Job Discussion Forums

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Greetings General Forum:



For over a decade now I've been pulling (what's left of) my hair out

updating and transporting my CV (a.k.a. resume) from country to country.

Hard-copy CVs are just a pain in the butt, and floppy discs aren't always user-friendly

or compatible, depending on the computer you happen to be sitting in front of.

Attachments don't always work either, and many DOSs state clearly not to send an attachment.



One evening after a cold beer, the proverbial light came on;

a simple & pragmatic solution that allows me (or you) to

finally 'dump' the paper CV forever:



"Why not create and store the CV within the body of a regular Yahoo (or similar) e-mail draft ?"


So I sat down (over a cup of hot java) and went to work.

Within a few hours, I had copied my entire CV into the body of a normal Yahoo e-mail,

and then saved it as a draft.



A few of its features:


a) colour titles and subtitles, as well as variable font sizes, which looks really nice

b) hot-links to the schools I've worked for (& the e-mail addresses of references)

c) a hot-link to the Registrar's Office of the university I graduated from

and

d) a hot-link to Photobucket, where I store my CV photos



If you adopt this simple concept, you'll never need to send an attachment

or lug around another floppy or hard-copy CV as long as you live.



Due to its simplicity and small size (mine takes up only 14K),

I believe you'll also score brownie points at the schools you apply to.



In essence, I've created a totally fool-proof, electronic, 'clickable' CV, stored it on Yahoo,

and can personalize it, print it out in color, or e-mail it to a prospective employer

with a simple 'click' of the mouse.



No more large attachments clogging up the DOS' inbox;

no more software compatibility woes;

no more 'wondering' if the person on the other end

was able to 'open' your CV or view your photo.



Plus, updating it is so easy now - it almost makes me cry tears of joy.



I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this;

I just wanted to share the idea with anyone who still has a full head of hair

and / or a briefcase full of useless, out-of-date resumes.



I've dubbed my invention ECV, and I expect large royalty cheques

and expensive gifts from those who copy the idea.



Have a nice weekend (y'all) !

[go_ABs]

Perhaps you should also consider that some email programs are set up to view the material as "plain text only". If you send a fancy email to them, it'll either come up devoid of formatting or, even worse, with all the little code thingies all over the place. Like: [ b ] [ / b ] etc

It's a good idea, but just bear in mind the potential differences in email systems.

And, um, am I the only one thinking "duh" ?

I think it's a good tip for everyone travelling: send copies of your important stuff to a web-based email program like yahoo or hotmail. That way if everything goes to hell you'll be able to drop into an internet cafe to retrieve those important numbers / documents.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

^ Good point, go_ABs.

I hadn't really considered the problem of text-only e-mail systems,

although I don't think they're all too common.

Regardless;

black & white, one font size fits all - may be a wise move?

As for the 'duh' factor; I agree with you completely.

Not sure why I was lugging around 2 kilos of paper CVs

and swearing at Russian & Japanese floppy discs all those years.


I'm so ashamed.


Moral of the story: a cold beer always brings out the best in me.

[go_ABs]

Mmm... cold beer...

Hm? Oh, right:

Text-only systems might not be very common, but I know that in my Outlook Express 6.0 email system, there is an option to "display as text-only". Some people choose to have that as default to avoid the frills.

I'm not exactly an expert on this stuff, but I would say one font size fits all would be a good idea.

Have you also considered having your CV as a webpage? That way you could send prospective employers an e-mail with your cover letter, and a link to your CV if they're interested. I haven't tried this - has anyone else? Experiences?

Kent: After 10 years you're still applying for new jobs regularly?

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

^ 16 years, but who the hell is counting?

My name is Kent, and I'm a TEFL-holic.



Excellent idea to create a homepage CV, by the way.

I'm putting that on my to-do list.



I'd like to add just one follow-up comment to what I wrote above:

The only novel aspect of the Yahoo "store-it-in-the-body-of-your-email" approach

is that your CV / resume can now be sent out at a keystroke

without any attachment of any kind, from anywhere in the world,

without regard to the particular software on your end --- or the receiver's end.

People sometimes wrongly assume that everybody in the world has MS Word on their 'puter,

and this can cause problems.



Well, it's Friday night in The Big Mango;

time to log off now and return to contemplation.





PS: Yahoo now offers 1 GB storage on their free accounts.