Online Job Search - Resume Submission Secrets

Follow the rules when submitting a resume for consideration by a possible employer or job-bank. Address prospective employers through the resume submission channels and in the formats that they request. Those aspects of resume submission will usually vary employer by employer and by job site. Don't be creative with their processes. Many of us are tempted to embellish and send five references - when the employer only asks for three, as one example - or, as happens frequently, a job candidate will submit their resume to an employer in a document file format that doesn't match what the employer uses, so no one at the company can read it. Follow procedure.
Sometimes you will be instructed to send your résumé in the body of an email, and not as a file attachment. Sometimes, the request is to send the resume only as a file attachment, and only as a ASCII-text file. Sometimes you'll be asked to submit your credentials via a online submission form, or other alternate method. Requirement change frequently, so you have to be adaptable. The variances in file type requests are prompted by many considerations - bandwidth usage, how a company may distribute resumes they collect, sometimes it's for computer virus management - as viruses often ride in on email attachments, to name just a few of the reasons you should follow resume submission guidelines thoroughly. And though it may be hard to accept now, there will come a time when all the cool custom design work you put into your résumé - if you did - will never be seen.

Sanitize Your Online Profile Before Applying For a Job

You've just come across a listing for your dream job, so naturally you're in a hurry to submit your resume. But before you do, have you remembered to sanitize your online profile?
Not that long ago, it was hard for human resources (HR) departments to judge you based on anything more than your resume, your references and their face-to-face interviews with you. It didn't matter how many times you were drunk in college, or how many pranks you pulled in your fraternity, or how disrespectful you were of authority. There were no records of your youthful indiscretions (unless you were particularly bad and were arrested by the police!) and you could safely sweep it all under the rug as you matured and went out into the "real world".