Don’t let the “Robots” reject your resume. How to write your resume so it will be accepted by Applicant Tracking Systems.

Applying for work? You need to write a robot friendly resume. If you have not encountered an on-line job application where you are asked to upload your resume, you are in the minority. It is common in 2016 for on-line job boards, recruiters and companies large and small to use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to manage job applications. The Applicant Tracking System will automatically transfer the information from your resume, populate a database, and match candidates to positions.

The ATS is a great tool, but you could inadvertently eliminate your resume from the competition if you are not careful. Follow these formatting tips to Write Robot Friendly Resume:

• Use keywords from the job advertisement that relate to your experience
• Name and contact information should be at the top of the page, but not inside a “header”
• Include a “Profile” section with a bullet list of experience, skills and qualifications – make sure to use keywords from the job advertisement
• Use simple fonts such as Arial, Tahoma, Times Roman, Verdana
• Use standard titles – Objective, Profile, Work Experience, Skills, Education
• Use standard format for work experience, beginning with the most recent – company name, job title, dates, description of accomplishments
• If you have an uncommon job title make sure you change it to a more familiar title
• Use proper capitalization, punctuation and spelling
• Word or Text file is better than PDF
• Don’t use headers or footers
• Don’t use images, graphics, logos or tables
• Don’t use acronyms or abbreviations on their own (always use both the short form and the entire word)
• Save your resume file with your name and date. This will help both you and the recruiter keep track of your most recent resume. The most common resume file name used by people is “resume” – wonder why your resume might be misplaced?
• Final word of advice to Write Robot Friendly Resume  don’t use fancy formatting, keep it simple.

It is important that you review your resume before applying to a job. Make sure you include relevant keywords from the job advertisement. Only use keywords that relate to your experience. The ATS will use “keywords” to match candidates to jobs. Don’t be tempted to fill your resume with keywords that don’t relate to your actual job experience and skills. This will only frustrate the recruiter and damage your reputation as a candidate.

If you are interested in a job and feel you are a good match, it is always a good idea to follow up  with a phone call. Don’t leave your fate with the “Robots”.  The ATS is a great tool, but you could inadvertently eliminate your resume from the competition if you are not careful.

Do you have a resume question? Leave a comment here on Fusion’s Career Planning Advice Blog. 

Job Interviews can be tough. If you want to be in the driver’s seat and control the outcome of your next job interview you need to be prepared to answer behavioural interview questions.

Many job seekers may have heard about behavioural based interviewing, but may not have encountered it. Employers use this technique to uncover real examples of your work accomplishments, skills, habits, management style, initiative and more.  

What is a Behavioural Job Interview?

The behavioural interview question requires you to give a real world example, with details, of how you accomplished a goal or managed a difficult situation. You are being asked to “Prove It!”. The theory behind the behavioural job interview is that past behaviour is a good predictor of future behaviour. Based on this theory, a hiring manager will ask you a question that usually begins with the phrase “Tell me about a time when….” .

The interviewer is looking for a specific example from your work experience. They want to know…

• What was the situation?
• What did you do?
• What was the result?
• Who did you report to?

This final probing question is designed to help the interviewer confirm the details with your manager. The interviewer may want to follow up with this person during a reference check. 

These interviews can be a little unsettling if you are not prepared for this type of question.

What is the best method for tackling these questions?

Be prepared. Last week, the Fusion Career Planning Advice Blog was about the importance of using storytelling during an interview – Interview Tips – Tell Your Story. You need to know your story and practice it, in order to answer behavioural based questions. Review your resume in detail – the skills, abilities, experience, and accomplishments. Be prepared to give specific examples of how you managed many different situations. Revew the job advertisement / description and focus on the key requirements. Come up with your own set of behavioural interview questions and then craft answers to these questions. Make sure your answers are detailed.

What should you do during an interview if you can’t come up with a real example?

Many people start to answer these types of questions by saying “I would…”. This is not what the interviewer is looking for. They don’t want to know what you “would do” if faced with this situation, they want to know about a specific time when you were faced with this situation and what did you do. It is ok to use a small example. Not every answer needs to relate to a major accomplishment. If you can’t think of anything it is best to be honest. Don’t make something up.

Good luck navigating the Behavioural Job Interview!