by Kevin Donlin - Guaranteed Resumes - Click for Info

During my keynote presentation at the Star Tribunes February 2004 Career Expo, I was asked a number of good questions about resumes and cover letters.

Here are three of those questions -- and my answers -- that should apply to almost any job search, including yours!

Question #1: Whats the best word processing format to save my resume in, so anyone can read it?

Answer: Save it as an RTF file.

Most of the planet uses Microsoft Word for word processing software, so if you save your resume as a Word file before emailing it to employers, it should get read with no problem. Should  but not always.

Just to be safe, save your resume file as an RTF file, which stands for rich text format. Every word processing program can open an RTF file, even if the recipient of your resume is using WordPerfect, for example.

To save your resume as an RTF file, from the File menu choose Save As and then select Rich Text Format. Finally, attach your new document to an email and send it to yourself and two friends to make sure you did it right -- never assume anything when it comes to your resume.


Question #2: How do I address my cover letter if I don't know the recipients name?

Answer: Try Dear Employer, or Dear Hiring Manager. Whatever you do, don't begin with, To whom it may concern (better suited for a message in a bottle) or Dear Sir or Madam (better suited for the 1950s).

Best advice: call the employer and get a name. Say, I'm writing a letter to the head of sales/IT/customer service/whatever -- could I have the correct spelling of that persons name please? When you phrase your question this way, the receptionist will drop their guard and give you the name. Try it.

I know, I know, this sounds like work. It is. Yet nobody takes the extra 2 minutes to do this, which means your cover letter will stand out from everybody elses. Thats what you want, right?

The two favorite words of any person on earth are: MY NAME. If you use the recipients name in you cover letter, you'll quickly establish rapport and be ahead of the game.

Question #3: How can I create an ASCII (plain text) version of my resume?

Answer: You see a lot of want ads and job postings that ask for an ASCII resume. ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A resume in ASCII won't have bold, italics, underlining, etc., so it can be read by any computer -- even without word processing software.

To create an ASCII version of your resume, do the following:

* open your original resume in your word processing program;
* from the File menu choose Save As and then Plain Text;
* close the document.

Congratulations. You've just created an ASCII resume.

For best results, make sure include plenty of keywords, which describe your skills, job titles, education and experience.

Employers search resume databases using keywords to find candidates. If your ASCII resume has the right keywords, it can jump to the top of the pile. If not, it won't.

Ready? Open your ASCII resume using Notepad or a similar text editor -- do NOT use your word processing program, which could mess up the plain text format.

Now, add a section of keywords. Think like an employer. What search terms would they use to find someone like you?

Example: if youre a sales manager, your keyword section might look like this:

KEYWORDS
sales manager, sales management, sales trainer, team building, consultative sales, consultative selling, Director of Sales, BA: Marketing, Bachelor of Arts in marketing, sales/marketing, sales and marketing

 the list could go on. Put your keyword section near the top of the resume, which may cause some databases to give those keywords more relevance (the jury is still out on this, though).

Theres no limit to the number of keywords you can use, so long as they accurately describe you and your skills.

Best of luck to you!

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes.

Since 1996, he and his team have provided resumes, cover letters and online job-search assistance to clients in all 50 states and 23 countries. Kevin has been interviewed by USA Today, CBS MarketWatch, The Wall Street Journal's National Business Employment Weekly, CBS Radio, and many others.

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