Formatting a Scannable Resume

To set up your resume for scanning, develop the content as you normally would for your choice of format (chronological, functional, or combination resume). Then follow these steps to adjust your resume for scanning:

Step 1: Be sure you have keywords in your resume.

Step 2: Use scannable characters. The resume scanning system’s OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software must be able to “read” the text on your paper resume. The following guidelines will help you create a scanner-friendly document:

• Use only the most common and clear fonts such as Times, Times New Roman, Palatino, Garamond, Arial, and Helvetica, because these are usually scanner-friendly (OCR will recognize the characters properly).
• Develop your text in font sizes of 10, 11, 12, 13, or 14 points — no smaller and no larger.
• Do not use italics.
• Do not underline words or phrases.
• Do not use bold (unless you know for sure that the scanning system accepts bold type).
• Substitute straight quotes for curly quotes.

Step 3: Emphasize words by putting them in all caps. Use all capital letters for important words rather than using bold, underline, italics, or extra-large type, so that when the image of your resume is seen by the hiring manager, those words will stand out.

Step 4: Use simple formatting. Keep the formatting of your resume very plain:

• Do not use any vertical or horizontal lines, borders, shaded bars, or boxes.
• Change bullet points or other special symbols to standard keyboard ones such as asterisks, dashes, or plus signs.
• You can use indents, columns, and centered text to add visual appeal because these will not hinder scanning.

Step 5: Print your resume on plain white paper. You want to create a high contrast between your type and the background for the most accurate scanning possible. The best way to do this is to:

• Use only black ink.
• Print your resume on plain white paper, not gray or buff.

Don’t fax your resume. Fax machines lessen the integrity of the print, making it harder for the OCR to recognize characters.

Here is Joseph Lynch’s original hardcopy resume, followed by his resume prepared for resume scanning.

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