Whats a scannable resume and why do I need one?
Approximately 50% of resumes today are scanned into electronic applicant-tracking systems, eliminating a lot of the time and energy required for a human being to look at every resume personally. Scannable resumes start out as paper, are sent by mail or fax, and are scanned and converted into ASCII format by special software so they can be searched for specific keywords that an employer has selected as criteria for a specific job. Keywords must be included in a resume that is going to be scanned. This means your resume must be converted to a specific format and reworded to ensure you get as many “hits” as possible. If you don’t know for certain if your resume will be scanned by a potential employer, it’s a good idea to call and ask for guidelines. If this isn’t possible, send a scannable resume along with your formatted one. You win either way. Some people prefer to really play it safe and send an ASCII (text-only) resume instead of worrying about whether or not the resume will be messe
