Employers occasionally request your resume be sent to them in a scannable format. Essentially, in this case, the employer is utilizing a database program that uses an OCR (optical character reading). This reads the text of the resume and stores it into the database, allowing for future sorting of key terms of qualifications that the employer may be looking for. Once the employer has a position they need to fill, he or she inputs the education, skills and/or experience they are searching for. The database sorts through the resumes on file and prints out those that match.

Because of the importance of these key terms, industry-specific buzzwords definitely need to be incorporated into your resume. Determine what words are hot right now by reading through both online and print ads of the jobs and positions you are interested in. Underline action words and nouns that tend to repeat and incorporate them into your document.

Provided you did not use a resume template, you can easily convert your Word document to a scannable one. If you did use a template, retype your resume into Word and follow the steps below:

1. Bring up your Word resume
2. Remove any bolding or italicizing you did, as well as any graphic lines
3. Replace asterisks with bullets or hyphens
4. Block text and select for it all to be left margined
5. Double check spacing and correct obvious errors such as sentences being unevenly spaced or dropping down to the next line, and extra blank lines
6. Insert a blank line between headings and skills or experience listings
7. Click the "Save As" option and save under a different name so as to not lose your original Word document
8. Open the file under the MS Notepad Program. Save it there - it will automatically save your resume under a text (.txt) file.

Your resume will appear unattractive, but it will be computer friendly and scanning friendly. It will also work on all current scanning systems. Now, it's ready to be emailed to an employer or to be cut and pasted onto an online application mechanism.

One final note: Always include a cover letter with your scannable resume. Format the cover letter the same way as you just did your resume and remember these key points:

• Keep your cover letter concise and include the aforementioned buzzwords
• Tailor it to meet the employer's needs
• Put specifics in an email subject line. Vague subject lines will simply annoy an employer
• Use spell check and proofread your emails the same as you would print documents

For more help with cover letters, see our website or pick up our handout on cover letter composition.

Student Services | Resumes

Northeastern Illinois University - Office of Career Services - Office of Student Affairs Building B, Room-119, | 5500 North Saint Louis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60625 Phone: (773) 442-4680 | Fax: (773) 442-4690