This is the busiest time of year for us. Many people are changing jobs or looking for new opportunities as part of making 2006 a great year. That means lots of resume reviews and critiques for us and a great many resumes sent to us as part of our resume development process. Managing these resume files can be a challenge for us.
Managing resume files from job seekers can be a challenge for hiring managers and recruiters, too. As a job seeker, you should want to remove as many hurdles from your candidacy as possible. Part of that is making your resume very easy to handle for recruiters and hiring managers. The following are a few tips for making sure your resume file isn't a hurdle for you in your job search.
Name that file. I wish I had a dollar for every resume file we receive that is named Resume.doc I could go to Bimini a lot more often. Most job seekers name their resume file for their own benefit. Unfortunately, what you recognize on your system may not be helpful to the recipient. It's always best to name your resume file with your name in some fashion.
Dates are okay. Many job seekers name their resume files with a date in the file name. Dates are okay but be careful to change the name when you update your file. Joe Smith resume 2004 doesn't give the impression that you are up-to-date.
Drop the initials. Many recruiters or hiring managers need to be able to recognize your resume file from a group very quickly. If you use only your initials in your file name, it just makes it more difficult to locate your file. Use your full first and last name in the file name.
Function, function, what's your function¦ Okay, I just told my age by revealing I remember School House Rock tunes. Many people name their resume files (if they have more than one) by the function. For example, Joe Smith Sales Management or Joe Smith senior exec. This naming by function so you recognize it has pro's and cons. It does give you one more keyword for your job search target (that's the pro) but it can also give the impression that you aren't focused laser-like on one direction (that's the con). I tend to dislike them named by function but rather with some sort of code that you can recognize. Example: Joe Smith A or Joe Smith B for different versions.
Watch out on your file Properties. In Word, you can open the properties of the file and see who wrote it, when it was originally written, when it was last updated, etc. I've seen some pretty goofy things in the Properties section that don't lend themselves to projecting a professional image.