Emailing a Resume

Emailing a ResumeEmailing a ResumeSending your resume by e-mail may sound like the simplest part of the job search, but beware.It sounds simple You learn about a job opening and prepare electronic copies of your resume and cover letter to make your case for an interview.Not so fast, though Clicking the Send button is may send your document straight to a spam folder for unwanted e-mail. Heres how to increase the odds your resume will be read by a recruiter or hiring manager.E-mail dateianhang pros consThe first question about e-mailing your resume is whether to send it as an attachment or just paste it in as text in the e-mail body. Career coaches and hiring professionals dont agree on this issue. When it comes to attachments, they cite these consAttachments take up too much space in the recipients inboxAttachments may harbor security threats, such as virusesA hiring companys security system may block messages with attachments or bar the recipient from opening attachmentsOverworked h iring professionals may not take the time to open an attachmentTammy Kabell, a career and resume consultant who runs Career Resume Consulting, said employers are just as wary of viruses as everyone else, and are hesitant to open unsolicited attachments. Thats why she recommends never sending a resume as an attachment.Others cite these attachment prosaber sicher or PDF attachments are more attractively formatted than pasted-in text resumesPDF attachments cant be tinkered withThe best practice is to do exactly what the company or hiring professional requested or find out what they prefer.When in doubt, try sending it both ways, said Martin Yate, a career-management trainer and coach as well as the author of the forthcoming Knock em Dead The Ultimate Job Search Guide . He suggests that job seekers consider sending two e-mails one with the resume pasted in and one with the resume pasted in as well as attached.Cut and pasteIf you plan to paste the resume into an e-mail, Kabell recommend ed starting the e-mail with a brief introduction of yourself, one thats much more succinct than a traditional cover letter. I would recommend two paragraphs of two to three lines each, maximum.At the end of the brief introduction, indicate that youve pasted in your resume following your signature. If youve also attached it, write that youve attached your resume and have also pasted it in after your signature.Then, below your name and contact information, paste your resume. Some tips on formatting the textKeep each line short between 45 and 60 characters in case the recipient can only receive plain-text e-mails and not HTMLUse spaces instead of tabs for indentingInstead of bolding text, set off headings with rows of equal signs, and use capitalization to emphasize text=======Resume=======How to evade spam foldersIf you are concerned about being caught by the spam filter, there are a number of ways to ensure your e-mail squeaks throughInstead of attaching your resume, paste it into the body of the e-mail.Keep exclamation marks out of the subject line and body of the text, Kabell recommends.Dont use any words in the document or headline that could be misinterpreted by the spam filters as something inappropriate, said Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers, a career.coach and executive recruiting firm.Write an attention-getting subject headerA great way to get a hiring professionals attention with the subject line is to identify an issue or offer a solution, Kabell said. She cited this example of an attention-grabbing subject header Re reducing operating expenses by 15% if youve in fact done that in the past, or Re Obtaining Wal-Mart as a client if you have a working relationship with a buyer from Wal-Mart.And finally, make sure you follow up by e-mail or phone to ensure your resume was received and accepted.