
Other content and design guidelines are: - keep it simple and conservative - use high quality 8-1/2 x 11 inch, white or off-white paper, print on one side of paper only - format headings with either Bold text or ALL CAPITALS. - use headings sparingly but consistently to support your information structure - don’t use italics - it skews characters and confuses OCR - don’t use underlined text - it confuses OCR - use no more than two fonts in sizes between 10 and 12 points - allow margins and line spacing (white space) to keep document from looking crowded - use horizontal lines to separate sections of your resume - don’t use vertical lines, graphics, shading or boxes - your contact information with your name is printed at top of each page - a summary, where your best assets, whether education, experience, or skills are listed - categories are clear and text is indented - dates of employment are easy to find and consistently formatted - each entry highlights a capability or accomplishment - verb tense is consistent; current job is in present tense; past employment is in past tense - use a minimal amount of punctuation, it can confuse OCR - capitalization, punctuation, and date formats are consistent - no typos or spelling errors - don’t fold or staple your resume, if you mail your resume use a large envelope
Your resume should be a quick and easy to read, containing no fluff and no unnecessary words. As hiring professionals look through hundreds or even thousands of job applications, they may spend only a few seconds reviewing each resume. To catch their attention, you must quickly convey that you standout from competition. A successful resume is one that does not exclude you from consideration. Your resume is a personal self-marketing tool; so make sure you get a powerful and accurate message across. By fine-tuning your keywords to meet qualifications of each job, more likely that you'll be asked to an interview where you can sell yourself.
Mary Carroll is a customer advocate for at Video Professor, the leader in self-paced software learning tutorials, helping our customers to better understand Video Professor and how our tutorials can provide tools to learn various software programs to your desired level.
