E-mailing Resumes & Cover Letters

What is the proper way to e-mail a cover letter and resume to an employer who has requested an e-mail resume? Great question and one I get asked quite frequently. First, include a brief and professional note with your attachment confirming their request.

Dear....:

Per our conversation, please find attached....

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
FirstName LastName

If they did not specifically give you a format that they prefer I would send my cover letter and resume in one Adobe PDF file.

The Adobe Reader is free and on almost every computer and will allow them to open one file to get both documents. PDF is the only format that would ensure that your layout will be viewed as intended on any operating system.

For example, if you send in Word format and they have WordPerfect (or visa-versa), their software will convert to the native format and the layout of your documents can end up not being as impressive as you planned.

If you don't have Adobe Acrobat software to create a PDF file there are several free services online that will convert your documents for you--just do a search at your favorite Search Engine.

Another suggestion is to name your file to be descriptive of what it is:

firstname-lastname-resume.pdf

This helps to make sure once they have the file on their computer they know who and what it is at a glance. ;-)

Good luck with your job search!