by Samira Belmekki, HerSuccess.com

Electronic resumés are an essential tool for both job seekers and employers in today’s job market. These days, more and more employers are asking candidates to submit their resumés online.

An effective E-resumé will get you to the next step in the hiring process. There are some key things you should know about submitting your resumé to comply with different software programs that employers may be using. Here are some general tips for submitting your online resumé.

1. Follow Instructions -- Submit your resumé in exactly the form that the prospective employer requests.
   
   
2. Email Address -- Always include your email address and keep it professional. Don't send an email from "[email protected]" or an email with too many numbers like "[email protected]" because it will probably be filtered and then deleted as spam.
   
   The Subject Line -- When responding to an advertisement, use the job title or job code cited in the advertisement. Refrain from putting punctuation in the subject line, don’t use capitalized words in the subject and don't use the words used by spammers, like "free," "great offer" etc. These are all "spam" alerts.
   
   
3. Use Keywords -- Employers seeking applicants are relying more on computers to manage and filter applicants’ resumés. Incorporate key words right from the employer’s job description so companies using keyword screening will shortlist your resumé for human scrutiny.
   
   
4. Make your resumé scanner-friendly -- Save your resumé in a text-editing program such as Notepad for Windows. Plain text (.txt) resumés are coded in ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) This is one of the most popular file formats and can easily be read by different computers across the Internet.
   
   
5. Remove graphics, they confuse scanners -- Avoid Bullets, use asterisks (*) instead, by the same token refrain from using underlined text, different font sizes and styles, italics, graphics, lines, borders, columns/tables.
   
   
6. Save resumé File Under Your Name -- Don’t save your resumé file as "resumé .doc", use your name as the title of your resumé file, e.g., "Barbara Smith, Web Marketing Professional"
   
   Protect your resumé -- Keep your Word resumé from being changed by making it a read-only document.
   
   © Samira Belmekki. All rights reserved.
   
   About the Author:

   Samira Belmekki is President and Founder of ForHerSuccess.com -- Canada’s leading Internet career management center for professional women in the GTA. For Her Success.com is an Internet employment website delivering premier employment services for companies seeking pre-screened professional help and a resource for professional women looking for a new position.

   For more information please visit www.forhersuccess.com