The electronic age has changed the way we job search and how employers hire, so it’s important to develop an electronic resume. An electronic resume, or e-resume, is submitted via e-mail or to a website, or posted on the Internet as a Web page. Many employers will use scanning software searching for keywords as posted in the job advertisement. With as many as 54% of companies posting jobs ONLY on their websites, it is important to have the type of resume they want to see. Online resumes also produce the highest interview rate.

The format of an electronic resume is very simple. In this type of resume, pretty formatting, interesting fonts and layouts are not used. Your document is saved in plain text only so that the scanning software can do its job. You can create an e-resume easily from your current, “cosmetic”, or paper resume.

To create an e-resume, you need to save it in text format, either ASCII Rich Text or plain text. This can very often be accomplished in the saving of your document – when you click “Save as”, you will notice in the dialogue box a choice at the bottom, to “Save as Type”. This drop-down menu gives you several options, look for either plain text or rich text.

The Plain Text or Text Only style is best used when transferring resumes across computer networks. This type of resume will have no formatting besides using ALL CAPS for titles, and using either an asterisk (*) or a hyphen (-) to bullet lists.

Rich Text resumes have the advantage of being able to use bold and underline, and are popular because of their compatibility across word processors.

Another type of e-resume, the Keyword resume, is often used by high-tech companies or online recruiters as it can be scanned automatically for keywords, nouns and phrases that highlight technical and professional areas of expertise, industry-related jargon, projects, achievements, etc. Make sure you follow the job advertisement or job description VERY closely – if the ad says you need “3 years experience in network administration”, your statement should say exactly the same thing. The scanning software may reject a resume, for example, if it alternatively stated “experience in coordinating network functions”

Before submitting any resume by e-mail, always send it to yourself or a friend first to find out how it will look to the receiver. This gives you a last chance to make any final adjustments.

Click here to see how one client’s electronic resume compares to his paper resume.

For more help, drop by our Resource Centre for books and examples of electronic resumes, and check out our Paperless Job Search workshop.