ASCIi Resumes

ASCII resumes carry the same prohibitions as the scannable resume. They are used in the same manner. The difference is that they are not scanned--they are read into databases. This means that even your font choice is gone.

Keywords

This section is the same as the scannable resume.

Put in an entire section with nothing but keywords under the heading of skills. Keywords include every program you have used, every language you know, and all the job skills you possess. Research the positions you want and compile a list of the words you see repeated in the ads.

Don't limit yourself to the obvious. Even job titles vary--tech writing positions can be listed as information designers, content masters, editors, project managers, and more. Jargon is important--you will probably come up with a number of skills that are listed which you already possess.

After you have the keywords in en masse, make sure you tie them into the rest of your resume. No one is going to believe you have the skills unless you can prove that you developed them somewhere. Don't lie, but relate any applicable experience to technical writing.

Style

Formatting reverts back to what you could do with your typewriter. Caps are all you have for emphasis. White space is controlled by the spacebar and the enter key. Use left justification for everything.

Definitely stress keywords and make sure to print out a copy of the finished product so you can appreciate your modern word processor!

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© 1999, Paul Dunham