Find Employment/Electronic Resumes

In today's computerized world, you might not submit a printed resume, but instead you might be asked to fax, email, or post online your resume. This section will help you to have your resume come out looking the best it can depending upon how you need to submit it.

Internet Submission

Emailing a Resume

Of all the electronic submission methods, emailing is generally the most preferred, as it is the option that, if done properly, can have the sent resume look the closest to the original. The best way to send a resume via email is to make a PDF file of your resume and attach it to your email message. (See the PDF Resumes section)

You may also wish to "hedge your bets" by also attaching a copy in Microsoft Word format. And also include a copy of the resume in the body of your message. But beware, it is often difficult to make the resume look the same in the body of your message as the original was. (See the ASCII Resume section for hints about how to make it look better.)

Submitting a Resume on a Job Website

• General Job Sites
  • HotJobs
  • Monster.com
  • CareerBuilder
• Specific Site to Who You Are Applying for
• Get an Account
• Post Resume
  • Form Process
  • Copy & Paste (Often ASCII)
  • Upload a File (PDF, or Word, etc.)

Making a Web Page Resume

If you want to have more control of your site, but it requires more technical expertise.

• Make Site
  • Word Processing App
  • Web Page Design App
  • Direct HTML
• Get a Host
  • Free Hosts
  • Paid Hosts
  • Job Site Hosts? (Do any of these support full web page posting?)
• Get a URL
  • URL Provided by Host
  • Domain Name
  • Service such as TinyURL

Video Resume

• Distribution Methods
  • DVD
  • "Business Card" CDs
  • Web Sites (Examples: YouTube, CareerBuilder)

Resume File Formats

PDF Resume

Given all format options, generally PDF is the best option. This is because PDF is an open standard that most recipients will have the ability to view. Further your resume will look nearly identical to your printed resume. Also, there are several methods of making PDF files including several free open source programs.

One free method that works with most Windows computer programs is the Open Source PDFCreator. If you have a different operating system, Ghostscript is an Open Source program that can be used to create PDF files.

Faxing a Resume

If given the choice, faxing is the least preferred method to get a resume to a potential employer. But many businesses may only accept faxed resumes. Many of these will then convert the resume to a digital format using OCR. Because this process is not perfect, a resume that looked beautiful before being sent, often may look bad after it arrives. Further, some parts of your resume may even not go through at all.

To avoid these problems, if you are asked to fax a resume, make a separate resume from your standard one that follows the following rules:

1. Do not include underlining or italics
2. Do not include shaded print, underlines, boxes around text, or graphics
3. Only use white paper, only use black typing
4. Bullets should be the simple standard circular bullet. Do not use fancy bullets.

Even though you resume may not look as nice as your original before faxing, it will most likely look much better than your original would have after faxing.

Resume "Business" Card

While not strictly an "electronic" resume, a novel method of helping you to get a job, is to create a resume "business" card. These act similar to a business card, and you should have them on you at all times, but instead of telling a person about your business, the cards tell a person about yourself. The reason for these cards, is that you never know where you might find a job lead, it may happen at a grocery store or waiting in line for a movie. By having a resume "business" card on you at all time, you are prepared for whenever opportunity strikes.

Creating the Resume "Business" Card

You may choose to create the cards yourself, using a desktop publishing program like Microsoft Publisher, or word processing program such as Microsoft Word, or OpenOffice. There are also several websites that make business cards, or you can have a local company make them for you.

Things to Place on Your Card

Since a resume "business" card has far less room than a resume, it is critical to put the most important things on your card that best sell yourself. The following are some suggestions:

1. Your name (of course)
2. Contact information, you may wish to only place an email and phone number, since there is limited room.
3. Type of work you are seeking. Keep this short, don't try to make a whole objective statement.
4. Skills, or most relevant experience. Boil down your resume to no more than 6 bullets that tell the most important things about you to a potential employer.
5. Picture or graphic. If you have a good photo of yourself, place it on your card, or if there is a piece of clip-art that represents you well, feel free to use it.

Other Thoughts

If you are printing your own resume "business" cards, you may wish to use both sides of the card so you can fit more information. There are some self print business cards, that allow you to have clean edges (not perforated), but these generally can not be printed on both sides.