Advice for electronic resume submissions

Career Hub has an succinct and common sense post today on keywords in electronic resumes. Since almost all resumes, which includes every resume you send in as an email attachment, are electronic, it is a good idea to think about your keywords.

Searching for a resume in a resume bank is just like searching in a search engine for a particular results. The searcher creates a search string and the person who has most of the Power Ball numbers gets pulled first and offered an interview slot. Therefore, the more numbers you match on the greater chance you have on getting pulled from the data bank. And you know the numbers they are looking for: read through the posting and, if you have a skill or experience with some item, add it to the text of your resume or cover letter. Required are most important, but the desired/preferred traits will also get you in.

• Echo what the post asks for. If it is email, or a particular library talent, such as collection development or a type of software, such as Sirsi, do your best to include these keywords somewhere in your text.
• Name your degree in full and then use the abbreviation. This is also true of affiliations with professional associations (Student member, American Library Association (ALA) and New Members Round Table (NMRT))
• Be specific. Don't just put Office, what parts of Microsoft Office are you familiar with? Are you fluent or functional in Spanish, and what does that mean?

Follow any other instructions, such as submit references when applying, to the letter.