E-Mail Resumes - The New Trend in Recruitment

 Will these strategies
work for you?

click here to read
these successes!

... salary is DOUBLED
... 50% salary increase
... 26% increase
... $18,000 increase
... $30,000 to $50,000
... offered $45 to $60 an hour
... plus dozens more
successful career moves
and salary increases!

Scanned resumes tend to have a high percentage of errors due either to the way the resume is formatted or due to scanning software misinterpreting a word or letter. Talking with scanning managers for companies like GTE, they told me they prefer e-mail resumes because they require very little, if any, correction to be stored in database programs for future sorting. It seems the coming trend in resume submittal will be e-mail over scanning.

Inserting Your ASCII or Plain Text Resume Into E-Mail
In the previous workshop on Scannable Resumes I outlined the steps I followed to convert Fran's resume into an ASCII or plain text file, then used MS Notepad to insert her resume into e-mail messages. You may have to play around with what works on your system. As you read instructions from various sources they will probably differ in telling you what to do. That's because different combinations of word processing programs, text editors and e-mail programs may interact differently or give their command functions slightly different names. Whatever combination of programs you are using always send a test copy of your e-mail message to yourself or someone else and check the formatting. You'll learn a lot by doing this.

Add Job Numbers and Names Of Positions Being Applied For
Begin your e-mail message with your cover letter, just as you would if you were sending a cover letter and resume by mail. In your cover letter include any job numbers and job titles that describe the job or jobs you wish to apply for. Be sure to include your e-mail address on both your resume and your cover letter along with your phone number.

Follow On-Line Instructions - Don't Attach Your Resume
Follow any instructions the employer may provide on transmitting your e-mail resume. Many employers dislike having the resume sent as an attachment and prefer having it appear after your cover letter.

Include Key Word Sections
Since a majority of employers requesting e-mail resumes also store them in their database and sort them, your e-mail resume should contain a keyword section. Be sure to create keyword sections targeted specifically for each employer based on the key skills that particular employer is most interested in. For more information, my booklets contain complete before and after scanned resume examples with a detailed list of guidelines on how to format a scanned resume and create key word summaries.

$9,000 Salary Increase
The first resume workshop in this site shows how Fran's after resume resulted in a $9,000 salary increase.  Fran wanted a $33,000 Corporate Customer Representative job but her resume created an image of her being at a $20,000 to 24,000 salary level -- that's $9,000 to $13,000 beneath her goal.

What Level Does Your Resume Market You At?
If you are curious to see what level your resume is marketing you at … then be sure to read and use the graphing techniques in my first workshop.  By graphing the job titles used in Fran's resume it's easy to see why her resume failed … and once you understand this … you will understand why the majority of resumes fail.  You'll then understand how to analyze your job titles and see if you are better off using them or replacing them with skill headings that market you more effectively. 

Most People Have Job Titles that Weaken Their Image
I estimate that at least 85% of all job seekers have job titles unrelated to their current career goals … and that they are much better off using skill headings rather than job titles to land higher salaries and double and triple their interview rates.