Tips for Jobseekers, Part II

The deadline has passed, praise the goddess. 160 applicants. I'd like to take this opportunity to share the optimal way to submit one's resume electronically:

• PDF your resume. I know, not eveyone has the software for that, but go to Kinko's and make a PDF of your resume. This ensures that the formatting will hold up (a guarantee that can't be made with Word) and that nobody can change the text.
• Put your cover letter in the body of the email and attach a single PDF. Do not send the attachments as zipped or secured files that require multiple clicks to open.
• Clearly name your attachment so that when it's saved, it's recognizable as yours. If you call it "Resume for Do-Good agency.doc," then I have to rename it. Call it "JBrown resume for Do-Good.doc."
• Send your application from an email address with your name, not somebody else's. If you are Mary Smith and your email address reads and John Brown, it creates confusion when one wants to go back and find your original email.

These things seem to me obvious if you put yourself in the shoes of the resume recipient, but - apparently not. Meanwhile, here are some sentences that should never, ever be used in cover letters. Really.

• "My skills are vastly underutilized in my current position."
• "I am willing to relocate to Seattle for this position, but might I suggest Colorado or Albequerque, New Mexico if we should envision future office moves?"
• "As I am currently living in Malawi and do not have reliable phone or internet access, please direct all responses to my colleague Mr. Jones."
• And, my personal favorite: "I also have a little thing that I like to call Vision."