Transferring Résumés
Electronically
The
Internet transfers, stores, and retrieves data in units known
as files. A file is a complete named collection of information
such as a program, a set of data used by a program, or a
user-created document similar to those created in a word
processor or text editor. To successfully transfer a résumé from one location to another, both
people and computer programs must be familiar with a few
common file types, distinguished by their "format." By
convention, files normally have a two to four-letter extension
at the end of their filenames.
These
formats exist so that applications can store and retrieve data
electronically. File formats also give files different degrees
of richness in terms of the kind of information
they contain, and how this is information is presented (or
rendered).
Three Flavors of ASCII Resumes
You
can create an ASCII vanilla resume,
rich resume, or marked-up
resume depending upon how you intend to
transfer your resume file
electronically.
ASCII
file formats are the most common type of data files
transferred electronically via the Internet, including email.
ASCII (pronounced ASK-ee), stands for the American Standard
Code for Information Interchange. The three common ASCII file
formats that eresume files are
transferred as are:
 Plain
Text
(.txt) - Plain-text document files are exactly that -
plain. The benefit is that PCs, Macintoshes, UNIX
Workstations, or mainframe terminals can read these files. The
term "vanilla"
resume usually refers to plain-text
resumes because there is no formatting.
View
Sample Plain Text eResume
-
If
you are required to transmit your
résumé via email,
its file is stored on your PC and viewed with an email
reader like Microsoft Outlook. When you transfer this file
to someone else's computer, you may not know what email
program - and reader - they have to open and view your
resume. In this case, the most
common format to use is plain-text.
-
Another common use of plain-text is when you are asked to
copy and paste a text version of your
resume into
specified field located on job board résumé
builders or job application forms online.
Rich
Text
(.rtf) - Most job seekers are used to creating their resumes
in a word processor. which does provide fancy formatting
options. This rich text file is compatible across different
brands of word processors while retaining its "richness"
as a formatted document during and after the file has been
transferred, and only if it is viewed in a compatible word
processor.
View Sample
Rich Text eResume
-
If
you are asked to provide your resume
via an email attachment, or an online resume
builder allows you the option to upload a word-processed
version of your resume, in both
cases you can transfer/upload your resume
as a rich text file.
-
If
the resume builder indicates that
you can upload "Word files" or ".doc files," you can upload
your resume using the Microsoft
Word native file format with the .doc extension.
-
If
you are not sure, do a "SAVE AS" in your brand of word
processor, and save as an .rtf file. Be sure to check the
user's manual of your respective word processor.
Hypertext
(.html) - Many people are surprised to learn that Web pages
are also ASCII files; it is not uncommon that ASCII is used
interchangeably with plain-text, when this is not true. When
creating a document in HTML, which stands for Hypertext Markup
Language, it is "marked up" by using "tags," that will
render the desired format when the document is viewed using a
Web browser like Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
View Sample Hypertext
eResume
-
If
you want people to view your resume
as a Web page, you would upload it to a Web server that
hosts your Web page account as a hypertext file. When you
hear the term "Web resume," it
usually refers to the HTML version of your résumé.
-
Hypertext
resumes
allow you to integrate graphics, audio, and multimedia, if
the Web browser used to render the document on Web supports
these additional formats.
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