E-mailing Your Resume
Employers are requesting, sometimes requiring, that resumes be sent by e-mail. The format choices you make can have an important impact on your ability to do so effectively. Follow these guidelines for an e-mail version of your resume:

Prepare several different file format versions of your resume. For example, both plain text (ASCII) format and Rich Text format documents are easily interpreted by most computers and support bold characters, underlining, italics and other formatting. Word document and Adobe PDF format resumes are also widely used and readily accessible by employers. Employers may request that resumes be submitted in a certain file format for e-mail purposes
Don't include your resume as an attachment only. Instead, include your resume as part of your email message, perhaps separated by something like the following: [begin resume] and [end resume] and indicate that it is attached to the e-mail as a Word or PDF document.
• Don't use boldface, underlining, or bullets in your resume when it is included as part of the email text. You can use asterisks (*) or plus signs (+) instead of bullets and do consider using CAPITAL letters as a highlighting technique.
• E-mail your resume to yourself or a friend, as a test, before e-mailing it to employers, to be sure the format transfers as desired.
• You can mail an original resume to the employer as a follow up to your e-mail.
• Always include a cover letter as part of your e-mail message text. Follow the same guidelines for cover letter development as you would if you were mailing a cover letter to an employer by regular mail.

The Scannable Resume
Many large companies use scanning technologies as a productivity aid in human resources. Resume images are entered into a system using an optical scanner, thereby building a database of applicant information. The employer then accesses candidates by searching this database for those with desired qualifications. You may choose to develop a separate version of your resume in scannable format.

These systems search by using "key words" (particularly nouns) or phrases. So, in order for your resume to have appeal to those in your chosen field, explicitly and extensively use the jargon of that field! Caution: when including acronyms alone be sure they are widely recognized; otherwise spell the words out.

Tips for Making Your Resume "Scanner-Friendly"
• Standard Serif and Sans Serif fonts work best - Ariel, Times New Roman, Helvetica, Futura, Palatino. Avoid ornate fonts.
• Font size is also important; sizes between 10 - 12 pt. work best.
• Italics and underlining may cause problems for the scanner, especially if combined. Avoid reverse type. Use boldface for emphasis.
• Use vertical or horizontal lines sparingly, leave at least a quarter of an inch of space around the line.
• Avoid graphics, shading, shadowing, and boxes.
• Do not compress or expand the space between letters or lines. Do not double space within sections.
• The resume you submit should be printed with a laser printer on white or light-colored paper.
• Position your name at the top of the page on its own line; use standard address format and place each phone number on its own line.
• Do not fold or staple the resume – if mailing your resume.