Online Recruiting Changing the Way Resumes are Prepared, Some Job Candidates May be Left Out in the Cold

Business Wire,  April 26, 2000  

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Business & Technology Editors

CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2000

MRI's Career Web Site BrilliantPeople.com Offers Free Internet

Resume Template to Help Candidates Post Effectively

Online job recruiting has significantly changed the way resumes are prepared and presented, making the job search harder for candidates who have not changed with the times, report recruiters at BrilliantPeople.com, the career web site of Management Recruiters International (MRI), the world's largest search and recruitment organization and a subsidiary of staffing and outsourcing leader CDI Corp. (NYSE:CDI).

"Just as the Internet has affected virtually everything today, it's also changed the way job candidates prepare their resumes for presentation online," said Neil Fox, Chief Information Officer at MRI. "Long gone are the days when resumes were vague about specific experiences, and relied heavily on job titles and overview descriptions of work and skills. Today, the more specific a resume -- with references to specific skills, abilities and industry experience -- the better. How the resume is actually presented online is also important. Job candidates should be constantly updating their resumes and tailoring them to specific job opportunities."

In order to take the guesswork out of resume preparation, job candidates can turn to BrilliantPeople.com -- click on "webify yourself" under Career Resources -- for tips about how to write a resume and sample templates of web-friendly resumes. There is, for example, a plain text resume template that is preferred by many job boards.

Candidates should also profile themselves on the site by setting up a confidential personal account in just minutes that allows them to showcase their skills, background and experience. Candidates can then submit their resumes and set up "job agents" --smart electronic utilities-- which e-mail job opportunities that fit their profile. The site currently averages 20,000 visitors a day.

Fox cites the top things candidates can do to make their resumes stand out online:

- Use key words or terms (especially nouns) that highlight your skills and
experience, since many online job sites use search engine technology to do
keyword searches of resumes.

- Customize your resume for specific job descriptions. If a job requires
knowledge of Linux, use that word a few times in your resume.

- Eliminate the "bells and whistles" such as fancy fonts, boldface or
underlining. They don't work online, so keep it simple graphically.

- Keep it short. Long resumes are the kiss of death online so don't feel the
need to cover your entire career and what you did during your summer vacations
in college.

- Don't e-mail your resume as an attachment to prospective employers. It's one
more step for someone who's already inundated by too many resumes. Paste your
resume into the e-mail.

- Be project-oriented and cite measurable accomplishments, such as how you
increased revenues or cut costs on a particular project.

- Don't spam your resume everywhere. Be selective.

BrilliantPeople.com is the career web site of MRI. Unlike any other existing job board or career site, BrilliantPeople.com offers job seekers direct contact with and advice from a network of 4,600 recruiters organized into virtual villages serving specific industries. These recruiters actively partner with job candidates and companies to create one of the most powerful on-line recruiting spaces in the industry today.

Management Recruiters International, Inc. (www.BrilliantPeople.com), is the world's largest search and recruitment organization with 1,000 offices worldwide. Based in Cleveland, MRI has system-wide billings of $575 million and places 35,000 people in jobs annually. MRI is a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based CDI Corp. (www.cdicorp.com), one of the world's largest staffing and outsourcing service providers. CDI increases the productivity and competitiveness of its Fortune 1,000 customers through customized technical, information technology, professional and administrative staffing and outsourcing solutions. CDI employs nearly 32,000 people and generated more than $1.6 billion in revenue in 1999.

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