1. 800. 973.1177
CAREER COUNSELOR’S CORNER
How to Develop an Electronic Resume [J. Murray Elwood] You can easily develop an electronic resume and send it by e-mail, but there are caveats.
Be aware of two downsides to attachments.
Many law firms are technologically con-
image, or text file, of the resume that it
servative and not at all savvy in the elec-
then stores for later retrieval and review in
Sometimes attachments are not sent in Word
tronic processing of their documents. They
a databank. This scannable resume is de-
or a compatible format and the attached file
prefer to receive paper resumes for law
veloped from your ordinary word-processed
is garbled when opened. This file can usually
school recruiting or for screening of lateral
resume, but created with simple typefaces,
be read by some other application already
moves. But sooner or later in a job search, a
such as the kind of typefaces used in this
in the computer, but the process is time-
potential employer or recruiter will ask you
book - Times New Roman, Ariel, Helvetica,
consuming, inconvenient, and infuriating. A
to e-mail your resume. Or it might be that an
Univers - but without italics, horizontal lines,
more serious problem with attachments is
ad in a legal newspaper will instruct: “Apply
or underlined words. Note also that words
that some employers, concerned about vi-
by e-mail and send your resume as a Word
used for section headings (e.g. Education,
ruses, have firewalled their systems against
attachment.” What do you do?
Bar Admissions) in the scannable resume
all attachments to protect the integrity of
are emphasized by capitalization, rather than
their emails. As a result, the phrase “No
written in bold type.
Attachments Please” seems to be appearing
First of all, you don’t need a completely different resume for e-mailing. With a few slight variations, the same text can be used
more and more in corporate advertisements.
An Electronic Resume
for the three most common formats for transmitting resumes:
Read the advertisement carefully or ask the person requesting your resume what e-mail
Your resume can also be sent electronically
format to use when forwarding the resume.
either as an attachment file to your e-mail message that the addressee opens upon re-
As Plain Text. You convert your resume to an
ceipt or as plain text pasted onto the e-mail
ASCII (“ASK-key”) or plain-text format that is
Sometimes labeled “hard copy,” with ar-
message itself. Both methods are widely
then pasted directly on to the bottom of your
resting typefaces and bulleted descriptions
used to submit resumes to either recruiters
e-mail message.
of accomplishments. This is the resume,
or in answering advertisements.
A Paper Resume
To send your resume as part of the e-mail
still widely used, that you have traditionally mailed with your cover letter. When required,
As An Attachment File. If you’ve created
message for Word 98/2000, just follow these
you can also fax your paper resume as an
your resume using standard word processing
steps:
answer to an advertisement.
software, say WordPerfect or Microsoft Word 98/2000, after composing your e-mail mes-
1. Open your resume. Choose: File > Save
sage, you hit “Browse” to find your resume
As > Save As Type; Choose: Text Only. You’ll
file, then click the “Attach” button and then
probably get a message saying that the
This form of electronic processing does not
“Send” and your resume goes out as a file
document “may contain features that are not
yet seem to be widely used by law firms, but
with your covering message. If sent in Word
compatible with Text Only format. Do you
resume scanning is employed by the human
and received as a Word document, format-
want to save the document in this format?”
resource departments of major corporations
ting and fonts should appear very much as
Select: Yes
to manage large numbers of incoming paper
they do in a “hard copy” format. For example,
resumes. Clue: The ad tells you to direct
Bradford Bunting’s corporate resume, when
2. A Text Only form of your resume will come
your resume to “Data Processing.”
sent as an attachment and “read” in Word 98,
up on the screen. Select the resume, then
came through exactly as printed on page 60.
Choose: Edit > Copy. Then go to your E-mail
A Scannable Version
The company scanner creates an electronic
PAGE 1
text, position your cursor after your message
continued on back
1.800. 973. 1177
CAREER COUNSELOR’S CORNER
and Choose: Edit > Paste. If your resume
design and, especially, the process of web
overheads and other classroom materials.
contained bullets, they will be changed into
posting.
Using PowerPoint software, created several presentations for History of Architecture
asterisks. Check your heading to make sure the name, address and phone and e-mails are
www.monster.com Kim Isaacs has an excel-
in the proper order, and make sure the Sec-
lent article here on converting a resume to
tion headings are printed in capital letters for
ASCII format. Select: Career Center > Gen-
emphasis.
eral Resources > Resumes.
To test the appearance of your plain-text
TAMIKA GREENE
courses. ADMISSIONS United States District Court, E.D.N.Y., 2003
resume, it’s easy to open up another e-mail
New York State Bar, Second Department, 2002
address, say in HotMail, and send yourself
436 West 76th Street New York, N. Y. 10023
your resume at your usual e-mail address.
(212) 123-4567
AFFILIATIONS
Note the Plain-Text Resume [at the End of
EDUCATION
Bar Association, City of New York
This Section]
American Red Cross - CPR Instructor Fordham University School of Law, New York,
The original hard copy version of Tamika
N.Y.
Greene’s resume ... was converted into ASCII,
Juris Doctor (cum laude), 2002
or Text Only format, pasted onto an e-mail and the resume appeared as it does on the next
American University, Washington, D.C.
page. Other than dropping the horizontal line
Bachelor of Fine Arts (magna cum laude),
below the letterhead and looking as if it had
1997
been typed on an old Remington typewriter,
Washington Post Scholar, National Founda-
in 10-point New Courier typeface, the resume
tion For The Arts Award
required no changes or edits. Substituting either a series of asterisks or dashes can ap-
EXPERIENCE
proximate the effect of the horizontal line in the original.
Justice Milton Migrano, Appellate Division of New York, 2nd Department
Resources
Law Clerk, 2002 - Present
The Internet contains many additional re-
Electronic legal research using Westlaw and
sources to answer questions and assist you
LEXIS-NEXIS.
in creating your electronic resume. Some of
Prepared written memoranda and oversaw
the best:
statistical reporting, document review and file management.
www.eresumes.com This is Rebecca Smith’s site, “eResumes 101,” and it is a compre-
Peace Corps, Republic of Ghana
hensive source containing several pages of
Volunteer, 1997 - 1999
excellent technical information about e-mail resume design and formats, including Key-
Teacher of art in small village school; com-
word resumes, Web resumes, HTML resumes,
munity organizer.
and so on.
Facilitated various agricultural development projects.
www.dbm.com/jobguide Margaret Riley Dikel, author of “The Riley Guide” to web career re-
American University, Fine Arts Department
search information, has several pages at the
Student Research Assistant, 1995 - 1996
Drake Beam Morin corporate site with good, common-sense advice about web resume
PAGE 2
Prepared bibliographies, catalogues,