Rules

Everyone is emailing resumes these days—but are they doing it correctly? Here are a few rules to follow when you are emailing your resume.

Send your resume in the format requested in the job posting. Usually this will be Word or .txt format (not .pdf unless specifically requested).
Make sure you are using the correct email address. If you make any mistake in the recipient’s address, the email will not arrive—and you may not be notified.
Do not send unsolicited emails to random addresses (for example, CEO@company.com). Most companies have software that will bar you from reaching that address and most employees are well aware of the dangers of opening unsolicited email.
Check the job posting for information on what to put in the subject line of the email.
If the job posting does not give directions about the subject line, include the position ID or name (for example, “Resume for Junior Accountant Position”).
Write a professional cover email and include the same content as you would in a cover letter. The rule here is that a cover email might not be read but a blank email or one filled with emoticons is not professional.
Make sure your content information is included in your email just as it appears on your resume.
Send your email from a professional email address (for example, jjones@yahoo.com), not the one you use for friends and family (for example, dudeandbabe@yahoo.com).
Do not send multiple, daily follow-up emails. The rule here favors the employer over the job applicant. You can contact the company after a week or so to make sure they received your resume—but if the job posting stated you should wait to hear from them, then you should simply wait and assume that you didn’t get the job if you don’t hear.

For help in formatting, writing, and targeting your resume and email cover letter, please contact Robin’s Resumes®.

In these blog posts, you will find many occasions when I have mentioned the danger of including too many acronyms in your resume without defining them. It is easy to assume that “everyone” knows what an acronym means, only to discover that the acronym has an entirely different meaning in another company—or even in another division. A resume loaded with acronyms is difficult to read even by someone who knows exactly what you mean by each acronym.

But acronyms do have a place in resumes, if only because they save valuable space that is better used to describe your value to a company. Here are six rules to make sure you are using acronyms in the best possible way:

Generally, it is best to spell out an acronym somewhere in the resume. For example, a company looking for an expert in condition-based maintenance may set their applicant tracking system to look only for the full words, not for the acronym CBM.
Some acronyms, such as TV, are almost never spelled out. Others, like R&D, truly are universally known. But in a case like R&D, you might want to use the keywords “research” or “researcher” or “developer” or “develop” elsewhere in the resume.
Go easy on capitalization. For example, there is no reason to capitalize research and development even though the acronym (R&D) is capitalized. Keep capitalization for proper names.
Be careful about repetition. For example, say you worked on your company’s telecommunications service (TCS). It would be redundant for you to refer to your company’s “TCS service.”
The plural of an acronym does not normally require an apostrophe; for example, several technical analysts are TAs (“reviewed reports submitted by TAs”). Possessives do need a plural, as in “modified a newly hired TA’s reports to correct errors.”
Above all, make sure every acronym you use in your resume is correct. In the healthcare industry, the correct acronym is HIPAA, not HIPPA. The abbreviation for Alaska is AK, not AL (which stands for Alabama). The Association of Retired Flight Attendants might be ARFA or AORFA or even TARFA—make sure you get it right.

If you follow those six rules, you should feel confident about using acronyms in your resume when using acronyms make sense.

Emailing Your Resume

Six Rules for Using Acronyms in Resumes

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