What is Jobscan?
Jobscan is an online resume analysis tool that works on two fronts. The tool both a) instantly measures how well your resume matches with a job description and b) recommends specific actions for improving that resume. The technology powering Jobscan’s engine is unique in that it recognizes thousands of skills across multiple sectors and job functions. Jobscan saves resume tailoring time by 75%, while increasing interview chances by 300%.
Who Created Jobscan, and Why?
James Hu created Jobscan for a simple but important purpose: to take the pain out of job searching. As Hu says, “I created [Jobscan] because I was a job seeker myself and felt resume tailoring to be time-consuming. The resume screening process felt like a black hole. Job seekers are underserved, and the job search process shouldn’t be this painful.” Hu built Jobscan initially to automate part of the keyword identification process, but since then the company has conducted in-depth research about how Applicant Tracking Systems work and shared these findings with job seekers.
How Jobscan Differs From Other Tools?
There are other tools that can identify the most used words in a job description, such as word cloud generators like Tagcrowd or Wordle.net. But unlike Jobscan, these tools can only identify one-worded terms. As a result skills such as “Project Management” get broken up into “Project” and “Management,” eliminating useful information for the jobseeker.
Additionally, because every resume analysis yields different results, using Jobscan is a personalized experience. Receiving individualized feedback for each resume scanned means you can expertly tailor every job application to suit the employer’s needs. Jobscan is simple and easy to use. Here’s a quick 5-step guide to using the tool:
Step 1: Scan Your Resume
Go to the Jobscan home page. In the two text boxes, paste your resume and the job posting you’re interested in, respectively. The longer the job description, the easier it will be for Jobscan to parse out skills and keywords for analysis.
Then click the “Scan” button! Instantly, Jobscan’s analysis tool scans both bodies of text and produces a resume match rate on a scale of 0 to 100%.
Step 2: Examine the Match Report for Skills and Keywords
Look at the keyword and skills Match Report underneath the overall resume match rate. Be sure to note which keywords you’ve successfully included and which ones are missing. The more frequently a skill or keyword appears, the more important it is-and the more weight an Applicant Tracking System will place upon it.
Step 3: Review Optimization Suggestions
In addition to providing you with an instant resume match rate, a Jobscan Match Report also offers specific resume optimization tips. Jobscan’s optimization suggestions may include:
*Articulate measurable results, such as “Increased sales by 43% over 18 months” or “Decreased delivery time by 43 hours a week resulting in a savings of $145,000 per month.”
*Pay attention to plurals. Most Applicant Tracking Systems don’t consider singular and plural forms of the same word to be equivalent. Jobscan not only helps you identify the singular-plural problem points, but also has a “switch” feature so you can automatically see how much your match rate will change should you use the other form of the word.
*Focus on “hard skills.” Because recruiters are more likely to search resumes for hard skills (such as “SalesForce,” “Consulting,” and “donor management”), Jobscan gives greater weight to these keywords when calculating your resume match rate.
Step 4: Rework your resume
Once you’ve reviewed the entire Match Report, start incorporating each type of suggestion: skills, keywords, and optimization. Echo the exact wording from the job description in some phrases on your resume, but not so much so that you appear to be stuffing in as many keywords as possible. Remember the Six Tips to Get Your Resume Past an ATS!
Step 5: Re-scan Your Resume
Finally, re-scan your resume against the same job description until your match rate reaches at least 80%. A resume that achieves this match rate triples your chances of being selected for an interview!
