CREATING AND USING DIGITAL RESUMES
We strongly encourage you to create your resume in a digital format,
which will allow you to quickly target your resume by electronically
“cutting and pasting.”And, having your resume in a digital file means
you will be able to rapidly transmit your resume to as many people as
you like, provided that they have access to e-mail. Being able to quick-
ly create the right resume gives you a clear advantage in most situa-
tions that require a resume.
In Chapter 5, where we discussed techniques for creating resumes
that work particularly well with portfolios, we mentioned some advan-
tages that come from using a digital format for your resume and some
things to avoid, if you do so. The following is a review of what we said
with regard to digital options for your resume.
Begin by having your master resume in a computer file.It is ex-
tremely helpful to have an updated master resume on file in a digital
format so that you can put together a targeted resume on short notice.
This digital format would include everything you might want to con-
sider when creating a targeted resume and becomes a resource from
which you can select particular items for inclusion in a resume that is
targeted at obtaining a particular job or work assignment. If you save
this master resume in your computer as a template, you will have the
ability to quickly create a shorter targeted resume without danger of
losing the original. To create a targeted resume, you would simply make
a copy of your master resume, delete the items you don’t want to in-
clude, and then edit the rest.
Use a digital format that cannot be altered when printed.When
you e-mail a resume that is in a word processing format, such as Mi-
crosoft Word, the document may not print exactly as you sent it. For ex-
ample, a one-page resume that is forwarded in a word processing for-
mat may come out as more than one page when the recipient prints it.
For this reason, you may decide to e-mail your resume as an attach-
ment in an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do so, you
will want to make sure that your recipient has the ability to read PDFs.
For more details on the pros and cons of using Microsoft Word versus
Adobe for transmitting documents, please see the section in this chap-
ter entitled “Technical Considerations.”
Use fonts and terms that computer programs will favorably identi-
fy. As mentioned in Chapter 5, keep in mind that resumes are often
scanned for key words and phrases by computers that act as gatekeep-
ers. Therefore, you will want to make sure that you use fonts that com-
puters can recognize. Also, try to use words and phrases that comput-
ers are likely to have been programmed to pick up, both when
describing the kind of job you are applying for and when describing
your P.E.A.K.S.
Once you post your resume, you should not retarget it at that site
very often.If you post your resume on a Web site, you can’t keep chang-
ing it at that site or you will lose credibility. However, if you have the
ability to post your resume at different Web sites that are meant for dif-126 Part I: Building, Using, and Maintaining Your Career Portfolio