Reasons To Send Your Resume As A PDF
Posted on: 17 October 2017
There are many schools of thought about how you should distribute your resume electronically. There's merit in sending it as an attachment so that it can easily be printed, but there's also value in including it in the body of your email so that a hiring manager can begin to peruse it without having to open the attachment. Another idea to consider is to attach your resume in a PDF format instead of going the conventional route of using a word processing document. Here are some reasons that sending your resume in this manner may pay off.
It Won't Lose Its Formatting
One of the concerns of attaching your resume when it's saved as a word processing file is that it may lose its formatting when the hiring manager opens its. What looked right on your computer screen at the time you sent it may not look right on the hiring manager's screen, and if he or she is busy, it's possible that your resume won't get the attention it deserves. For example, if the bullet points appear crammed together, the resume will look disorganized and thus will be difficult to decipher. The manner in which the contents are locked in place in a PDF means that when the manager opens your resume, it will look correct.
Parts Won't Mistakenly Get Deleted
Whenever you send something as a word processing document, there's always the chance that part of it might be inadvertently altered. For example, a hiring manager who is quickly opening attached resumes to give them a brief glance might be in such a hurry that he or she mistakenly double-clicks on the resume and taps a keyboard key, thus deleting a section. This situation might seem rare, but keyboard shortcuts and momentary distractions may be enough to remove a section of your resume and make it appear weak. PDF files' contents are locked, making this risk a non-factor.
You Can Add Extra Elements
Although you should use logos or graphics sparingly on your resume, sending it as a PDF means that you can add one of these elements if desired. Doing so is also possible in word processing documents, but because such documents are mainly designed for text and not images, the latter can look awkward. You shouldn't worry about any potential downfalls of sending your resume as a PDF. Virtually every business professional has software that reads PDFs, making this document easy to load and review.
Contact a company like Arizona Resume for additional advice.
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