| Back to Home > Bulletin Board > Beginner Issues > Topic: Sending resume & cover letter via email |
Topic: Sending resume & cover letter via email
  Page 1 of 1   |
|
| Author | Message |
| Nashvillerer | Posted – 5/26/2005 9:16:22 AM | show profile If you're applying for a job that asks you to ''send your resume and a cover letter via email,'' should you send those both as attachements? Or would the body of the email be the ''cover letter,'' with just the resume attached? Also, in terms of attachments, is Word the standard for the publishing industry, or would I be better off sending in Rich Text Format? |
| leftcoaster | Posted – 5/26/2005 9:47:38 AM | show profile I've always used the body of the e-mail as the cover letter and attached the resume separately. I've been on the receiving end of resumes as well, and that seems to be the standard. (I have occasionally seen ads that say to post the resume into the body of the e-mail as plain text, but it's rare. But obviously if they specify that, that's the way to do it.) I know a lot of people here will disagree with me, but I always send attachments as PDF, since pretty much everyone can read those (almost all computers come with Adobe Reader now). With Word, if you have a different version, or don't have the same font, you risk having your resume's format screwed up (bad line breaks, etc.). Some people will argue that PDFs are too big, but for files that just have text, they're usually no bigger than the source file and are often smaller. (And there's an option in Acrobat to make the file smaller as well, if there seems to be a problem with your file's size.) I should note that I haven't worked in the publishing industry, so if there's a different standard there, someone else should be able to tell you. |
| Marie | Posted – 5/26/2005 10:33:18 AM | show profile I've never heard of a document getting screwed up in Word. I think PDF files are cumbersome and slow to download, but hey, if they've worked for you...and not everyone has Adobe installed. I say Word, but I imagine we'll see all kinds of opinions here. |
| leftcoaster | Posted – 5/26/2005 10:51:13 AM | show profile Forgot to mention that if you don't have Acrobat installed, Adobe has an online service for creating PDFs and you can make five for free before you have to pay. There's a button on their home page if you're interested. |
| Nashvillerer | Posted – 5/26/2005 11:09:25 AM | show profile Thanks for the input. Do you think it would it be overkill to attach in both Word and PDF? Glad to hear it's acceptable for the email to serve as the cover letter. |
| intraining | Posted – 5/26/2005 11:19:48 AM | show profile I've always sent the e-mail and coverletter as attachments. When I start applying for new jobs I'll try the ''coverletter in e-mail'' method and see how that works. |
| foodlit | Posted – 5/26/2005 12:25:57 PM | show profile Generally, those of us in HR hate PDF files. You are always better off sending in word. PDF files do not download well into internal databases for searching. Definitely Word. Not all recipients will have Adobe reader installed, so they won't be able to read your PDF file, and will not take the time to get reader, they'll just delete your email, and go on to the next resume, which will be opened because it is in Word. :) Pam |
| foodlit | Posted – 5/26/2005 12:30:15 PM | show profile Yes, definitely put the coverletter in the body of the email, and attach the resume. If you attach both, then your cover letter won't be read 9 out of 10 times, your resume will just be opened and screened in or out. The easier you make it for us, the better your chances are. I'm being very blunt here, but the reality is that the volume of e-mail that we have to deal with is insane, so anything you can do to help us cut through the clutter, and to your resume, will help. :) |
| postcard | Posted – 5/26/2005 1:12:27 PM | show profile I actually HAVE opened my Word resume through email on computers with different operating systems than my own, and the formatting has been off. PDF is an interesting idea for an alternative, but I think it would probably cause more harm than good, as others have mentioned. I think you just have to risk it looking a little different and go with Word. Many listings specify Word, or if they want it as an attachment or in the body of the email. I always keep a copy of a more ''plain text'' resume saved for easy cut-and-pasting if that's what they want. Usually with cover letters, I put it in the body of the email, and also attach a Word document of the same thing, but in traditional letter form. I'd mention in the email version that I'd attached a copy of ''this letter'' or something. Most of the time they probably didn't even open it, but at least they'd have it in case they wanted an attractive hard copy to route to the hiring manager or whatever. This is all if I were applying straight to HR from a listing. If I were using an internal contact, I wouldn't bother as much with the formal cover letter and just write an email explaining who I was. |
| leftcoaster | Posted – 5/26/2005 1:23:43 PM | show profile Foodlit, since you work in HR yourself, I accept your point of view. But I have actually seen more listings that specify PDF than than specify Word (and many that say either is fine), but maybe that's because my history is in high-tech where people's systems seem to get updated more often than in some other industries. And I have actually sent versions in both formats when it wasn't specified, exactly for the reason you mentioned about trying to make it as easy for the person as possible (i.e. letting them pick which one they want). Since the files typically tend to be pretty small in size, it's usually not an issue to send both. And in my cover letter I usually say ''Attached is a copy of my resume in both Word and PDF format'', just so they don't feel the need to open both, thinking they might be different. Also, like the previous poster said, it's an excellent idea to create a plain-text version of your resume (no bold, use asterisks or hyphens for bullets, etc.) in case you have to paste it into an online form. If you only do it when you come to one of those types of applications, it's easy to make a mistake by rushing through the application. By preparing a version like that at the same time as your ''pretty'' one, you're ready to go whatever the request. By the way, Nashvillerer, good luck in your job search! |
| Nashvillerer | Posted – 5/26/2005 3:33:39 PM | show profile Thanks, Live Laugh Golf -- and thanks to everyone for your suggestions. This is an internal contact rather than HR, so I think I will write the cover letter in the body of the email and attach my resume in Word and PDF format. |
| Page 1 of 1 |
|
