Converting your MS WORD Résumé Into Text Only/Plain Text ...

Converting your MS WORD R?sum? Into Text Only/Plain Text Format

Please note that these instructions assume that your r?sum? is in MS Word for Windows. If your r?sum? is in another word processing application or on a different computer platform like Macintosh or Windows Vista, you may need to consult your word processing manual for specific instructions.

Step 1:

Save Your R?sum? as a Text Only document. A Text Only (called Plain Text in Windows XP) document works best for an electronic r?sum? because you can adjust the margins and formatting to suit the database or email system in which you are working. To convert your MS Word r?sum? to Text Only/Plain Text:

1. Open the MS Word document that contains your r?sum?.

2. Click File in your tool bar and select Save As.

3. Type in a new name for this document in File Name, such as "ResTextOnly."

4. Under this is the Save As Type pull-down menu. From this list, select "Text Only" (*.txt). If you're on a Windows XP computer, select "Plain Text" from the pull-down menu.

5. Click Save to perform the conversion.

6. Close the document but stay in MS Word.

7. Reopen the document you just closed by going to File in the tool bar, click Open, select the file named "ResTextOnly.txt," and click Open. Warning: If you exit MS Word and then open the r?sum? document by clicking on its icon in the directory, it will be opened in Notepad -- not what you want if you intend to use this version to prepare an emailable r?sum?.

After converting your r?sum? to Text Only, what appears in your document window is your r?sum? stripped of any fancy formatting. You are now ready to make a few final adjustments before posting it online:

Step 2:

Check keywords. Make sure you have all the keywords that define your job qualifications.

Step 3:

Delete any references to "page two," "Continued," or your name or head on page 2. You are making your r?sum? appear as one continuous electronic document.

Step 4:

Remove MS Word formatting. Because MS Word formatting is not universal, convert your r?sum? into "keyboard" formatting by removing all bold, italics, underlines, bullets, and tabs, and only use formatting you find on your keyboard.

Step 5:

Use all CAPS for words that need special emphasis. For the best overall effect, use all caps sparingly, highlighting only what you really want to have stand out.

Step 6:

Replace each bullet point with a standard keyboard symbol.

Suggested replacements are: Dashes (-) Plus signs (+) Single or Double Asterisks (*) (**)

Use the Space Bar, not the Tab Key, to place a single space immediately after each symbol (and before the words). Allow the lines to wrap naturally at the end of a line. Don't put a forced return (don't push the Return or Enter key) if it's not the end of the statement and don't indent the second line of a statement with the Space Bar.

Step 7:

Use straight quotes in place of curly quotes. To do this, select the text that includes the quotes you want to change. Click Format in your tool bar and select AutoFormat. Click the Options button, and make sure Replace Straight Quotes With Smart Quotes is not selected under both the AutoFormat and AutoFormat As You Type tabs. Then click OK to exit the AutoFormat box, and your curly quotes will be changed to straight quotes.

Step 8:

Rearrange text if necessary. Do a line-by-line review of your document to make sure there are no odd-looking line wraps, extra spaces, or words scrunched together in the body, making adjustments accordingly. This may require inserting commas between items that were once in columns and are now in paragraph format because tabs and tables disappeared when the document was converted to Text Only.

Emailing Your Plain Text R?sum?

Now that you have the Plain Text R?sum? for Posting, it takes just a few more steps to create a perfect Plain Text R?sum? for Emailing. Again, if you take the time to do this now, you will save yourself a lot of time later.

Email Step 1:

Limit line lengths. Because each email software has its own length of lines, your message may not look as good when it is read by a potential employer. To avoid this problem, limit each line to no more than 65 characters, including spaces. To do this:

Open MS Word, click Open, select the file named "ResTextOnly.txt," and click Open. Warning: If you open the r?sum? document by clicking on its icon in the directory, it will be opened in Notepad -- not what you want right now.

1. Select the entire document and change the font to Courier, 12 pt.

2. Go to Format in your toolbar; select Page Setup (Windows XP users will find Page Setup under File in their toolbars); set the left margin at 1 inch and your right margin at 1.75 inch. (Yahoo! email users set your right margin at 2.5.)

3. Select the entire document and change the font to Times, Arial, or some other standard font you like.

With the font, size of font, and side margins set, each line of your document will be no more than 65 characters and spaces. Don't worry about whether you want the employer to see your r?sum? in Courier font - his or her e-mail software will convert it to the font set on his or her system.

Email Step 2:

Save as Text Only with Line Breaks. To save changes you made in Step 1, you must convert your Text Only document one more time by doing the following:

? With your Text Only r?sum? document open, click File in your tool bar and select Save As.

? Type in a new name for this document in File Name, such as "ResTextBreak."

? Directly under this is the Save As Type pull-down menu. From this list, select "Text Only with Line Breaks (*.txt)." Click Save to perform the conversion. If you're a Windows XP user, save your document as Plain Text. When the File Conversion window appears on your screen, click "Insert line breaks" under Options; then click OK.

? Now close the document and exit MS Word. ? Reopen the r?sum? document (ResTextBreak.txt) by

clicking on its icon in the directory. That will open it as a Notepad document.

Email Step 3:

Copy the entire text in your ResTextBreak.txt document that you've opened in Notepad, and paste it in the body of the email message. Before sending your r?sum? to an employer, run a test by sending it to yourself and to a friend to see how it looks after going through the Internet. (It's even better if your friend uses a different email program than you do , such as Outlook or Gmail.) This will help you identify any additional formatting problems you need to correct before you start sending it out to possible employers.

!

Would you like to improve your R?sum??

Attend our R?sum? Basics or R?sum? Critique workshops

offered at any of our American Job Center - Eastern Region locations.

Do you need to learn/refresh your Computer Skills?

Check out the Computer Basics workshop offered at all of our Centers.

Do you need an email address? Do you have an email address, but don't use it?

Check out the Email for Beginners workshop offered at all of our Centers.

Want to enhance your computer skills and/or expand your job search network?

Check out the Introduction to Microsoft Word workshop and the

Professional Networking Online workshop offered at all of our Centers.

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