# Another resume question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 1, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-resume-question/287868 "2005-02-01T22:50:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-resume-question/287868/1 "2005-02-01T22:50:49Z")
I’m submitting my resume to apply for a job. What I’ve done in the past is to send the resume via plain-text e-mail, so the email will consist of the cover letter followed by my resume. Does that sound reasonable, or is there a better way to format this? If what I’ve said isn’t clear, here is a rough example: Richard Roe XYZ Corp 123 Main St Podunk CT 01234 Dear Mr. Roe: I am writing in response. . .[cover letter boilerplate] Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you. John Doe * * * John Doe 456 Maple St Springfield 98765 Experience: 2001-2003, Finance Director, Enron Corp, Houston TX Developed Special-Purpose Entities to move expenses off-book. 2000-2001, Chief Financial Officer, Healthsouth Corp, Birmingham AL Developed creative accounting methods to reduce costs. Education: 1998, Harvard Business School, MBA ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-resume-question/287868/2 "2005-02-01T23:09:12Z")
I’d tend to put the resume as a word and PDF attatchment as well if possible, if I were sending email resume. Generally tho I would always send resumes by post unless the company specifies email only. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-resume-question/287868/3 "2005-02-01T23:19:00Z")
Every company is going to want something different. Some want attachments, some don’t. Some want hard copy by snail mail only, and some want faxes. Some don’t even want phone calls (so forget about calling to find out what format they want!). YOu’ll have to handle each one differently. That said, for those who want cover letter and resume in the body of the e-mail as plaintext, your format looks fine to me. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-resume-question/287868/4 "2005-02-02T04:55:23Z")
All the companies I know of hate emails through snail mail. Personally, I throw away the physical resumes I receive and I know many others who do as well. Not only does it take more time, more importantly it kind of tells me the person sending it is living in a different world than what I’m looking for. Of course, I’m in the high tech industry; other industries may view things differently. As to the OP, I prefer to receive formatted docs, so embedded plain text isn’t the best, but it’s fine. Embedded html or a word attachment are better. Proper formatting helps one scan or read the resume more quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-resume-question/287868/5 "2005-02-02T04:56:36Z")
duh. they hate mails through snail mail. Although, I suppose if one were to write an email, print it and send it through snail mail, it would be equally despised. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-resume-question/287868/6 "2005-02-02T15:56:42Z")
Yeah, I generally only accept them via email, too. Generally I place an ad on Sunday and then let the resumes stack up via email until Friday. Then I go through them. But that’s in a tech-heavy industry. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-resume-question/287868/7 "2005-02-02T16:17:45Z")
It’s been a while since I was in full job-search mode, but I remember seeing ads that said “no attachments,” which is why I was sending the cover letter and resume in the message body. It was just an awkward thing to do, so I tried a format like above, with the two documents separated by a row of asterisks. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-resume-question/287868/8 "2005-02-02T17:07:44Z")
If it says no attachments, then the text version in the OP seems fine. I am surprised at those who dislike paper job applications, and hope they specify email only in their job adverts. It is just too easy to create huge numbers of job applications by email, and so I value someone who pays the price of postage, or hands a resume over in person as this helps show the person is willing to take some little expense or inconvinience in applying for the job. I could probably apply for a hundred jobs a day by email, but more than 10 a day by post would be inconvinient, as such I would be more likely to spam any possible job advert by email but only apply to jobs that I was likely to accept by mail. Similarly I wouldn’t hold an email application against someone, but if it looked in anyway like a generic email rather than specific for the job offered it would quickly get binned, a paper job request would likely get at least the cover letter read and the CV skimmed over. But of course it all depends a lot on what sort of job is being advertised for, and how easy it will be to fill. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-resume-question/287868/9 "2005-02-02T21:48:19Z")
Echoing others - if the ad says “no attachments” then your only email option is the one you suggest. If the ad does not specify I would generally send my resume as a Word file and as a plain text attachment. That way if they’re scared of viruses they can open the ugly, unformatted text file. If not they can see the pretty, formatted Word version. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-resume-question/287868/10 "2005-02-03T02:15:46Z")
I guess I’m in the minority. We like a word file or pdf we can print and review. Printed emails always end up with awkward page breaks and are harder to read. Then again, I’m in marketing for a financial services company and we’re not exactly cutting edge with technology. Go with whatever the company prefers. If you don’t know, call the HR department and ask them.