The First Person to Review Your Resume Might be a Robot

Tips for Writing a Resume That Will Impress a Machine

If you think the person reading your resume is human, you might be way off.

More and more companies and government offices are relying on software and testing to screen applications. Odds are, if you don't pass the Robot, a real live human will never even see your resume. I did not realize how pervasive the practice was until I heard an episode of On Point with Tom Ashbrook last week titled The High-Tech Hiring Market of Today. (Listen to it! It's 47 minutes well spent!)

Listening to this episode, I was reminded of an experience I had sitting on a career panel. I was one of four people who were discussing internships, how to find them, and advice for getting the most out of them. Of course, resumes came up as a topic of interest. I shared what I know:

• Use keywords from the job posting throughout your resume and cover letter 
• Focus on what you accomplished, not just what you did
• Demonstrate initiative, leadership, and perseverance as much as you can

But most importantly: keywords, Keywords, KEYWORDS! When a company uses software to evaluate your resume, the best that software can do is a content search to compare how closely your resume's words match the job description. You need to get past the computer gatekeeper before a human will look at your resume. Only when a human has your resume will your accomplishments, initiative, leadership, and perseverance matter.

One gentleman on the panel with me was in the workforce for about 20 years, and his story was shocking. He found a job description that sounded perfect. He had the right experience. He had the correct knowledge. He felt like the position was written for him. Instead of sending a resume, he put his name and contact info on the top of a new document and copy/pasted the job description verbatim underneath! He got past the computer, and when a human actually saw what he did, he was called in to interview, and he got the position.

This only worked because he really was an ideal candidate for the job. He knew exactly what he was getting into, and he had the experience to back up his bold move in an interview. 

I'm not advocating doing what this gentleman did, but underscoring the importance of getting past the computer and tailoring your resume to pick up on keywords in the job description. 

Think about it: If a human was the one reviewing 100 resumes and came across one that was a copy of the job description, do you think it would have been taken seriously next to all of those other applicants? Impossible to know, but I doubt it.

P.S. My small organization does not have access to software to prune the gobs of resumes we receive. I read them all. Even so, when I'm reviewing dozens of resumes, the ones that bubble to the top are those that are the most closely tailored to the position description. Even when there's no robot involved, keywords matter!