E-mailing resume's? (gen. resume' ?'s)

Long story short work has dropped of the deep end with the natural gas boom moving even farther south and a few co-workers making petty mistakes on very expensive projects. I also feel as if I'm not being treated fairly, or compensated for my skills and work ethics. So, I've decided to seek other employment.

I don't have a lot of free time to get out and about job hunting. Is it acceptable to fax or e-mail resume's to human resources department, or the department head?

Anyone have experience looking at lots and lots of resume's that can give some tips to stand out?
What about things to avoid?

[Apoco]

I can't give you any real advice on it. Other than don't be afraid to ask your friends to use their contacts.

I finally got a job in January after sending out many, many resumes. I wish you the best of luck!

[M1903A1]

My experience (on both ends of the hiring process) has been that blindly faxed resumes are discarded outright. (Not out of maliciousness, the recipient usually just says "what's this?!" and tosses it along with the rest of the fax spam.)

[wolfandwhisky]

Originally Posted by M1903A1

My experience (on both ends of the hiring process) has been that blindly faxed resumes are discarded outright. (Not out of maliciousness, the recipient usually just says "what's this?!" and tosses it along with the rest of the fax spam.)

agreed - find out who you are sending it to first, and then fire away. this way, the receiver knows that it is coming and will know what it is.

hope the process goes smoothly for you.

[mithrilG60]

Originally Posted by M1903A1

My experience (on both ends of the hiring process) has been that blindly faxed resumes are discarded outright. (Not out of maliciousness, the recipient usually just says "what's this?!" and tosses it along with the rest of the fax spam.)

CV's emailed to general addresses receive much the same treatment simply due to volumes. Most companies that are accepting general applications will have a specific address on their site to email to and specific postings will of course have submission instructions. Overall I think that handing a CV to the appropriate person in the company is still the best since it lets you make a personal impression, but unless you can get face time with that person you're probably better served via email than dropping it off with the receptionist.

[Col. Kurtz]

I would recommend hard copy w/ cover letter in a NEATLY hand addressed flat envelope. Send to the attention of the hiring manager, not HR.

[chachee52]

Something not to do is just drop off a folded resume (no envolope) to an office receptionist and say: "this is a copy of my resume" and then leave. Just had that happen two weeks ago, no cover letter, the employment was all over the place so we really don't know what she was looking for in a position!!! We threw it out before even giving it to the people that do the hiring because it was terrible.

[timj219]

Unsolicited usually means unread. Use your contacts -personal and professional - to get you an introduction. Definitely use the online job services like monster. If there is a company you want to apply to and you have no inside contact, there is a real good chance they have a "job opportunities" section on their website. Definitely use that avenue for sending the resume.

[md4958]

Originally Posted by Col. Kurtz

I would recommend hard copy w/ cover letter in a NEATLY hand addressed flat envelope. Send to the attention of the hiring manager, not HR.

Call HR and find out which format they prefer receiving their resumes. Many companies use "robots" to look for keywords on electronic resumes. If they want an electronic copy, make a second resume specifically for that purpose with keywords that are job appropriate.

Once youve done that, find out the address for the hiring manager and mail a copy of your hard copy resume in a stationary matching large 8.5x11 envelope. Make sure your cover letter is specific to that job, and triple check the details like the name of the manager etc.

Good luck!

[Starscream]

Originally Posted by Col. Kurtz

I would recommend hard copy w/ cover letter in a NEATLY hand addressed flat envelope. Send to the attention of the hiring manager, not HR.

Originally Posted by md4958

Call HR and find out which format they prefer receiving their resumes. Many companies use "robots" to look for keywords on electronic resumes. If they want an electronic copy, make a second resume specifically for that purpose with keywords that are job appropriate.

Once youve done that, find out the address for the hiring manager and mail a copy of your hard copy resume in a stationary matching large 8.5x11 envelope. Make sure your cover letter is specific to that job, and triple check the details like the name of the manager etc.

Good luck!

Both of the above statements are great advice.

Thanks for the tips guys. I hadn't even thought about snail mailing 'em. Keep them coming if ya got 'em.