Soooooooo frustrated.....

[NotUrsula]

I also don't deal with snail mail and wonder about an applicant who does. I had one who sent me the most AMAZING resume to pass on to others but I couldn't just xerox it and send it along. I can push a few buttons and send an email, though. When I asked her why she sent it in the mail she admitted she's not comfortable with computers. BIG RED FLAG.

I'm subversive this way. I follow the directions in the ad and send it to HR in PDF, but if the job is special, then I always make it a point to do some sleuthing to find out the name of the chair of the search committee. That person gets a lovely hardcopy FedEx package on fine paper. The cover letter on it clearly states that it is being sent in addition to the standard electronic version being sent to HR.

Now, of course, in my field it is acceptable to do this, if it were not then I wouldn't do it. It always works well for me -- they are impressed that I take the time and trouble to do it.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I would send PDF. I would not attach to the Email body. Or you could send PDF and word. I am confused people are having issues opening your word file? Do you have 2007 maybe you want to send in earlier format.

 

[C.Ann]

C Ann companies here do not want them via mail. Not at all, in fact many CL ads will state "do not send by mail, all mailed resumes will be sent directly to the recycling bin" or something similar. 99.9% of companies here will only accept resumes via email, the other .1 will take them via fax or mail but it's very very rare to get that chance. I do use that option when I can but it doesn't happen often at all. Thanks for the good luck wishes again, I can use them. .

Well that's a shame - because instead of accepting them by snail mail, they aren't interested in what you're sending anyhow - so that still leaves you without a job..(

The only time I ever came across a job that required an email was when I used a job search place online.. However, they didn't want a full resume - just some basic info, they called me to come in for an interview, and asked me to bring my full resume in person.. All the others - in the classifieds in the newspaper - wanted them mailed..

I suppose it does make a difference if they only way they are advertising is online - then it would make sense - but still they aren't receiving yours - or they're flat out rejecting them..

I hope you get it straightened out soon.. It's a shame that you lost out on a possible opportunity that you were well qualified for simply because they didn't care for the "type" of technology you used..

Best of luck to you..

 

[scbelleatheart]

hi there - you can try and format your resume in a .pdf file - that way most any one can open it. when you go into word, click save as, and save as pdf - if that option is not available, go to print and select adobe pdf

either way, that should help with someone not being able to read your word doc, and many companies will accept a pdf with no problem

hope this helps!

I agree. Submit as a pdf. Also are you saving your file as a Word 2003-07 in the save as file? Many have not updated so you need to save it in several formats.

 

[pixiewings71]

Glad you figured out the PDF conversion. There also are a few sites online where you can upload a document and convert to a PDF if you don't have a newer version of Word or the proper Adobe software.

Another option for Works users is to save the document as an RTF instead of the WPS format. WPS is the default format for Works word processing documents, but if the person opening the document isn't real tech savvy it can be problematic to open in older versions of Word.

thanks, next time I do a doc I'll for the RTF version. I really appreciate that tip, and the one about the online sites as well.

I would send PDF. I would not attach to the Email body. Or you could send PDF and word. I am confused people are having issues opening your word file? Do you have 2007 maybe you want to send in earlier format.

I have 2007, but it wasn't Word, it was MS Works word processor, so that's probably why people have issues with it. I didn't realize it wasn't Word or I would have converted it a long time ago. When we got the desktop it did not come with Word, we would have had to buy it and since we rarely used it we didn't. I will send them in pdf format from now on, I did find some other jobs to apply for and I did apply with pdf formats so hopefully that will fix the issue completely.

Well that's a shame - because instead of accepting them by snail mail, they aren't interested in what you're sending anyhow - so that still leaves you without a job..(

The only time I ever came across a job that required an email was when I used a job search place online.. However, they didn't want a full resume - just some basic info, they called me to come in for an interview, and asked me to bring my full resume in person.. All the others - in the classifieds in the newspaper - wanted them mailed..

I suppose it does make a difference if they only way they are advertising is online - then it would make sense - but still they aren't receiving yours - or they're flat out rejecting them..

I hope you get it straightened out soon.. It's a shame that you lost out on a possible opportunity that you were well qualified for simply because they didn't care for the "type" of technology you used..

Best of luck to you..

No, I'm sending a full on resume, the only thing lacking is my actual physical address. It has my phone number, email and city listed but not my street address. I've decided that if he was that pickly and rejected my resume simply because it was sent as a text file then it wouldn't have been a good fit anyway. They had 2 positions I was qualified for, I only applied for one, I suppose I could go back and apply for the second one but I don't think I'd want to work for them anyway. I'm just grateful he took the time to let me know why he was rejecting me out of hand so I could fix the "problem" for future submissions. Thanks for all the advice and input everyone, your help is very much appreciated.

 

[tvguy]

If someone sent me a resume through the mail instead of email I would think they had an issue with technology and I would not interview them. In addition, a lot of companies don't want to receive it in the mail. They want to be able to store it electronically and they don't want to receive a hard copy.

OP-what version of word do you have? If you have Office 2007 maybe you should save it as a 2003 file. Before I got Office 2007 I sometimes had difficulty opening files that were created in that version.

I don't know, there can be many qwirks with Word, Text and PDF files, I think I would attach all three formats and paste the resume in the e-mail too, and mail a hard copy(we have found a variety of SPAM software blocks attachments)
As for electornic storage, remember, EEOC laws require you keep a hard copy of all resumes received, not electronic.

 

[emma'smom]

Do you have an Apple computer? If so, when you go to "print", just select "save PDF" as an option before actually print. This is the easiest way to get a .pdf file and then you can save it and upload it as needed.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

FYI - if you don't have the save as .pdf or need a .pdf printer, I reccomend cutepdf over adobe. Adobe's programs are clunky and take a LOT of memory. Cute's don't use much memory, are user-friendly and are cheap.

 

[pixiewings71]

I don't know, there can be many qwirks with Word, Text and PDF files, I think I would attach all three formats and paste the resume in the e-mail too, and mail a hard copy(we have found a variety of SPAM software blocks attachments)
As for electornic storage, remember, EEOC laws require you keep a hard copy of all resumes received, not electronic.

I considered attaching all formats but thought it might be a bit of overkill. LOL I also considered simply putting my resume in the body of all future resumes I send, that might be easiest and fastest really. I think what I'll do from now on is do the pdf version and then copy it into the body of the email as well.

Do you have an Apple computer? If so, when you go to "print", just select "save PDF" as an option before actually print. This is the easiest way to get a .pdf file and then you can save it and upload it as needed.

No, no Apples here just HP.

FYI - if you don't have the save as .pdf or need a .pdf printer, I reccomend cutepdf over adobe. Adobe's programs are clunky and take a LOT of memory. Cute's don't use much memory, are user-friendly and are cheap.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into cutepdf.

Thanks for everyone's input, I really appreciate your help very much.

 

[Colleen27]

I know there's going to be all kinds of comments, but something as important as resumes - if I desperately needed a job - would be sent the good old fashioned way.. Via the mail..

Yes - it might take longer to get there, but I wouldn't be comfortable counting on the reliability of email and/or computers - and especially in your case since you have already had problems..

A lot of places these days won't even look at snail mailed resumes, and in very competitive markets many times the position is filled in less time than it would take for a mailed resume to arrive.

The .pdf suggestion is the best option for sending resumes, I think. It is a universal file type that doesn't have as many virus concerns as Word documents.

 

[jen0610]

I know there's going to be all kinds of comments, but something as important as resumes - if I desperately needed a job - would be sent the good old fashioned way.. Via the mail..

Yes - it might take longer to get there, but I wouldn't be comfortable counting on the reliability of email and/or computers - and especially in your case since you have already had problems..

Good luck with the job hunt!

If only this was an option, but for many, MANY places, they are accepting applications and resumes via on-line and e-mail submittion only. Believe me, DH has been looking for over a year now and he HATES it. There have been many sites that don't reply that your submittions has been received, so you are left wondering if your info is even being looked at.

DH would much rather spend the time and money to drive to a company, walk in and fill out an actual paper application.