WEBVTT

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Not only should job applicants
tailor their resumes to the

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industries and companies in
which they are seeking

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positions, but they should
also tailor their resumes to

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the process by which they will
be screened for interviews.

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Nowadays, that may mean
creating a keyword resume.

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In the old days,
(a few years ago)

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when an applicant mailed a
resume - especially an

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unsolicited resume --
to a company, the people in

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the personnel office would
spend about 30 seconds at the

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most reading the resume and
cover letter.

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They would then file your
resume according to the

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position for which you applied.

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Many times, your resume would
never make it back out of the

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file for a hiring
manager to see.

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Inefficient? Yes.
But was there a better way?

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Not until recently.

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In the high-tech world of
today, most of the larger

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companies and many of the
smaller ones are using the

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available technology to help
them screen and select

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candidates more effectively
and efficiently by using

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resume tracking software.
Software systems now

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assist the companies
in searching for the most

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qualified candidates for
available positions.

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By using a resume tracking
system, the company is more

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likely to be able to find
your resume when it needs to.

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If you know (or even think)
that your resume will be read

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by a computer rather than or
in addition to a human, it's

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a good idea to prepare a key
word or computer-friendly resume.

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The easier and quicker your
resume gets into the system

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at a company, the more likely
it is that you will be

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called in for an interview.
The best way to find out if

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the company you're applying
to uses a resume tracking

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system is to call its
personnel office directly.

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The most important advice I
can offer you regarding these

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keyword resumes is that you
should create them in a way

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that the computer scanning
them can read them easily.

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This means using standard
fonts (such as Arial or

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Times Roman) in ten or
twelve point sizes and

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avoiding Italics.

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At the top of your resume,
just beneath your name and

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address, it�s a good idea to
include a summary of your

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skills, which has the key
words that the software may

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be looking for.

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For example, if you�re
applying for a management

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position, use the standard
management buzzwords in

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addition to using keywords
for your unique qualifications.

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When the computer operator
or interviewer goes into the

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resume database and searches
for someone to fill the

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open management position,
it will then be more

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likely that your resume
will produce a hit.

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If you are responding to an
advertisement, be sure to

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include some of the ad's
skill words in your resume.

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As always, you may wish to
prepare a different resume for

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each job you're applying for.