What skills should a Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searcher put on a resume?

O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Speaking, and Writing among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searcher list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Accounting software, Adobe Acrobat, Contact management software, Customer relationship management CRM software, and Data Trace Title IQ. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searcher work?

O*NET records 37 titles for this occupation, including Abstractor, Title Examiner, Title Officer, and Title Searcher. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searcher need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 60% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searcher role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searcher resume example

A resume for a Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searcher needs to show the work itself: search real estate records, examine titles, or summarize pertinent legal or insurance documents or details for a variety of purposes. Day to day that means work like this: examine documentation such as mortgages, liens, judgments, easements, plat books, maps, contracts, and agreements to verify factors such as properties' legal descriptions, ownership, or restrictions; examine individual titles to determine if restrictions, such as delinquent taxes, will affect titles and limit property use. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Abstractor
Title Examiner
Title Officer
Title Searcher
Commercial Title Examiner
Searcher
Title Abstractor
Title Agent
DMV Title Clerk
Abstract Clerk
Abstract Searcher
Abstract Writer
Advisory Title Officer
Automotive Title Clerk
Closing Specialist
Data Abstractor
Department of Motor Vehicles Title Clerk
Escrow Officer

O*NET records 37 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Examine documentation such as mortgages, liens, judgments, easements, plat books, maps, contracts, and agreements to verify factors such as properties' legal descriptions, ownership, or restrictions.
Examine individual titles to determine if restrictions, such as delinquent taxes, will affect titles and limit property use.
Prepare reports describing any title encumbrances encountered during searching activities and outlining actions needed to clear titles.
Copy or summarize recorded documents, such as mortgages, trust deeds, and contracts, that affect property titles.
Verify accuracy and completeness of land-related documents accepted for registration, preparing rejection notices when documents are not acceptable.
Prepare lists of all legal instruments applying to a specific piece of land and the buildings on it.
Read search requests to ascertain types of title evidence required and to obtain descriptions of properties and names of involved parties.
Obtain maps or drawings delineating properties from company title plants, county surveyors, or assessors' offices.
Confer with realtors, lending institution personnel, buyers, sellers, contractors, surveyors, and courthouse personnel to exchange title-related information or to resolve problems.
Enter into record-keeping systems appropriate data needed to create new title records or to update existing ones.
Retrieve and examine real estate closing files for accuracy and to ensure that information included is recorded and executed according to regulations.
Prepare and issue title commitments and title insurance policies, based on information compiled from title searches.

16 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Examine documentation such as mortgages, liens, judgments, easements, plat books, maps, contracts, and agreements to verify factors such as properties' legal descriptions, ownership, or restrictions, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Examine individual titles to determine if restrictions, such as delinquent taxes, will affect titles and limit property use, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Prepare reports describing any title encumbrances encountered during searching activities and outlining actions needed to clear titles, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Copy or summarize recorded documents, such as mortgages, trust deeds, and contracts, that affect property titles, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Accounting software
Adobe Acrobat
Contact management software
Customer relationship management CRM software
Data Trace Title IQ
File management software
First American Data Tree Parcel IQ
GATORS ANYWHERE
Geographic information system GIS databases
Google Workspace software
Landtitle USA
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Internet Explorer

27 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

10-key calculators
Computer data input scanners
Computer laser printers
Desktop computers
Laptop computers
Laser facsimile machines
Multiline telephone systems
Personal computers
Photocopying equipment

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

Accounting
Contact management
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Reading Comprehension
02Active Listening
03Critical Thinking
04Speaking
05Writing
06Complex Problem Solving
07Time Management
08Active Learning
09Coordination
10Monitoring

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

English Language
Law and Government
Administrative
Customer and Personal Service
Computers and Electronics

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

60%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
13%Bachelor's Degree
13%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Some Preparation Needed”. These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Common questions

What does a Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searcher do?: Search real estate records, examine titles, or summarize pertinent legal or insurance documents or details for a variety of purposes. Day to day that includes work like examine documentation such as mortgages, liens, judgments, easements, plat books, maps, contracts, and agreements to verify factors such as properties' legal descriptions, ownership, or restrictions and Examine individual titles to determine if restrictions, such as delinquent taxes, will affect titles and limit property use.
What skills should a Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searcher put on a resume?: O*NET rates Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Speaking, and Writing among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searcher list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Accounting software, Adobe Acrobat, Contact management software, Customer relationship management CRM software, and Data Trace Title IQ. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searcher work?: O*NET records 37 titles for this occupation, including Abstractor, Title Examiner, Title Officer, and Title Searcher. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searcher need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 60% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searcher role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.