With the continued progression of computers, more and more processes are becoming automated. If you are looking for a job, you can format your resume to use that to your benefit.
Steps
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For the heading, Enter in your name and the targeted job title. if the position has an identification number, add it as well. For example:
- Your Name - Executive Director (#1234AB56)
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Remove any unique headings. Stick with the more conventional ones. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA) are three that you should definitely use. Others are Summary, Work Experience, and Education.Advertisement
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Don't add any fancy editing tricks. Just remember, if it doesn't show up in a text file, then you don't need it. Things like, columns, tables, text boxes, and other formatting help that a regular word processor can insert into the document.
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Remove any special characters or fancy bullets. They will just confuse the system.
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Stick with the basics. Don't use any of the fancier fonts. Some good ones to use are Arial, Georgia, Impact, Courier, Lucinda, Tahoma or Trebuchet.
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Make sure the paper or background is white and the print is black.
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Don't underline words. It can affect the legibility of letters that drop down, like g, j, y, p, etc.
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Check your resume for spelling errors. Once you have checked it, have a couple of friends proof it. Maybe even a frenemy or two.
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Put in the contact information in the body of your resume, not the header or footer.
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While you may save it in your current version of Windows, also make sure to save it in a *.doc or *.txt format, as well.
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Don't use templates. They tend to have all kinds of markup behind the scenes that you can't see, but the ATS can.
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Don't use page numbers.
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Write your employment history in the same format. Be sure to list it in reverse chronological order. Last job first.
- When writing your employment history, present the information for each employer in the same order, i.e., company name, title, city, state, and date, and in reverse chronological order.
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