The economic numbers are scary. According to the Associated Press, “the U.S. unemployment rate hit 14.7% in April, the highest rate since the Great Depression, and 20.5 million jobs vanished in the worst monthly loss on record. The figures are stark evidence of the damage the coronavirus has done to a now-shattered economy.”

I’m hearing from people who have been furloughed or laid off, from self-employed workers who are finding their income streams drying up or disappearing, and from others who worry that lay-offs are just around the corner. These worries are keeping people up at night, imagining the worst, that the recession will deepen into even darker economic times and jobs will be hard to find.

While it’s normal to worry about the future, especially when times are difficult, it’s important to know that, while job hunting during a recession is not an easy task, it’s not impossible.

Yes. A lot of people are out of work and looking for job.

Yes. There will be a lot of resumes submitted for every position.

Yes. That’s a lot of competition so you’ll need to work extra hard to prove yourself to be a great candidate.

But there is good news out there. Here are five myths about job hunting during difficult economic times.

How to create an ASCII or plain text resume and when you need to use one. Have you ever been asked to submit an ASCII or plain text resume for an onine job application? It’s a resume that’s been stripped of most formatting in order to be scanned by an applicant tracking system. An ASCII or plain text resume is an electronic resume in plain text that any type of computer or software can read.  Forget those lovely Pinterest worthy resume layouts. An ASCII resume is just plain ugly. But it gets your job history, skills and experience past the bots and gets the job done. 

ASCII (pronounced "askee") is an acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange.  ASCII text is used for entering (or pasting) your resume information into online submission forms and for pasting your resume into the body of an e-mail.

Due to the sheer volume of applications that are submitted to online job applications, most companies use a computer system called ATS - applicant tracking system, to scan resumes looking for keywords that match the job description. Converting your resume to ASCII before pasting it into an online job application form ensures it will display properly and be read correctly by the system. Fancy formatting, graphics, columns, unusual fonts and bullets may not be read correctly by the ATS - or even read at all.  Your resume may be rejected before even reaching the hiring manager. 

As a resume specialist, I look at a lot of resumes. Pinterest and online templates often encourage you to use lots of colors, graphics and attention seeking doo-dads. These resumes look great - they’re even Instagrammable. But are they the best option for landing an interview? Only if you’re applying for a job as a graphic designer or an artistl Otherwise, not so much.  Contrary to what you often see online, color blocks and the design layout are not the most important feature of your resume.  And even worse - those graphics and columns can actually hurt your chances of landing an interview. Yep. That’s right. All that stylized design can make things worse.

Are you planning to head back into the workforce after spending valuable years at home with your children?  How do you market yourself after spending the last few years up to your ears in diapers, juice boxes and math homework? You can’t even remember your last “real” job. How can you convince a corporate recruiter that you are employable, ready to work, and even excited about getting back into the 9-5?  First of all, don’t panic. You’ve got this.

Six Steps for Perfect Proofreading - Resumes, Cover Letters and other Very Important Documents. Learn how to proofread your own work, spot your common mistakes and make your document look like the smartest in the room.

Seven Elements for an Exceptional Resume

Here are the 7 sections for a resume that will highlight your skills and accomplishments. Begin by getting all this information listed in a document file. Don't worry about fonts or formatting or the number of pages yet. Just begin by making a simple list of all this information.

How do you highlight your accomplishments and skills so they are upfront and center when someone looks at your resume? Try using a summary of qualifications.

A summary of qualifications

After your name and contact information, that prime real estate at the top of your resume needs to be filled with a summary of qualifications. A qualifications summary is a customized tool that lists key achievements, skills, experience, and your qualifications that are most relevant to the position for which you are applying. It’s designed to draw the attention of the hiring manager and also helps to get your resume past the computer robots of the Applicant Tracking Systems if you’re applying for a job online. 

So you’re looking for a job? Maybe, it’s your first job out of college or university. Maybe, you’ve decided it’s time for a career change and are ready to move on. Maybe your company downsized and you no longer have a choice about finding a new job. Whatever your personal scenario, you’re going to need a resume.  

It's time to change your mindset about resumes. 

6 seconds. That’s the average amount of time a hiring manager takes to scan your resume and sort it into either the possibility pile or the trash bin. 

6 seconds. 

Hiring managers receive a average of 75 resumes for each position. For some jobs, the number is 100-200 or more resumes for each position. You’ve got 6 seconds to make sure your resume makes the first cut and doesn’t end up in the trash.