Title: Content needs to be strong in plain text résumé

Content:

Dear Sam: I have been applying electronically to job postings and when I cut and paste my résumé it always looks disheveled. I try to fix it but it never looks as good as the Word version. What can I do to correct this? - Sally

Dear Sally: The problem is that you are cutting and pasting from a formatted document when you need to use a plain text or ASCII ("askee") file. If you don't, as you have noticed, the formatting of your résumé will change considerably and there will likely be some strange characters that appear in the place of special characters or formatting techniques you used in your formatted version.

Let me explain what an ASCII résumé is. ASCII text is the simplest form of text, meaning there is no formatting within the document, and the text is not platform or application specific.

To create a plain text résumé, simply open your formatted résumé, save it as a text only document, and open the new plain text file in the Notepad application. You'll notice that within your plain text file everything is left justified, sentences do not wrap, and boldface, italics, and various sizes of fonts do not appear as in your formatted résumé. Remember, it doesn't look pretty nor is it supposed to!

There are now several things you should review within your new résumé to be sure it is in proper plain text format. If you had any hard tabs within your formatted résumé you will need to remove them. For example, if your right justified your dates of employment with a right tab, you will notice the date now appears a few spaces over from the other information on that line. To ensure this hidden formatting doesn't change into a hieroglyphic looking character when copied onto the online job boards, remove the tab by taking out the spaces and placing a comma between the other information on that line and the dates of employment. Also, look at the bullet points within your plain text résumé and be sure they all appear as an asterix (*). Sometimes, depending on what type of symbol you use for your bullet points, they can change to squares or even question marks. Be sure to change these to the asterix symbol as this is one of the few formatting marks a plain text résumé can support. Lastly, if you have any smart quotes, mathematical symbols, or accented letters, review to be sure they are still intact. For example, if you had the word México on your résumé with the accent over the 'e', this letter would not even appear on your new plain text file. Instead, when you open your text file you will see that the word is now spelled as "M'xico" with a comma in place of the accented 'e'. This is why it is so important to review these special characters to be sure your résumé is void of any potential errors. Next, place a line of equal signs (=) between each of the sections. This provides for a visual break and helps differentiate each section.

Now when asked to copy and paste your résumé you will simply need to open Notepad and your plain text file. Next press Control A (Ctrl+A) or choose "Select All" from the Edit menu, press Control C (Ctrl+C) or "Copy" from the Edit menu, and when your cursor is in the online box that you want to copy your résumé into, press Control V (Ctrl+V) or "Paste" from the Edit menu. You should now see your plain text résumé in the online box.

This process sounds a little daunting when written in-depth, but it is very simple, should only take a few minutes, and will ensure the integrity of your content. Please make sure your content is strong, as any formatting you did to create a great aesthetic, will play no role in the screening process when you only have the opportunity to submit a plain text version. Best of luck.

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Do you have a question for Dear Sam? Write to dearsam@semissourian.com. Samantha Nolan owns Ladybug Design, a résumé writing and interview coaching firm. For more information, call (888) 9-LADYBUG (888-952-3928) or visit www.ladybug-design.com.

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