Face to Face
With Fred Coon

October 28, 2003 - 20 Pet Peeves Recruiters Have About Resumes
Courtesy of Mike Worthington, ResumeDoctor.com

# 15 - Resumes not sent as a WORD Attachment

Unless specifically requested otherwise, your resume should be sent as a Word Attachment. Word is the standard in business correspondence. Do not send your resume as a PDF, Mac file, etc. As mentioned in previous weeks, candidates have to be aware that recruiters receive literally hundreds upon hundreds of resumes per week. A recruiter simply does not have time to download and convert special files. PDF files require a much longer download time and special software. In addition, do not send your resume in a ZIP file. Not only does a recruiter not want to deal with going through the extra step of opening a resume, but also ZIP files are designed for long documents. No resume should be 60 pages long period. Furthermore, ZIP files can contain viruses that cannot be detected in the email body message. Savvy recruiters will often just delete the email message as to not risk contaminating their system.

Unless you are a graphic designer or multi-media developer, no recruiter will spend time going to your "homepage" to download your resume. Even if you are a graphic designer, you still need a Word attachment resume. So if you are an accountant, engineer, etc., do not try to be fancy, because no recruiter has the time or desire to call up a homepage.

Another top reason for avoiding formats other than Word or a plain text file is that it becomes increasingly more difficult to download into many HR and recruiting systems. Often a recruiter will not have a job for you today. If they cannot enter your resume into their recruiting system, they will be unable to match your resume with any positions that do become available. This also goes for mailed and faxed resumes. Unless specifically requested otherwise, recruiters are looking for easy to open Word Attachments.

Recruiter TIP ... many recruiters shared with us that it is always a good idea to name your Word Attachment "Smith, John Resume". Recruiters have no time to "guess" the author of the attachment. Many recruiters are still organizing resumes sent to them in one folder, so already providing the recruiter with your resume with an easy to follow document name will make your resume easier to find.

Recruiter’s likes and dislikes in a resume were surveyed nation-wide by Mike Worthington of ResumeDoctor.com. FACE to FACE will publish all twenty pet peeves in this column over the next months.

ResumeDoctor.com is a service provided by Personnel Department Inc. PDI is Vermont’s largest independently owned staffing agency. They have been locally owned and operated for over 14 years. They have been featured in many publications, TV news programs, and radio broadcasts. You may contact them at: http://www.resumedoctor.com.

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About the Author: Fred Coon