Whitcomb,
Susan Britton & Kendall, Pat
eResumes: Everything You Need to Know About Using Electronic
Resumes to Tap into Today's Hot Job Market
McGraw-Hill: New York, 2002
ISBN: 0-07-136399-8
Cost: $11.95 (soft cover)
>> Reviewed by Jeff Staples <<
Should I use PDF, RTF, or maybe ASCII for creating my e-resume?
Do I want to provide specific contact information or do I want
my e-resume to convey little contact-related information? These
decisions and many others such as the right keywords to use are
addressed in eResumes. The descriptive subtitle says it all: "Everything
you need to know about using electronic resumes."
This book provides something for all e-resume developers. If you
don't have an electronic resume, you should be able to find out
all you need to know to create one. If you have provided your
resumes to prospects via the Internet for some time, you might
discover items in this book that you haven't considered before,
such as privacy concerns, or find ideas for updating the look
of your e-resume with the large array of example resumes.
The authors have included a host of resources for the e-resume
developer, including effective writing strategies, visual aids,
and effective design templates. Start with the Preface for a quick
overview of the book. There you find a brief synopsis of each
chapter and its focus.
Chapter 1 provides interesting information on various types of
electronic resumes. However, much of the chapter focuses on why
you should take your resume online. Probably most people in today's
job market will not need any convincing on the value of providing
their resume to the wider market that the Internet can offer.
Chapter 2 focuses on keywords and the value they offer in an e-resume
that will probably be searched rather than read. You learn that
today a computer will probably be scanning your resume searching
for keywords to decide if you are a match for the position available.
The authors coin a new definition for ROI and consider it "the
secret to writing a winning eResume" (p.33). It's important
to be familiar with keywords in your particular industry, and
the chapter offers a list of keywords that recruiters say they
typically look for and a number of resources for finding applicable
keywords.
Chapter 3 covers ASCII e-resumes. You learn coding for ASCII characters
and see various examples of what can go wrong when characters
are used incorrectly. There is a great discussion on formatting
resumes that are intended to go in e-mail messages and in e-forms
on job-search Web sites.If you have covered Chapter 3, then you
have created an ASCII resume.
Chapters
4 and 5 take you through the process of submitting your ASCII
resume into an e-form and attaching it to an e-mail message. An
important point of the chapter is to use the universal language-plain
text-when submitting your e-resume via e-mail and the Internet.
Plain text may not be pretty, but it will deliver something that
is understandable to the recipient. And don't forget the cover
letter, or you run the risk of being regarded as "a bit clueless."
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Chapter 6 is basically for supplemental reading unless you are unsure
of the value inherent in an electronic resume or portfolio. However,
it does provide information on the differences between the Web resume
and a portfolio. There are good examples on how to enhance the look
of a Web-based resume.
Chapter 7 conveys options for getting external help in creating
your e-resume. No, you do not have to go it alone. Details are provided
on various options available such as hiring a professional Web page
designer and using Microsoft Word's Save as Web Page option.
In Chapter 8, the focus is on the effectiveness of your e-resume.
You will notice that many items that you focus on in your printed
resume such as typography and capturing an employer's attention
hold true for electronic resumes as well. In addition, an online
resume lets you consider items such as use of graphics and color.
Good examples of resumes are provided that demonstrate before-and-after
effects on e-resumes that use the techniques the authors recommend.
In contrast to Chapter 7 and its options for external help, Chapter
9 is for the do-it-yourself individual. The focus is on creating
your own e-resume by working directly with the HTML code. You get
a brief overview of the basics of HTML and a reference to resources
that offer additional information.
Chapter 10 is a must read for even the seasoned e-resume developer.
Here you find a discussion of privacy issues associated with posting
and distributing e-resumes. In addition, several examples convey
how much or how little you want your resume to reveal. But the information
does not stop there. Now that you have created your electronic resume,
where do you send it? This chapter provides several suggestions
on where to post your resume, including career, recreation, and
resume-distribution Web sites.
The authors have assembled an array of information that covers a
multitude of items related to the creation and distribution of e-resumes.
This book should serve as a great starting point to compile or enhance
your electronic resume and a great reference in your technical communication
library.
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