Classic Resume Search FAQs

The keyword match score is based on the search terms (words or phrases) that you enter on the search page, among other criteria. Resumes move up the list if they have:

1. More instances of the search terms entered.

2. Search terms that appear in relatively few other resumes.

3. Search terms closer together in the resume’s text.

Keywords are words, phrases, and terms to describe technical and professional experience, locations and company names. Using keywords is an effective way to search for words, phrases and acronyms contained in a seeker’s resume (e.g., UNIX, programmer, SAP, sales, COBOL, human resources). How you create your search string will influence your search results. Below are a few ways you can define your keyword search terms using Boolean operators for a more effective resume search. There is a 500 character limit in the keyword box.

Use AND between terms to search for resumes that include all surrounding terms. For example, UNIX AND programmer will return only resumes that include both terms. If you don’t separate your terms, (e.g., UNIX programmer), AND is used as the default.

Use OR between terms to search for resumes that contain either word surrounding it. For example, UNIX OR programmer will return resumes that have either term. Using OR can be useful when there is more than one word that describes a desired search term.

Use ” ” (quotation marks) around multiple terms to search for resumes that include the term included in quotes. For example, “UNIX programmer” will return resumes that include that specific term, rather than separate occurrences of the two words.

To find a resume by a Job Seeker’s name:

1. Go to the Resume Search page.
2. Change the Search By Date to Today and All Resumes.
3. Enter the Job Seeker’s name in the keyword search field.
4. Click Search and the system will locate and display the resume (provided it is still searchable).

To find a resume by its number:

1. Go to the Resume Search page.
2. Change the Search By Date to Today and All Resumes.
3. Enter the resume number in the keyword search field.
4. Click Search and the system will locate and display the resume (provided it is still searchable).

Yes, you can! Power Resume Search has two versatile search options. You can use our Semantic Search which intuitively searches for related terms and concepts, or you can switch to Classic Search to run a search using Boolean keywords. Either way, you can expect to find the best candidates for the job. For more information about Boolean Logic, check out our article.

Yes! You can save your search and receive an email notification when new candidate matches are found. It’s easy! On the left side of your search results page, click “Save search” under your criteria and follow the onscreen prompts to complete your set up.

As many as you want! You can even save some of your searches for easy access in the future. Keep in mind that you can save up to 10 searches with Classic Resume Search. You can view and manage your saved searches from the top of the page via the My Candidates menu.

You can check your inventory at any time. Sign in to your account and click on “My Products” at the top of the page. The page will show you the inventory that is available company-wide. You will see the number of views purchased, used and remaining, as well as the start and expiration dates.

Yes, just leave the location field blank to search the entire country. This is a wonderful strategy to really extend you candidate pool for remote positions.

If you have purchased Monster Resume Search there are some things that may prevent you from conducting a search:

Your inventory may be depleted. To see if this is the problem check your available inventory. Here are the instructions:

1. Click Your Account from the main navigation menu
2. Choose Inventory Detail
3. The Resume Views (remaining) field must have available inventory. If none remains please contact you Monster Sales Representative to discuss your inventory needs.

Clearing Cache and Cookies

Clearing cache and cookies correct most issues and is a good first step in troubleshooting.

You may see this message if you improperly log out of your account. For example, if you close your browser without logging out, the system will assume your session is active and will not let you log back in. This message will also appear when another user is logged into your account (on another computer) and is searching for resumes.

Did you log out of resume search last time, or do you ‘x’ out of the browser window instead?

Most resume search access issues can be solved by clearing your cache and cookies. To accomplish this please review our article on the topic.

If clearing your cache and cookies doesn’t work you will need to wait until the system resets your account, or contact a Customer Service Representative at 1-800-MONSTER (1-800-666-7837).

Note: To log out of your Monster account click on the “Sign Out” button found on the upper right-hand corner of the site. You should not use the browser back or forward buttons to navigate through your Monster account.

Radius is calculated from the center point of a ZIP Code. If the outer band of the radius includes the center point of another ZIP Code, then that ZIP Code is included in the search. To show you as many relevant Job Seekers who could reside within the ZIP Code Radius you entered (for example, to include Job Seekers who live near the edge of a neighboring ZIP Code), results from an area that slightly exceeds the indicated ZIP Code Radius may be displayed.

In the search results page, click “Modify search” to go back to all your search criteria. You can easily narrow down your candidate list by specifying more criteria and entering the most important keywords for your search. You can also adjust your location by narrowing your radius to really zero in on the right candidates closest to you. Read our article on Boolean Logic to learn how to create a complex search string where you can broaden, narrow down and exclude at the same time.

Yes! At the top of your results page, you will see a “Sort By” dropdown menu. Select “Resume Updated” in Descending order and click “Go” to refresh your results with the most current resumes at the top of the page. Just remember that candidates who haven’t updated their resumes recently may still be open to your opportunity.

Some candidates do not want to have their personal information (such as their name, address, phone number, or email address) displayed on Monster. These candidates usually do not want their current employer knowing that they are searching for a new job. Others are simply concerned about privacy. You can get in contact with a confidential candidate via the “Send Message” button.

Once you’ve viewed a resume, you will see the “Viewed” icon next to the candidate’s name, meaning that one credit has been deducted from your inventory. Once one unit of inventory is used for a particular candidate, any additional actions taken within 7 days do not impact inventory. So, if you view the original resume, forward it to a hiring manager, and add it to a folder, it would only be counted as 1 view. We recommend adding candidates to a folder to conserve your inventory. Any actions taken on candidates within folders on the My Candidates page will not impact inventory. For more information on how to manage your candidates, check out our article.

You may have specified too many search options. Try starting with a broad search before narrowing them down. To find as many candidates as possible, use a broad, industry standard job title and avoid internal titles. Also, make sure you search for all resumes first. Even if a candidate hasn’t updated their resume recently, they could be open to the right opportunity.

A resume view is counted if you view a resume, or perform an action on a resume, outside of a folder. Views and actions performed on resumes within a folder do not count against the resume view limit. To minimize the amount of views you use, we recommend that you save favorite resumes to a folder and then perform actions on the resume from within the associated folder.

You can view your available resume views from the Reports tab on your My Account page. The following user actions are considered a single resume view:

• Opening a resume
• Printing a resume
• Emailing a resume
• Adding a resume to a folder

Keep in mind that viewed icons can be stored for up to 1000 resumes at a time. If a user views 1001 resumes the first resume will lose the viewed icon.

Does the view ‘expire?’

Yes, the view will expire after 7 days.

Whether you are responding to a candidate’s application or contacting someone you’ve found via the resume search, there are multiple ways to contact the candidate. These include direct email, sending letters via Monster, and other options.

Direct Email from Your Email Account

When viewing a candidate’s resume (from a folder in “Manage Candidates” or directly from a resume search), their email is included at the top of the page along with their name, job title, and other key information. If they have provided their email address, you can simply click on the link to use your email program to directly send an email. You could also copy and paste it into an email “To:” field. Some candidates choose to keep their email address confidential; in these cases, it is replaced by a special Monster email address that will route your correspondence to them without revealing their email address.

Send a Message via Monster

To send a message to an individual candidate, click “send message” either from the resume while you are searching or within the Manage Candidates page. In both placements, you will find this action on the right side of the page. (tip: it’s best to add the candidate to a folder so you can easily find them later.) You can then either select a letter from your Hiring Library or create a new letter.

To send a message to multiple candidates, the candidates must first be saved in a folder in “Manage Candidates.” Tick the box next to the names of the candidates you wish to contact, and then select from the drop-down box at the top of the list “Send Message to Selected.” When sending a letter to multiple candidates, we recommend using the “SmartFields” options. If for example you start the letter with “Recipient’s first name,” each recipient of the email will have it individually addressed to them.

If you choose an existing letter, you can send it as it is, or customize it as required. If you create a new letter, or update an existing letter, you can save it for future use by ticking the “Save letter to my Hiring Library” box.

Only resumes that have been uploaded to Monster are able to be downloaded in the Microsoft Word format. You’ll see the Word icon next to Download when viewing a resume.

Note: Monster Resumes that have been created using the Resume Builder, and resumes that have been copied and pasted will not have the option to download. If a resume is not able to be downloaded it may still be forwarded via email or printed via the actions menu.

When a resume has been uploaded in the Adobe .PDF format (as shown) you will have the option to download that resume into either Word or PDF. If the resume has been uploaded in word, only the Word download option will appear.

Resume Saved Search Agents act like a notification system making it even easier to see the newest and best candidates. A Saved Search Agent offers the option to save resume searches and be notified via email with resumes that match the search. There are options to be notified daily, weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly or you can opt to only view results online.

Creating Resume Saved Search

1. Hover over the Candidates menu and select Search Resumes
2. Click the Create New Saved Search button
3. Name your search
4. Check the box and select an email frequency if desired (Note: you can save a search and run it from your account at any time – email is not required)
5. Enter relevant search criteria
6. Click Save Search

Running and Managing Resume Saved Search

1. Hover over the Candidates menu and select Saved Searches
2. Select the appropriate action from this page

You can Create, Edit, Delete and Run any of your Saved Searches.

NOTE: A saved search agent cannot be recovered after it has been deleted.

When you click to view a candidate’s resume you will see a Print link under the actions listed on the top right side of the page.

To print multiple resumes, you will need to first add the candidates to a folder, then:

1. Access the folder from your Manage Candidates page in the top navigation.
2. Find the folder and check the boxes next to the resumes you want to print. (20 max)
3. Go to the bulk actions dropdown menu at the top of the list and click Print Selected.

Note: Make sure popup blockers are disabled. If popup blockers are enabled, you may not see the print dialog box.

When you conduct a resume search, you have the option of saving resumes to a folder. Resumes can be saved to a default folder (My Favorites) or a folder that you create. Your candidate folders are listed in this section.

After performing your search:

1. Select each resume to forward by placing a check mark in the action box in the left column
2. Select Add to folder from the Select Action drop-down menu
3. Select and existing folder or click the link to create a new folder
4. Click Add

Saved resumes can be found by selecting Manage Candidates from the Candidates menu.

Resumes submitted to Job Ads or saved from Resume Search can be forwarded in batches via email.

1. Select Manage Candidates from the Candidates menu
2. Select each resume to forward by placing a check mark in the action box in the left column
3. Select Forward resume from the Select Action drop-down menu
4. Enter an email address or select from the address book
5. Add a message (optional)
6. Choose the email format
7. Click Send

Yes, you can block resumes in two ways. You can select the resume (or resumes) as part of a search results listing and choose Block Resume from the Action drop-down menu. Alternately, you can click the Block Resume link when viewing an individual resume. When you block a resume it will be noted as blocked in search results and will be omitted from Saved Search results.

If I block a resume, will that resume be deleted?

No. The resume will still remain in our resume database. If a blocked resume is found in your future resume searches, it will be noted with a blocked icon to save you from selecting and viewing the resume again. Also, blocked resumes are not included in your Saved Search email results.

Can I un-block a resume?

Yes. If a blocked resume is returned in your search results, you can click the Un-block link to change the resume’s status.

How many resumes can I block?

You can block up to 1,000 resumes. This is a rolling cap. When resume 1,001 is blocked, the first resume will be automatically un-blocked.

Status is a feature which allows users to track the status of a candidate through the hiring cycle. Users have seven standard statuses to choose from:

• Resume Received *
• Resume Reviewed
• Phone Screen
• Interview – HR
• Interview – Department
• Offer
• Hired

*Resume Received is the default status for any candidate filed to a folder.

Important Note: This process is used with the online candidate management. If the candidate was selected by searching Monster’s resume search their resume should be saved to a folder first. Candidate’s responding to a job ad with be added to a folder automatically.