How to beat Resume Screening Software

Who hasn't come across a few opportunities where they were screened by those software programs? It's frustrating right? Here's a few tips on how to beat 'em.

Try calling the company and "working the building" (sales term for finagling your way from one person to the next until you find the decision maker) so you can figure out what keywords their looking for.

Contact a friend who works there and ask what the process is, what keywords they're looking for, etc.

Don't have a friend there? Make a friend who works there, by commenting on their blogs, websites, FB, etc.

I have done all of the above and got a call from the companies with those blasted scanning software programs.

SIDEOUT: Ask yourself, why are you just sending resumes into companies? The best way to get a job is through your personal network. So start networking.


Note: Those software programs can have some term recognition flaws, as well.

He got an Interview!

Hey everybody. One of the gentleman that inspired my last post Do NOT put company specific job titles on your resume!, got an interview!


We customized his resume with job titles and content to match the job description and he got an interview, what do you know. To be honest, this guy has been awesome to work with. He is senior in experience and bordering rockstar in his field of expertise. Yet, he was humble enough to take suggestions based on my knowledge of both my client and my industry. I would love to work with more candidates like him.


It's great when 2 people collaborate and their expertise yields results. In this case an interview. At the end of the day that's the purpose of a resume: to get you an interview.

Here's a great relevant video from Steve Smith at freeresumetips.net: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xW8rDTNQahg#at=398

Create a "Perfect Match" Resume

The reason I started this post was because I see so many resumes that have an "objective" section. What most people put in that section is not very compelling. So I asked myself, should anyone ever have an "objective" section?

The short answer NO. I've never seen any value in putting what your objective is.

Reality check: NOBODY CARES what YOUR objective is! Most companies only care what THEIR objective is when they look at your resume. Translation: when they read your resume they want to see what you are going to do for them. So how do you acheive that?

Only include information on your resume if it adds value! The only way to know if it adds value is to know what their looking for. I've gone over this in former posts. Basically, just do some research online, over the phone, etc.

One simple way to add value at the beginning of your resume is to replace your "objective" section with what I call the position specific section. Here's what it looks like.

Technical Support Specialist

• Customer service focus - 4 years experience 90% positive reviews from end user
• Network Administration - 5 years experience handling up to 30 servers at a time
• Sales background - 2 years experience building client base by 20% for local IT company

Now let's look at the job description:

Company X is looking for a Technical Support Specialist. Qualified candidates must have performed network administration with multiple client servers. The successful candidate will also have knowledge of hardware and the ability to troubleshoot hardware and network problems. Most importantly the successful candidate will be able to complete the required tasks with a customer service focus. Some "soft" sales background is a plus with the idea that as you service the end client you will be able to bring in more business through referrals.

Wow! Do you think this guy will get the job? Put aside the fact that this guy seems to be a perfect fit. The question is why does he appear to be a perfect fit. It's becuase instead of letting the employer sift through the overload of information on his/her resume, this person simply looked at what the employer posted in the job description. First the resume has the job title next it has the bullet points that outline the person's experience that matches with the job description.. It's that simple: if you leave it up to someone else to determine if your a match it won't happen more often than not. Take the reigns and show them that you are a perfect match.

Stop Sending Out Generic Resumes!

Update: I've decided to repost this article. When a candidate loses out on a position because they submitted a generic resume and chose not to customize it specifically geared toward the position I feel bad but at the end of the day it could have been prevented. Put your ego aside and do what a consultant does: appease the client by talking their language. That does not mean you are being fake or being someone you're not. When I lived in Brazil I spoke Portuguese, my true personality still came through. If it can be done across languages it can be done across company or personality languages.

Customize your resume for each position:

When you have a skill set that you have developed over 10, 20, 30 years the opportunities tend to be limited. The more niche your skill set, the more limited the opportunities are in most cases. Therefore, you must take the time to review the job description and tailor your resume, accordingly. No matter how much experience you have, I guarantee you will increase the response rate on your resume by customizing it.

Here are a few suggestions:

Have a "relevant experience" section. In this section you will DETAIL your ACCOMPLISHMENTS for each position that you've held which relates specifically to the job for which you're applying. Get specific here. Think of your past relevant experiences and extract your accomplishments and duties for each position to match the requirements and job duties from the job description. Get specific and quantify your achievements.

Another useful section is a general work timeline section, which has only the company name, your title at that company and dates (specify years only). This section allows you to list your experience chronologically in case there are gaps in the “relevant experience” section.

Take it a step further. Go on their website, call their sales guys, and interview their receptionist so that you can learn the terminology and culture of the company. Many companies use spyder tools that scan your resume and the more your resume matches their language the more likely it will be found by the “spyder” or by a recruiter for that matter.

This extra step will take you out of your comfort zone and will set you apart from the competition. You will already talk their language, so when you arrive for the interview it will feel like a match for you and for them.

Do you get enough calls on your resume?

Recently, a relative of a friend contacted me to review his resume. He said he wasn’t getting the type of response that he wanted.

First problem – he wanted to be a Software Engineer yet all the project titles he worked on lead recruiters to believe he was a QA Engineer. You can guess that he got a lot of calls for QA work but nothing for software engineer work. He was in fact a software engineer, he just happened to work on some projects to help develop QA software. Moral of the story: Not knowing what recruiters are looking for or just flat out mislabeling your experiences will cause the wrong kind of calls to come in.

Second problem – he wasn’t getting enough calls. He was not leaving anything to the imagination on his resume; he just through all the details at them. In sales we call that throwing up on the client. Yes you have to be noticed and you do that by giving the crowd what they want to hear. So put that you know C# and JAVA languages on your resume. If you want to be nice to the recruiters you can spell it out, but then again if you’re a marginal candidate (meaning you’re close to the qualification minimums) then your resume might be discarded without you knowing.

If it were me, I’d want a phone call. Especially if you have been job hunting for a while, you’ll appreciate a conversation. So tell a good story that is captivating and makes them want to know more, instead of a boring detailed account.