How To Optimize Your Resume for a Computer

If you are looking for a job, it is scary out there. One IT firm had to cull through 50000 resumes for 50 jobs. In February, the U.S. economy created 3.5 million job openings yet 13 million unemployed. The odds are so stacked against you. Then, there is age and other types of discrimination that is subtle that any employer uses to cull through applicants. Then, there are millions that are unemployed for over a year that may have the skills but because of the "stigma" attached, they are the first to be rejected.

Most large firms use computers to cull through the resumes received and only those in the top 10-20% are sent on to humans to further evaluate. This is assuming that the employers create accurate job descriptions as to what the person actually does most of the time, not a top heavy with skills that are nice to have, but not really needed.

The more matches the computer gets from your resume, the more relevance your resume is on the list. Computers want to see job experience rather than accomplishments. If your resume is in a spreadsheet, forget it, it cannot be read. For a good computer-readable resume, make sure it follows this format:

Company name, job title, dates and description of duties. If this sequence is not used, it will likely confuse most readers.