Online Job Search - Resume Submission Secrets
By Mark Baber
Follow the rules when submitting a
resume for consideration by a possible employer or job-bank.
Address prospective employers through the resume submission channels
and in the formats that they request.
Those aspects of resume submission
will usually vary employer by employer and by job site. Don't be
creative with their processes.
Many of us are tempted to embellish and send five references - when
the employer only asks for three, as one example - or, as happens
frequently, a job candidate will submit their resume to an
employer in a document file format that doesn't match what the
employer uses, so no one at the company can read it. Follow procedure. |
 |
|
Sometimes you'll be asked to
submit your credentials via a online resume submission form, or other
alternate method. Requirement change frequently, so you have to be
adaptable. The variances in file type requests are prompted by many
considerations - bandwidth usage, how a company may distribute resumes
they collect, sometimes it's for computer virus management - as
viruses often ride in on email attachments, to name just a few of the
reasons you should follow resume submission guidelines thoroughly. And
though it may be hard to accept now, there will come a time when all
the cool custom design work you put into your resume - if you did -
will never be seen.
More often than not, employers want
text-only resumes. No colors, or background patterns, or digital
artwork. Plain text. If you are unaware of the mechanics of saving
your files as text-only files, or other text formats, or how to
prepare your resume for scanning and database inclusion, ask someone
with some computer savvy to explain it to you and walk you through the
procedures. Or search online, where there are many free tutorials on
those topics These are not difficult tasks to perform or learn. And
you will use such basic digital skills time and again in a modern job
search.
On the other hand, there are times
when a company will request your resume be sent as a MS WORD file,
which is not a text-only document. So it makes sense for you to have
your resume ready as a text-only file and as a MS WORD document too. A
MS WORD document has a file name that ends with the file suffix
".doc". The text-only ASCII file ends with a ".txt" after the dot.
These two file formats will allow you to ship your resume as either a
ASCII or MS WORD format, if requested. Whatever format the employer
asks you to use, it is the system they have devised to process
applicants quickly and efficiently. By complying with their requests,
you help keep their workload to a minimum, and you show your own
willingness to be polite, cooperative . Another choice, ask the
potential employer if it's okay to send your resume the easiest way
possible - copy/paste your resume directly into the body of an email.
Eliminates the need for attachments. Once you do that, your brief
comments at the top of the email become like a brief, basic cover
letter, leading the reader directly into your resume, which resides
below.
One job search strategy has job
seekers sending resumes to multiple contacts within the same company.
In some cases, that is a viable approach to market one's skills. But
be aware, sending copies of your resume to multiple persons in the
same company is now beginning to be seen as a breach of ‘netiquette.'
Get permission first. If you are requested to submit your resume via
email, don't send it by standard post too - unless requested. Should
you make changes to your resume, submitting a single second copy is
acceptable, as long as the body of the email that carries the
attachment explains that there are revisions, and points out to the
reader where he or she may find them in the body of the resume. You
should also feel free to resubmit your resume after ninety days if
there is no immediate progress. Most companies purge candidates from
their "active" databases in cycles of ninety days, so quarterly
submittals will keep you current in the database of a company for
which you have a strong desire to work.
Smart job seekers should realize
there are some critical requirements for
submitting resumes online,
whether via web form, email, as a file attachment or some other
method. Do it wrong and your resume is lost or side-tracked. Do it
right and your resume is to the hiring decision maker by morning. The
resume submission strategies outlined in this article may seem to
exert a weak force on your job search universe.
When you consider how
many things can go wrong in a job search - sometimes it's as if
gravity itself steps in and pulls your job search to the ground fast,
or propels it forward at a sprint, depending on what balance and focus
you exert. Same holds true for resume submission. Attend to details.
Follow the rules.
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR
RESUME AND IN YOUR JOB SEARCH |
