~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What You Need to Know about E-Resumes and Posting Your Resume Online ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Conducting a job search means using online tools such as e-mail, job boards, and company web sites, but you won’t be fully prepared without a text-based versions of your e-resume. You still need to have a well formatted print-based version of your resume to hand to employers at interviews and career fairs. E-resumes aren't intended to be visually attractive; their main function is not to be seen but to be searched in keyword-searchable databases. The formatting that makes printed-based resumes visually-appealing are an obstacle to the growing number of employers who search resumes from online databases (like this one). In addition, some employers won’t open e-mail attachments because of concerns about computer viruses. To make sure your e-resume can be searched in job-boards you'll need to create a text-based (or ASCII) version of your resume
The content of your resume (indicated largely by keywords) indicates your qualification for openings which an employer is searching the database. Once your skills have caught the attention of a potential employer, she may actually take a look at your resume. Even without extensive formatting you can still make sure that your text-based resume looks professional. Text-based e-resumes aren't the most glamorous item in the resume world, but they can be enhanced with some basic formatting.
===================================================================
The process is quite easy if you just follow a few simple steps. Here's how to create an
ASCII text file for job boards from a Microsoft Word file:
Open your resume in Word.
>>"Select all" and leave it selected for the rest of this procedure.
>>Set the right margin at 2" and the remaining 3 margins at 1".
>>Remove all tabs and set all text flush left.
>>Set the font to Courier 10.
>>Remove all bold, underlines, and Italics.
>>Click on "file", select "save as" from the menu.
>>Choose "text only (*.txt)" from the option, "Save as type".
>>Click the "Save" button.
>>Click "yes" to the warning asking if you're sure you want to save the file in this format.
===================================================================
Voila. You now have an ASCII text file of your resume that you can cut and paste to the TechMaine Job Board. If you're feeling a bit creative, you can use keyboard characters, such as equal signs (=====), plus signs (++++++) and tildes (~~~~~~~~) to make rule lines. You can use asterisks (*****), hyphens (-----), lower-case letter o's (ooooo), and carats (>>>>>) to make bullets. You can use UPPER CASE for emphasis in headings.