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For example, an employer may simply wish for you to submit your
resume as a Microsoft Word document as an attachment to your e-mail. Or an
employer may wish for you to submit your resume as an ASCII file — a document that is pure text and contains no formatting
(i.e., no font enhancements, no spacing enhancements, etc.). Or the employer
may have other preferences and instructions.
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Perfect e-Résumés
Provided by WetFeet.com: The Inside Scoop on the Job You Want
Copyright 1999.
As companies go online in the search for employees, job seekers need to do
the same thing. Those interested in Internet jobs, in particular, are
expected to submit e-mail résumés. Sure, you can still fax your résumés or
send them via snail mail. But why would you want to? Companies in the
Internet space move on their own time (we call it "Internet Time"),
and e-mail is their currency of communication. You'll use it on your job, and
you should expect to use it to get your job, too. How do you create an e-mail
résumé that will win interviews and influence recruiters? To get started,
follow these rules:
Use ASCII Format.
ASCII is the lowest common denominator for electronic text; every Web browser
or e-mail program can read it. To create an ASCII résumé, save it as a text
file in a word-processing program. Copy it into the body of an e-mail when
you apply for a job. Otherwise, you risk having your résumé come out jumbled
and unreadable.
Never submit a résumé as an attachment.
Although it may seem easiest to attach your résumé, doing so is like leaving
a stack of money on a train: you're never going to see it or hear about it
again. Recruiters don't read attached résumés because they can be infected
with a virus that'll destroy their computer. It's a risk they don't want to
take so attaching a résumé is a risk you don't want to take.
Limit each line in your résumé to 72 characters.
Most e-mail programs wrap text around at 72 characters. That means any line
longer than 72 characters is going to be cut off and dropped down to the next
line, making your résumé look like it was hit by a chainsaw. Avoiding that
73rd character will help format the document so it stays organized and easy
to read.
Showcase your strong points first.
Newspaper articles include the most important information at the front of the
article; the best parts of your résumé should be up front, too. Don't make
the recruiter scroll down through loads of information before getting to the
good stuff.
Run the spell check.
Errors in any type of written correspondence can get you dinged. Don't let
the seeming informality of the electronic résumé allow you to omit this key
step. But don't let your faith in technology make you complacent, either;
spell checkers give all sorts of mistakes the green light. After you do the
spell check, proofread it the old-fashioned way several times. Then get a
friend or two to do it again.
Take your e-résumé out for a test drive.
E-mail your résumé to yourself, because you'd much rather it be you who
catches technical problems and errors and not a recruiter. Make sure the text
looks right on the screen and prints out correctly. You might also try
e-mailing yourself at different accounts. E-mail accounts have different ways
of reading things, and you don't want to take any chances that when it
reaches the recruiter's account it will look messy.
Include a cover letter.
It sounds like a no-brainer, but many applicants for Internet jobs don't
include letters with their résumés. Cover letters that accompany e-résumés
should be brief and concise. Keep in mind that recruiters want you to
introduce yourself, they want to see how you write, and they want to see you
make a case for why the position they need to fill is the one you're right
for. Be sure to indicate which position you're applying for, what your
qualifications are, and what you can contribute to the company.
Make a backup.
Save a copy of your résumé on a disk and on your hard drive so you don't lose
it. Also make hard copies on good paper stock. You want to make sure that if
your résumé gets lost, you can reproduce it quickly. You also want to be sure
that when you're called in to interview, you've got a paper copy that looks
good to bring with you. Recruiters love to misplace paper once they've called
candidates in to interview, and if you show up prepared with some back-ups,
that's a detail that will count in your favor when it comes to
decision-making time.
Where to go next:
For more free career advice, visit WetFeet.com at
http://www.wetfeet.com/asp/home.asp
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