Tips for Sending Resumes by E-mail

If you're applying for jobs over the Internet here are a few E-mail Tips to improve your chances:

"Attach" your resume to your outgoing e-mail. Make sure you don't have any viruses or worms that will be tagging along in your e-mail. Anti-virus software is critically important - otherwise your email and resume will be deleted and your email address will be blocked.

Document Format - Use a document format for your resume that can be downloaded 100% of the time. Don’t use some rare word processing program that's relatively unknown outside of Tibet. Your resume won't download on anything but the same oddball program.

Most employers will have MS Word, your best bet for failsafe delivery of your resume. Or save your resume in Rich Text Format (RTF). That works well, as well.

Adobe Acrobat PDF format? Looks classy but it weighs a ton over the internet and gets rejected by many email systems. And PDF doesn't jive with most resume database systems. Don't be the odd man out. Go with the flow on document format.

Don't Send a Digital Picture of your Resume - Good idea? it doesn't work.

Email Cover - Don’t send a blank e-mail with a resume attachment. Use the e-mail body as a cover letter, and then write a real live cover letter.

Email Address - Always include your private Email Address on your resume, don't leave off any method of contact. It also helps to include your name, address and phone number. Don't include your business phone number - some employers may wonder what you really do for a living - besides job hunting.

Save Resume File Under Your Name - Don’t save your resume file under the name of "Resume". It will be downloaded to join a group of six thousand other resumes entitled "Resume", and runs the risk of getting lost in Cyberia. Use your name as the title of your resume file.

Return Reply Email - Send your e-mail with a return receipt reply so you will know that it arrived at its intended destination.

Do a Test Run. Email your resume to your own email address or that of a close confidant. Find out what it looks like on the receiving end.

Don't Apply in Mass - Don’t send your resume to several companies in one e-mail. It won’t make any of them feel very special, but it will make you look very bad and computer illiterate. Send a separate e-mail to each company.

Snail Mail by US Mail, too! - If you have the company’s mailing address as well as e-mail address, send your resume both ways. It never hurts to cover all the bases. A different set of eyes may open your resume, and might take action.

Don't Ever Involve Your Employer in a New Job Search - Never send an e-mail resume using your current employer's email system, company stationary or postage meter. That’s bad business and it doesn’t look good to another employer.