E-mail for job seekers (tips I learned yesterday)

[calico1]

First off, you should check with your local Dept. of Labor to see if they have any resources you can use that will help you with your job search. I am lucky that in CT we have a division called CT Works that is dedicated to just that. They help you with resumes, have workshops in which you learn interviewing skills, and have a lot of job postings from different sources. The counselors and instructors are very good and helpful. So you should check to see if you have something like that available. Its free. And the services I have gotten are excellent.

I was at one of these workshops yesterday. It was called "E-mail for job seekers" and it's all about how to adjust your resume for the job search today which is increasingly done by e-mail. The man who did this workshop does this for a living and is very knowledgeable. Some tips he gave us:

Fully about 95% of resumes used today by companies hiring are text versions that you cut and past right into your e-mail. The attached Word or other document form resume is becoming less and less popular because hiring people don't want to be bothered opening up a ton of attachments. They would rather see it when they open your e-mail. So your most important resume today is the text version. To make your text version, save your Word version as "text only." Asterisks will convert to text but bullets won't. Once you have saved it you may have to play around with it until it looks good. Before you e-mail it to an employer, e-mail it to yourself to make sure it looks okay.

The Word version is still useful for when you go to an interview. It is the "nice" copy you take with you when you go for the job interview. Also, it is good to have for smaller companies that still like to have resumes mailed to them or if a company specifically asks for you to attach your resume.

When you cut and paste your text version resume, make sure all the "good stuff" (as he called it) is in the section of the window that that will appear as soon as your e-mail is opened up. That means if you are bilingual, have great computer skills or had some great accomplishments put that right at the top. Do not put it far down enough that the person might have to scroll to see it because chances are good that if you don't grab their attention in that first window view they won't look any further. Because it is a text version and not fancy version, it's okay to put your address at the end of the resume. Just leave name and phone number at the top so that more of the "good stuff" fits there. Remember you are taking your nice copy if you get the interview.

Never use something like "attached resume" or "resume for xxx job" in your e-mail title. Again, you want your e-mail to jump out. You may be competing with 300-500 other people! To make your's stand out, use something that singles you out. Some real examples he gave us from people he has dealt with were "Valedictorian from xxx University" and "Seven years straight perfect attendance." These people both got interviews and jobs.

With the advent of computers, people today are more accustomed to reading "vertically" vs. "horizontally." This means that rather than have long sentences like this:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

make your sentences both in e-mail and resumes more like this:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Letters too. They eye focuses on the left side and then the attention span starts wandering the farther to the right the letters are.

He also told us that most jobs are not located in the big Fortune 500 companies where many people concentrate their job search. They are in your small, local companies. And this is interesing..he said a lot of times these companies can use people but don't advertise because they are so busy and don't have big departments that do this for them. The aunt might be the secretary but might also go out on the floor to sell stuff. So he suggested you make a list of local companies and e-mail them your resume. The valedictorian guy did this. He e-mailed about 6 companies in one e-mail rather than separately! They ended up in a bidding war for him.

He advises using a free e-mail account and he recommends yahoo because of its user friendliness. He says that if you switch your internet provider you will always have your yahoo account. As for your e-mail name he recommends it be something closely similar but not exact to the name on your resume. You can be creative. For example if your name is Mary Preston your e-mail name can be something like mpres10. Not obvious but similar to your name.

I am going to scan the handout that was given to us. If anyone is interested you can PM me.

[calico1]

1. Forgot to add...

and you probably all know this but if you do not want to use anything similar to your name (which according to this guy you should because it helps the prospective employer remember you better) then make sure your e-mail is something professional sounding. Never use a "tatoo" name as he calls it..such as "FoxyLady" or "NascarFan" or anything like that. It should be professional and used only for business purposes. :)

[CBHagman]

2. Thanks for the tips.

One of the first things I did when I started my job hunt was to get a free e-mail account with a more professional address.

It was heartening to hear from your posting that attachments are not favored as a means of submitting resumes. However, I should mention that some employers demand an attachment in the application process, so I just follow those directions when they come up.

[calico1]

3. The instructor told us that some companies

specifically ask for e-mail attachments and of course if they do, that is what you should do. If they offer the choice between attaching and putting in body of e-mail he says you should choose the latter. Some companies are so bombarded with resumes that they spend just seconds on yours. So you want to improve your chances by doing everything you can to get it noticed.:)

[lavenderdiva]

4. these are such excellent suggestions, calico1!

I am so thankful that you shared them with us. I have bookmarked this thread, as I need to re-do my resume', and will certainly include these ideas. :hi:

[FormerOstrich]

5. From what I could tell (and I invested a great deal

of timing looking for work since 2001) your best bet for e-mailing your resume is very late Sunday night (or very early Monday morning).

I started noticing that I was much more apt to receive follow-up from e-mails I sent out late Sunday nights. When I thought about it I think I know why.

I suspect that if you send your e-mail last Sunday or wee hour of the mornings on Monday, you will be at the top of the list when the recipient opens their mail. With the market as it is, I suspect they only read a percentage off the top. Then, I believe from that selection they work them all week. Then, as Monday rolls around it starts all over again.

Personally, I suspect if you are more toward the bottom of the queue there is a great likelihood your e-mail won't ever be read.

While my speculation about why may not be right, I did in fact get far better response on the things I sent out on Sunday.

[snagglepuss]

6. kick