The importance of a good resume can unlikely be ever overestimated, especially in today's highly-competitive jobs market environment. People spend hours and even days to polish up their main marketing documents in order to attract the attention of potential employers. Some are even willing to pay $100-$300 to have their resume written by experienced professionals. There are a few resume writing services online that can actually make a difference in providing makeovers of outdated application documents. The thing is nicely written documents are not necessarily printed today in order to get to the desk of a hiring manager. It may well be that most application documents are reviewed on a computer screen. Remember when was the last time you were asked to send your resume in an envelope. And now think about how often you see the requirement to provide your resume via email. The answers to these two questions will demonstrate that the electronic format of resumes is a preferred way of communication between job candidates and employers.
Quite an Important Email
If you try to study the statistics of how people deliver their resumes and CVs to potential employers, you will see that email is by far the most popular method of delivering your application into the hands of decision makers. Another alternative that is popular today is to submit your resume or CV through job boards or at the company's website. But still, most of those who got the job in 2016 said they had sent their resumes via email. You might have not thought about it but there are a lot of job seekers who are disqualified from the competition simply because they don't know how to include a resume into an email. Here are some things you should know when emailing your resume to a potential employer.
Attach your resume as a document. Sending a link to your main marketing document may seem like a good idea to you but is certainly not a good one in the eyes of employers. HR managers prefer taking traditional routes to get your resume as in their inbox section for example. You could additionally include a link to your website or portfolio in the email but it is always better to attach your resume in both MS Word and PDF formats. This will prevent formatting issue in case an employer uses different software or operating system.
Name your resume appropriately. If you really don't care much about the job opportunity then you could probably ignore the name of your application documents. There are people who send their resumes named "New Document (1)" or "Admin" which tells a lot about their interest and commitment to the potential job. Naming your main marketing document something like "Resume" or "CV" is a little bit better but still not good. Instead, name the file with your name + first name + resume so that it would look something like this "Steeple John Resume".
Include a message. There should be a message to go along with your application documents. Job seekers are recommended to make it clear why they are writing and what job they want to apply with the attached resume specifically. Obviously, you don't have to be super detail-oriented here. Just brief information so that hiring manager reading your email could understand what folder your resume will go to. We believe it is better if you include the position you are applying for in the subject of your email.
Follow the directions of employers. You should ignore all of the information we have listed above if the employer's direction for a particular position you are applying for contradict our recommendations. The thing is that the employer's direction should always be your primary guide on what you should do and how. Some companies require resumes to be sent in PDF format only while others may have other requirements for resume formats. Please make sure you know what are the company's specific application requirements before sending an email.