Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Resume File Names

Are you sending your resume to potential employers via email? If so, please pay attention to the document name you are using for your resume. You certainly don't want a hiring manager's chuckle for the day to come at your expense.

When we save documents on our computer, we give them names that will help us know what the document is without always thinking how it might look to others. I've received all sorts of attachments through the years that have raised an eyebrow or inspired a giggle. Some have been bad enough the document hasn't even made it through my spam filter.

When naming a document you will be sending as an email attachment, consider the following suggestions.

1. Don't use any funky abbreviations. Be particularly careful with abbreviating assistant and associate. "Executive Ass Resume" doesn't exactly give you the foot in the door you are striving for.

2. Be careful not to include company names from past opportunities you've applied for. "Nike Resume" doesn't come off so good when you are applying to New Balance.

3. Make sure your document title doesn't draw attention to a skill you don't wish to emphasize. For example, if you are looking to get away from sales, "John Doe Sales Resume" isn't a good title.

4. You should have several versions of your resume, but you need not tip an employer off to that fact. You can come off like a serial job applicant. "Jane Doe Version 263" isn't the best idea.

5. If you've used another person's resume as the foundation for yours, take care not to use that individual's original file name. Tiffany Jones shouldn't be sending a resume titled "M Smith HR Resume."

6. Avoid using the document title as a chance to make a statement. The risk of coming off weird is too great. "Number1Candidate", "The_1_2_Hire", "PickMe" and the like are just wrong, wrong, wrong.

The best plan is to keep it simple. You need a system for keeping track of the versions of resumes you send employers. How you name them must help you distinguish what was sent while also allowing you to present professionally to the company.

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