How
should I email my resume to employers?
The most important rule to remember when
applying for jobs is to follow the directions
in the posting's job description. If the
employer tells you to apply in person, don't
call. If the job posting says to mail your
resume, do not send it via email. If the
employer wants you to apply via their web
site, then follow those instructions.
To protect their organization from viruses,
some employers have a policy against opening
email attachments, or against opening email
attachments that are a specific format.
Additionally, job seekers cannot be assured
that the resume they send to employers will
appear to the employer precisely as it was
intended to be viewed and printed, as employers
often have different computer and printer
settings than the job seeker which may alter
how the resume appears to the employer.
When emailing your resume to an employer,
it is best to send the following:
- Email Subject Heading:
type the exact title of the position that
you are applying for. If a department
or office is mentioned, include that information
in the subject line if it will fit.
Example:
Senior Marketing Producer position in
Ad Design Dept for Keller Corp
-
- Body of Email: Write
a brief intruduction explaining the job
that you are applying to, and the nature
of the documents that you are sending:
Dear Jane Recruiter,
This email and attached Microsoft Word
resume and cover letter are in application
for the Senior Marketing Producer position
in your Ad Design Department. Shelly Doe
in your Ad Design Department made me aware
of the position and encouraged me to apply.
I would sincerely appreciate the opportunity
to expand upon my qualifications and skills
during an interview.
Thank you for your consideration,
John Doe
Home: (715) 111-3345
Cell: (715) 222-3333
johndoe@hotmail.com
-
- Resume and Cover Letter:
* Send ONLY a Microsoft Word formatted resume
and cover letter.
* Name your attachments with your name,
like ShirlyThompson-Resume.doc.
* Avoid decorative fonts and complicated formatting that may display improperly on other computers.
* Use keywords throughout your resume
to be easily found when an employer searches
their company database for resumes using
keywords.
DO NOT SEND
a Microsoft Works, WordPerfect, Publisher,
PageMaker or other formatted resume, as
those may not be viewable by employers.
You may convert such resumes to .pdf format
then send - but ensure that you let the
Human Resources person know that it is
a .pdf resume.
If Problems
Occur: If a human resources manager
cannot open or view your email attachments
properly, it is recommended that you copy
and paste those attachments in plain
text format into the body of your
follow-up email. Also, convert
those documents to .pdf format if you are able to and
attach those .pdf files to your follow-up
email. A .PDF resume will appear to the
employer EXACTLY as you had created it
on your personal computer, regardless
of the employer's computer & printer
settings. All employers may open .PDF
resumes, and .PDF resumes rarely contain
viruses.
What
is a Plain Text or "ASCII" resume?
Plain text resumes (also called "ASCII
Resumes") are generally used by job
seekers to...
a) Post their resume to an online job site
when copying/pasting a resume into a text
box.
b) Send their resume to an employer within
the text box of an email message by copying
and pasting.
A Plain Text resume contains no special
formatting, such as bold, italics, underlining,
tabs, centering or special characters i.e.
(Ó , Ô,
Ö, ½ ). As its
name implies, a "Plain Text" resume only contains typed text. Every character
in a Plain Text resume is exactly the same
width and font size (including blank spaces,
apostrophes, etc...). A Plain Text resume
should be less than 65 characters wide.
Plain Text resumes are typically not
viewed by employers; rather, they are imported
directly into databases which employers
use to search for potential employees using
keywords. Since employers are using keywords
to search for Plain Text resumes, Plain
Text resumes should have a KEYWORD section
which contains industry words that an employer
may use while searching, or should have
those keywords spread throughout the resume.
Layout & Formatting Problems:
It is tempting for a job seeker to merely
copy & paste their resume from a word
processing program into the text box of
an email, or into the text box of an online
job site's form. Yet, it is important that
the resume which is copied-and-pasted is
formatted first as Plain Text to ensure
that its layout and content of the resume
remains intact.
A resume that is copied & pasted directly
from a word processing program into an online
form or email will lose its layout and will
appear as paragraphs bumped together and
jumbled...also, many characters (such as
commas, quote marks, or special characters)
will often not paste properly and may appear
as gibberish.
See
example Plain Text resume with guidelines >>
Why
employers may want a Plain Text resume:
- Plain Text resumes can be viewed using
any computer.
- Plain Text resumes are easily stored
in company databases or online job sites
where employers may search for resumes
using keywords.
- Plain Text resumes are free from viruses.
How
to create a
Plain Text resume:
If you have already created a
resume using a word processing program:
- Open your resume file and change your
resume's font size to 10 pt, and font
to Courier. Adjust your right margin
to 4.5" - 5". Go to the "File"
pulldown menu and select "Save
As...". Select "ASCII"
or "Text Only" as your file
type and rename your file.
- Very Important! Now
exit and reopen your Plain Text file
using the Notepad program
on your computer (go to: Start button
+ Programs + Accessories + Notepad).
- Carefully make all adjustments to
your resume within this program by realigning
any misaligned paragraphs and fixing
items which may have been misinterpreted
while you were saving your resume to
Plain Text i.e. (special characters,
quote marks, hyphens, apostrophes, etc...).
- Save your completed changes.
If you are "starting from
scratch" with your Plain Text resume:
- On a PC, open your Notepad
program: Start button + Programs + Accessories
+ Notepad. Increase to full screen view.
- Type 50-55 characters (this line of
characters is a guideline for how wide
your resume can be). Keep your resume
within this width.
- Now type your resume.
- While creating your resume, do not
use your Tab key...use 5 spaces instead.
Space all items to where you would like
them to appear. Save your resume.
- Notepad automatically creates files
in Plain Text format with a ".txt" file extension.
- To spell check your generated file,
save your work. Now open your .txt file
from a word-processing program which
has a spell checker. Run spell check,
then save your file. Ensure that you
save as a "Plain Text" file.
Getting
Your Electronic Resume Noticed
.PDF
Resumes:
A common problem with application materials
is using decorative fonts or unusual formatting
on a Microsoft Word resume or cover letter.
Often a human resources professional may
not have those fonts or formatting features
installed on their computer, and when those
documents are opened, decorative fonts are
substituted with Times New Roman, and formatting
may be jumbled.
Additionally, if a resume is not created
using Microsoft Word, then it is likely
that a human resources professional will
not have the ability to view the resume.
To avoid the above problems, converting
a resume to .PDF format and sending it as
an email attachment is ideal. .PDF resumes
are viewed on all computers exactly as they
were created by the job seeker on their
own computer, as fonts and elements of the
original document are embedded directly
into the .PDF document.
Create a .PDF resume:
- Use any lab computer at UWRF, which
has the FULL VERSION of Adobe Acrobat
installed.
Alternative: Download
and install Free
.PDF Creator Software
- Open your resume
- Use the "File" pulldown menu
+ "Print"
- New Prompt: Select the printer "Adobe
PDF".
- New Prompt: Acrobat will create a .PDF
file with the name that you give it. Type
a name with a .pdf at the end. In the "Save In" field, tell Acrobat
where you would like to save your .PDF
file.
- Using Windows Explorer or My Computer,
find and open your new .PDF file to review
the final document.
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