Story came to me yesterday that a person’s resume had been rejected by a company’s SPAM filter, citing ‘foul’ language was included in the document. The horrified job seeker couldn’t believe it and went carefully through his document to find Magna Cum Laude in his education section as the evil culprit. A typical example of where automated filters without human intervention can get within 2 steps of madness.

And of course, as you thought there would be, there’s more. Research tells me that many job seekers’ resumes aren’t getting through to employer’s desks because many of the aggressive SPAM filters routinely search and reject documents for overusing the same words and phrases. Those who have fallen in the DIY trap and written their own resumes are particularly at risk using the imaginative phrases of “responsible for” and “duties included”. (That’s why professional resume writers get the big bucks–we know different words!).

Nobody could be more attached to technology than me; but really somebody needs to work on the refinement of these filters! Madness!

Some action you can take:
Here is a good place to start: http://www.lyris.com/resources/contentchecker/ the Lyris content checker will tell you whether you have words in your resume that may be withheld in a company’s SPAM filter.

According to the experts, try to avoid words like free, extend, online, unbelievable, opportunity, and new. You should also avoid using exclamation points.

Finally, set your spam filter to high on your email software and send yourself your resume — both pasted in an email and as an attachment. Does it land in your inbox, or straight into your Spam folder?

Don’t forget – check your SPAM filter regularly. Just as your emails can end up in SPAM – so can email from recruiters and employers, and you don’t want to miss the opportunity of a lifetime!