One of the benefits I have in helping people with their job search is that I come from a recruiting background. Fifteen plus years of recruiting and hiring gives me a solid background of the industry that I am able to pass on to job seekers.
I recently interviewed Jonathan Ciampi, President of Preptel.com. His background prior to founding the company was working with applicant tracking systems, so he also has industry experience. He now concentrates on helping job seekers optimize their resumes for applicant tracking systems.
The services at Preptel are for a fee, but there is a free “Resumeter”, which will help you to see weaknesses in your resume with a 30-day trial period.
Preptel has done quite a bit of due diligence and testing of their systems. Jonathan told me that more than 40 percent of resumes never get seen and that this is an acceptable amount for companies since they receive so many resumes.
We also talked quite a bit about the way computers read resumes. He said in 2007 the systems switched from a recruiter putting in the keywords they were looking for, to the computers picking up key phrases and looking for rare words that are unique to that job description. What this means for you is that you need to not only look for key words, but key phrases as well.
I would encourage you to give Preptel’s 7-day free trial a run. If your resume is not getting you interviews, this may be a great tool to help in the process. The site will also look at your LinkedIn profile as well.
Questions? Write me.
sandi@christianhelp.org
407-834-4022
Fax: 407-260-2949
Mail: Ask Sandi C/O Christian HELP
450 Seminola Blvd, Casselberry, FL 32707
Our goal is to answer many of the questions you may have about your employment search, resumes, networking, and promotion opportunities.
Note to employers: If you e-mail your job leads to cfec@cfec.org, we will share your job openings with Christian HELP clients.
Until next time-
Sandi
Sandi Vidal is the Executive Director for Christian HELP and the Central Florida Employment Council. She has more than 15 years of Recruiting and Human Resources Experience. Visit the website at www.cfec.org.