Email and the Internet have revolutionized business communication by enabling instantaneous transmission of documents to individuals who may be in the next cubicleóor continents away. ìSnail Mailî and fax have taken a back seat to the ease of sending documents with the click of a mouse; however, there are inherent problems when the sender computer and receiver computer are not using the same form of communication. No one knows this more than a person looking for employmentóand the employers, recruiters, networking contacts, and career transition professionals with whom they communicate.
An active job search candidate may send rsums to ten or more contacts each week. Unfortunately, in many instances ìwhat you see is NOT what you getî. Norine Dagliano, Certified Professional Resume Writer and president of ekm Inspirations, professional resume writing and job search-assistance firm, and other professional resume writers around the country have found a solution to this problem. By using The ResumeSpotlight, an innovative web-based resume tool created by JaneCoís Sensible Solutions, a job seeker can be confident their resume gets the visibility it deserves.
ìWhen transmitting ones resume over the Internet, any number of things can go wrong, states Dagliano. ìIf the receiver does not have the same word processing program, fonts, and printer configurations as the sender, the document might arrive with unusual page breaks, misplaced text, and dollar signs, question marks or other characters replacing bullets, hyphens, and similar punctuation marks. In the worse case scenario, the employer can not or will not open the document at all.î
These common problems occur when one sends a resume via email. The difficulties are further compounded when the job seeker is instructed to copy and paste their ìASCIIî or ìPlain Textî resume into a job-board text box. With The ResumeSpotlight, a job seekerís resume is saved in four formatsóMS Word, PDF, ASCII with line breaks and ASCII without line breaksóand hosted on a unique website with 24/7 access from anywhere in the world.
According to Dagliano, job seekers love the easy access to their documents through their own personal website and appreciate the professional look. They can include their ResumeSpotlight URL in all their email communicationóinstructing the reader to ìclick on the link below to review my resumeîóand can print it on networking cards, cover letters and fax transmissions. When an ASCII resume is requested, ìone simply logs on to their website, pulls-up the proper format, and copies and pastes it on the job board or in the body of the email,î Dagliano explains.
Besides providing an attractive resume layout, necessary ASCII formatting, immediate access, and a dependable document storage system, a web-based resume tells the prospective employer that you are technologically-savvy and better prepared to tackle todayís work place challenges. ìWith more than 9 million resumes floating around in cyber-space on any given day, any thing a job seeker can do to outshine the competition is well worth the investment,î Dagliano surmises.
Norine Dagliano is the owner of ekm Inspirations, a Maryland-based resume writing and job search training firm. Ms. Dagliano is a Certified Professional Resume Writer, a Certified Federal Resume Writer and Coach and authorized DISC Administrator/Behavioral Consultant. She specializes in helping job seekers overcome the anxiety of looking for work while equipping them with the tools, resources and information to quickly transition to new positions. To contact Ms. Dagliano, call 301-766-2032 or visit her website at:
Taming the Online Job Search Gremlins
Job seekers, employers, recruiters,and networking contacts looking for efficient ways to connect, welcome the convenience and professional presentation of the web-based resume
