(March 1, 2009) – When I was a kid looking for a job, all I had to do was go down to the state employment agency and talk to a counselor.  The counselor made a phone call, I went over to the business, filled out a one page application, and started work that afternoon.

Things aren’t that way anymore.  Anyone searching for a job knows the hours of frustration pouring over computer forms, clicking “finish” and having the application go off into cyberspace without receiving any acknowledgment at all.  Most of the time, you never, ever hear a peep from the company.

I have a friend who works in IT and helps design computer programs for Human Resources departments.  He says your resume must get past a thorough computer screening before it is ever seen by a human being.  He advises you to look at the job advertisement, pick out the exact words used to describe the duties and qualifications for the job, then make absolutely sure those exact words are included in the resume.

The computer first screens for those words, and if they are not there, the computer never refers your resume to a human being, no matter how qualified you are.

Keep looking – there’s a job out there somewhere.