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In today's world, emailing your resume to a potential
employer has become commonplace, in some cases even a preferred way, to apply for jobs.
Although many employers now welcome and encourage emailed applications, they also may have
particular rules about what types of files they accept via email.
- Some companies will accept your resume as an email attachment
in Microsoft Word format.
- Some companies will only accept resumes in plain text. They
may also stipulate that resume must be in the body of the email,
or they may allow attachments.
The thing to be aware of is that while it is true that Microsoft Word allows all kinds of fancy fonts,
and layouts, plain text gives you virtually no control over formatting. For this reason you must
take care to format your resume in a way that will look good
in either file type. The best way to do this is to prepare and maintain your
resume in Microsoft Word,
complete with formatting, and then use that as the basis
for creating plain text versions of your resume. This isn't
too difficult, as you can simply convert a Microsoft Word document into plain text by using the
following steps:
- Open the document (your resume) in Microsoft Word.
- Select Save As... on the File menu.
- A dialog box is displayed. Choose a name for the file (best practice is to use your name as the file name, and
use underscores as spaces), and under Format (or Save As Type) select Text Only.
- Click the Save button in the dialog box.
- After you have saved into a text file, you should open that file and review how it has transferred over.
You may need to some editing in order to clean-up the layout. Pay particular attention to spacing, tabs
and bullet points, as these are the areas which most commonly need attention.
You are now ready to start preparing your email to the employer - but do NOT send it yet.
- If you have been asked to include your resume in the body of your email, you
can simply copy and paste the entire text file in.
- If you have been asked to attach your resume, you can attach the Microsoft
Word file or the plain text file, depending on the employer's preference.
- You should also write a cover letter as part of your email (preceding
your resume if this is part of the body of the email). The
cover letter should include your name, address and phone number, as well as the
address of the recipient. Of course, just like in the offline world, the purpose of your cover letter
is to present yourself in a good light, and highlight those things which make you an ideal candidate for the job.
After you have prepared your email, you need to carefully proof-read it. Even then do NOT yet send
a copy to the employer; first send a copy to a friend or colleague as well as yourself. The purpose of this
is to check it arrives looking like you expected. Once you are happy that the content has been thoroughly
checked, and that there are no problems with format or layout, you are finally read to send the email to
the employer.
Related Links:
- CareerAssist
We offer affordable, easy-to-use cover letter and resume builder software and resume and cover letter critique services
- Post Your Resume for FREE at HotResumes.com
- Resume and Cover Letter Secrets Revealed
"This do-it-yourself manual makes writing your own resume and cover letter a breeze... even for someone who's never written them before!"
- Resume Rabbit
This site INSTANTLY submits a customers resume and job requirements on up to 75 top job sites including Monster, Job.com, CareerBuilder, Net-Temps, Dice and more! Once finished our customers can be seen by over 1.5 million employers and recruiters daily. It takes customers ONLY 5 minutes & saves them over 60 hours of research and data entry. Best of all, its easy to use and produces REAL results! Since January 2001 ResumeRabbit has performed 1,000,000's of resume submissions for loads of happy customers. And the site has great testimonials to prove it!
- Sample Resumes
Resume and Cover Letter Samples Package.
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