Advice needed Re: emailing of resumes

[beat ups are fun]

A quick question before i click the send button. I have a well formatted cover letter, is it best to put the cover letter in the email body or send it as an attached file?

[PLovett]

I usually put the cover letter in the body of the email and my resume as an attachment. I have never had any adverse comment.

p.s. Don't ever let a prospective employer know your PPRuNe username.

[Mach E Avelli]

Whether the cover letter is in the email or attached probably doesn't matter, just so long as the reader can instantly derive a phone number and residential address. What does matter is to keep it short and to the point. Ditto with the resume'. One page of each - with aviation background only - has more chance of grabbing a busy Chief Pilot's attention for the two minutes that he can spare. If you only have 2000 hours or a few years in the industry there is no point in extending the resume' to 5 pages of padding, like where you went to school and how long you worked as a dish-pig at Macca's because chances are the 'delete' key will be used before the time-pressed reader gets to the aviation bit.

[beat ups are fun]

Thanks guys, I know the Resume thread has been done to death. I like to use my cover letter as a way to "sell myself" and the Resume is just the Numbers and Qualifications page. Just wanted to know which way is the best to get it read.

[VH-XXX]

I have an email inbox that has around 200 old Resume's in it right now and I've been through the shortlisting process many times, so I know what works for me.

I would recommend the following:

- Add your application letter (single page) to the top of your resume; (if they don't want it on there, they can just bin the first page)

- PDF the whole thing as the one file and attach it to your email;

- Also include the covering application letter in the email;

- Include in your email, information that makes it look like you're not just sending your resume to everywhere;

I find that I read the covering letter, if I want to know more, I open the resume. I may forward it on to the Chief Pilot if it meets the requirements - unless there are lots that meet the requirements; in this case, I seperate into two email folders, "meets requirements" and "doesn't meet requirements."

If I go to the extent of printing out the resume's, if the resume is seperate to the covering letter, then I have to do two seperate prints and staple them together. If the letter and resume is all together, then that is much easier.

If I'm doing it all online and not using hard copies, I find it hard to work out where the "good guy" was and I find myself having to search through some emails that have the information or alternatively open all the resume's to find what I'm looking for. With so many resume's out there it's all too easy to just move onto the next guy if you can't find what you are looking for easily. That's why I recommend having the application letter in the email, along with it in the resume.

Adobe PDF is a universal method of opening and viewing documents. If the potential employer doesn't have Acrobat then if they are kind enough, they will reply and ask you for a copy in another format.

DO NOT send your resume in Office 2010, Word Star (or some other crap) or similar formats as most flying schools and charter companies are not current with their software and as much as some of you like your Macintosh's, don't send Mac documents unless you are certain that they can be opened on Microsoft Office of all versions.

I like to use my cover letter as a way to "sell myself" and the Resume is just the Numbers and Qualifications page.

Great idea and exactly what you should do. Rather than re-invent the wheel every time and customise your Resume (which often leads to mistakes), keep the summary of hours and types in your resume and put the custom "why I want this job" in the covering / application letter. Tell them that you've been following their company for a while, how you fly a similar aircraft and can hit the ground running, you are keen to be part of the team, can start tomorrow etc etc...

I get the distinct impression these days that most employers particularly the smaller ones like to employ "all rounders." The kind of guys/gals that don't just fly the aircraft, but are good with loading, fueling, driving, deliveries, general knowledge, getting on with customers and those that are all-round great guys. If you are looking to walk into the terminal, step on the aircraft, finish the paperwork, fly off and expect coffee from the hostie, then you should have applied for a Cadet program. If you're not sure what I mean, you should watch Ice Pilots Season 1 or perhaps the Channel 10 series of Keeping up with the Jones's. If I were employing between two candidates with similar hours, one with 2 years at McDonalds and his uncles landscaping business and the other straight out of boarding school with his sausage-factory CPL, I know what I'd be thinking...