I want to start sending out resumes, via e-mail.
And I’ve heard that there can be problems, that they come out garbled.
Is this a real problem?
Do I need to take this seriously, or is it scaremongering?
Is there a problem with Word documents as e-mail attachments?
An Analog Dinosaur requests help. :o
I’m not a hiring manager or anything, but I have been in a position lately to send a lot of resumes out (and then see what they look like on the desk of the person I’m interviewing with.)
Read the directions. Don’t e-mail a resume unless the position description says you can. Follow any directions for resume submission - some have formats they want it in, some say “e-mail, do not attach”, some have a special form. Don’t ignore instructions! (I know that sounds stupid but you wouldn’t believe how many people miss that first vital step.)
Don’t do anything fancy with your resume if you’re going to attach it. Fonts, italics, bold, etc. are probably fine, but I’d avoid a border, personally - anything that you think may get garbled in translation between formats. Do it in Word and if you can, check it on somebody else’s more archaic computer to make sure it’s backwards compatible. The one thing I did notice on my printed-out resume copies the interviewers have is that a font I used in my Mac version of Word did not come out the same. Which wouldn’t really matter except that, of course, I’d carefully chosen everything.
I used to send attatchments in .rtf format. These days it seems it’s safe to always use Word because everybody does, but if you’re unsure, you can always attach it in both formats and explain that in your cover letter/e-mail. That’s a good way to make sure that they get something that dosen’t look like a crazy monkey crapped on it.
I’ve always been a little nervy about e-mailing my resume, because while I know that the secretary or whoever who gets it is familiar with the things that could have happened to it and wouldn’t fault me for them, the big boss may have no idea. Try to format yours in such a way that there’s not many ways it can be screwed up that make you look dumb. Or mail it (I realize that these days some companies don’t want mailed resumes at all, depends on your industry I guess.)
My answer is definitely IMO, so take it with a grain of salt.
In general there is no problem with Word documents as email attachments, except that they’re a lousy file format for distributing text, prone to virus infection, etc. As someone who routinely reviews emailed resumes, I prefer the following, in order:[ol]
[li]Plain text file. This loses some pretty formatting, but gives me the important data in a platform independent way. It makes it easy for me to store, search, etc.[/li][li]PDF. Convenient and safe for me, and it allows the sender to retain all the pretty formatting they work so hard on.[/li][li]URL. Less convenient for me because I have to visit and print a copy, and it lets the sender know that I’ve viewed or not. For certain jobs, it does serve as part of the resume in and of itself.[/li][li]Word Doc or any other proprietary format. Worst case because it shows you don’t have a grasp of how information should be sent on the Internet. From a functional standpoint, it’s a pain to deal with and the sender is basically saying that his convenience trumps mine. From a philosophical standpoint, it’s the absolute worst way to send data. See one of the many threads about linking to DOC files on websites for opinions on that.[/li][/ol]
Note that this is my preference, and I make these preferences clear in the job postings. If the company you’re applying to says to send a Doc, go right ahead (with the caveat that the company itself is backward and clueless…).
I’ve been both the applicant and the screener, so I can give two perspectives.
I just had a nice chat with my designer, who tells me that I need to save my Word documents in an earlier format, because that’s all her Macintosh version of Word can open successfully. So some of your prospective employers may not have the same version of Word you’re using. Unpredictable results may occur.
Some email systems will automatically strip out any attachment – Word, pdf, text file – as part of the antivirus settings. Some of them go one step further and reject the entire email.
The only advice I can give you is to check with the individual company.
The safest approach is to send the resume in plain text in the body of the email message, not even as a plain text (ASCII) attachment.
I’m so embarassed…what is a plain text file?
And, how do you make a pdf? Will I need special software on my home computer?
Again, what is a plain text file, how do you make one, & can I convert my Word document to this easily? :o :o
Type your resume in notepad. Or paste it to note pad and save is as your_name.txt.
A plain text file is one that is “yourresume.txt.” Yes, you can make one from word. In the File menu, select save as. Underneath the box where you type in the filename should be a pulldown menu saying ‘save as type.’ Click on the arrow and scroll down till you see 'plain text, and select that.
Be aware, however, that most, if not all, formatting will be lost. Save your resume as a plain text, then email it to yourself and open it to see what it looks like as a text file. If it looks bad, either keep it as a Word document, or save it as a rich text file (RTF) which keeps formatting, but can be opened by almost all word processors. To save as rich text, do the same procedure for plain text, but select the rich text option.
And yes, you would need special software to save as a PDF. Adobe Acobat is what you would need, but don’t bother. It costs money. Lots of money.
Look at the directions on the job app., most I’ve looked at ask for the resume in a specific format, usually word, though I have come across ones that want plain or rich text, and others that want it as a plain text, but not in a file, but copied and pasted into the email body, or copy and pasted into an online submission form.
Plain text is just raw ASCII text. You can edit it in Notepad or some other text editor. I like to use good editors instead of notepad, something like emacs, vi, or even Ultraedit on Windows. Or you can take a Word document and save-as plain text (TXT) and it will just strip out all the non-text formatting.
You can create PDFs from Word documents using a PDF writer that’s installed as a print driver. Basically you just install these drivers and then “print” your Word doc to a PDF file. I think Adobe charges for their PDF print drivers, but there are some free ones out there. Note that I’m not talking about creating a PDF from scratch in something like Adobe Acrobat, just using a converter or save-as option in your word processor to create the PDF. It’s easy, and creates a file that’s much more user-friendly than a DOC.
Also, to add to my earlier preferences, do not send your resume as an HTML formatted email unless specifically requested to do so. HTML formatting within the body of an email is even worse and more clueless than attaching Word docs (IMO, obviously not shared by the legions of people who send me this garbage).
But copy & paste to Notepad is OK?
Yes.
It’s been pointed out that my opinions aren’t very general and I may be misleading you. I’m something of a purist when it comes to file formats. You really should check with the company/person you’re sending to because some HR people may expect a Word doc and have no idea what to do with plain text.
I still think that you send the resume in the body of the email and not as an attachment. When you compose a new email message, you should have an option to select the format. In Outlook, the choices are HTML, Rich Text or Plain Text. Select plain text (or ASCII, if that option is there), type the cover letter, leave some blank space and maybe add a line of asterisks to indicate a page break, and then type or paste the resume text.
The two things you care about, in this order are:
Word is my recommendation. It’s true that everyone will be able to read pure text, and there are even a few hiring managers who exclusively want text (usually for religious reasons). But a well-formatted resume can be a big plus, and pure text doesn’t even allow you to bold things, let alone do more serious formatting. Don’t use formatting as an art project to pretty things up, but rather use it to organize things, using different size/font for different sections and sub-sections.
The majority of people out there can read Word. HTML is reasonable too.
Even though PDF is common, it’s not ubiquitous, and I wouldn’t use it.
Is the e-mail the cover letter, or do I type & attach an extra one?
I vote for RTF (Rich Text Format) as an attachment.
Just about any word processor, including nearly all version of MS Word, can read and write this format. It is “rich” and allows specifying margins, indents, fonts, etc. It also cannot transmit worms or a virus. Assuming you don’t include any graphics, the files are fairly compact and email well. Finally, the receiving party can copy, paste, and re-format the parts they need. I find many HR people do this.
For occasional use, this site is good for converting your Word doc to PDF
link
Mac OS X has a built-in option to create PDFs. In the print dialog, there should be a “Save as PDF…” button in the bottom left. I’m at work (NT) so I can’t double check, but it’s there somewhere.
I’m no hiring-type person, but I’d be greatly annoyed by getting a Word document as a resume. I’d prefer RTF or PDF, then text. If I got a Word doc, I’d move it to the back of the pile while I opened the ones sent in open formats.
They key here is to send it in a format that is widley readable. Good candidates for this are plain text, RTF, and PDF. When I have sent mine out, I usually paste as plain text in the body of the email (usually with a little clean-up needed), and also attach a PDF version as well. Almost everyone can read PDFs on almost any computing platform, and you can be assured that they will print nicely as well.
OpenOffice is free and will read Word files and save them as .PDF files…