Electronic Resumes

A majority of employers now prefer resumes to be submitted electronically, either via e-mail or using an on-line form. Both methods of electronic delivery require proper preparation to ensure your resume gets there in a readable form. Some file formats cannot be opened or read by some employers. Other file formats are blocked by security software. Both attachments and posted content may lose their design and style elements when opened, and some fonts may be unreadable by the final reader. Luckly, preparing resumes for electronic delivery is fairly simple.

How to Prepare an Electronic Resume

  1. Create content for your targeted resume as you would normally.
  2. Use a common font (Arial, Courier, Helvitica, Times New Roman) and standard size (10-12 pt). Avoid unnecessary graphic elements.
  3. Save your file as a Word document (the most commonly accepted file format). Do NOT save as the default .docx file. Instead, use "Save As" and choose "Word 97-2003 Document" under "Type." This will give your file a .doc format readable by most versions of MS Office.
  4. Save your file AGAIN, using "Save As" and choose "Plain Text" or "Text only" under "Type." Now you have a second version of your resume in a .txt format readable by all word processors and text readers.
  5. Close the open document.
  6. Reopen the text (.txt) resume to review style and spacing elements. Verify that your letters are still readable. Use "spaces" and "returns" to fix any gap issues. It may be helpful to add blank lines to aid readability.
  7. Save the file again. (It should default to a .txt file.)

How to Test Your Electronic Resume

E-mail your resume to yourself as attachments (in both formats) AND pasted into the body of an e-mail. This will allow you to confirm readability and give you easy access to your resume in multiple formats for future use.

How to Submit an Electronic Resume

If submitting via e-mail:
  1. Confirm whether the employer will accept attachments and preferred formats.
  2. If the employer will accept Word documents as attachments, attach the file and use the body of your e-mail as your cover letter.
  3. If the employer will accept attachments but not in Word, use the "Save As" option in Word to save in the desired format. Then attach the file and use the body of your e-mail as your cover letter.
  4. If the employer will NOT accept attachments, open your text (.txt) resume. Copy and paste the content into the body of your e-mail, after a short introductory paragraph.
If submitting via on-line form:
  1. Open your text (.txt) resume. Copy and paste the content into the form and submit.
*Note: Some on-line submission forms accept a limited number of characters. Before you submit your resume, confirm that the complete content was pasted into the form.


Webmaster, 2017