DAXTRA Friendly CV's

For those new to recruitment, the above heading may mean nothing.

Basically as recruitment companies become squeezed on their margins, they look for ways to reduce costs. One of the easiest ways to do this is by automatically posting CV's received directly into a database to then be searched with a search tool. One of the most commonly used programs for this is Daxtra.

So, how does the recent explosion in the use of CV Automation software affect the average job hunter, graduate or contractor?

The important thing to remember is that all it is doing is uploading a CV into a database and checking for duplication. So if you have an email address or telephone number that keeps changing, your CV may be held various times by an agency. That means that is not such a big problem as long as the agency is smart enough when it comes to cleaniong up its database, to delete the old CV and not the new. So try to maintain at leaset an email account for your job hunting activities. Ad a very strong recommendation, is do not use a company account. If your email address is john@abc.com, when you leave and a john joins later, and he starts receiving job offers and emails to confirm you salary details, personal details etc, people can get upset.

Another key thing to think of is how the agency is going to look for your CV. There are many tools and applications, but the majority work the same way. They look for keywords and then score them. Scoring can be as simple as the number of times it is mentioned, however some programs are getting quite complex in their search methodology.

So if you are a Project Manager you want to call yourself a project manager in your job description and title. You want to avoid abbreviations such as Proj. Man.  Also if you worked overseas but your CV is in English, use the English equivalent.

There are many job titles that overlap. So if you work in procurement, make sure you also use the word purchasing. Likewise, a designer should mention all the dimensions and tools used. PDMS, CAD, 3D, 2D etc. There is no harm in repeating the tools used in each description. It will get you scored higher and brought to the front of the queue. You and the agency can modify your CV before submittal to pretty it up, but first you have to be noticed and contacted.

Another important aspect is contact. If you have gmail blocked at work, don't leave a gmail account and a home phone number only. After 2 unsuccessful attempts to contact you, you will put to the back of the queue. I know it doesn't relate to the search process directly but goes back to having consistency in your CV details.

So in short, a good practice would be to imagine you are going to use google to find your CV on the internet. Would words would you type in to find it. What are the keywords that describe yourself.

If you can, mention client sites, employers and any associated companies you worked with. Often when looking for a type of engineer, we will look for a person who worked on a project or for a particular client. If I am recruiting for Fluor in Chile, I will search for people who have worked in Bechtel. If your CV states "Major EPC", it wont show up. 

Finally, if you work in an EPC and wont to carry on, mention EPC where you can and visa versa with Owner-Operator. The profiles are completely different and there are many junior consultants who wil not recognize a company name and be able to differentiate. Especially if your past employer was overseas.

A good article to read on the above is:

How To Get Your Resume Past Computer Screening Tactics in the WSJ