Conference Sketch
September 1, 2003Life Planning for Those 40+
December 1, 2003By Sandra Lim, CPRW, CCM, CECC
For the last of my series of 3 articles on e-résumés, I will touch briefly on questions about Web résumés and provide links to step-by-step instructions for creating your own Web résumé, plus links to actual Web résumés viewable on the Internet.
Q: What is a Web résumé?
A: You may recall from FAQs About E-Résumés: Part 1, that ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, and that Web résumés are a form of ASCII résumé – an ASCII hypertext résumé, identified by the file extensions .html or .htm – uploaded to the Internet.
Q: Is it helpful to have a Web résumé? What type of job seekers benefit most from having a Web résumé?
A: If Web design is a career you are pursuing, a Web résumé can show off your Web design skills and abilities to potential employers – it’s a good idea to list the URL to your Web résumé with your contact information on your traditional résumé.
For non-IT candidates, during economic booms, HR professionals and recruiters would conduct Internet searches and contact passive job seekers with highly-sought skills to invite them to apply for job openings. However, make sure not to neglect active job seeking activities.
Q: What do I need to create a Web résumé?
A: Although a number of tools are available to help you create a Web résumé without having to learn HTML, step-by-step instructions can be found on Rebecca Smith’s award-winning eRésumés & Resources website, which provides articles such as “Web Résumé Design Guidelines” and “Designing your First Web Résumé.” For inspiration, Rebecca’s site provides a Gallery of Web Résumés with examples of real job seekers’ Web résumés on the Internet.
You will also need your own Web page or access to Web space to actually publish your Web résumé on the Internet. Most ISPs provide subscribers with a certain amount of Web space on their servers, and there are free sites such as Yahoo! GeoCities. Uploading instructions are provided, and you may need to download a FTP (file transfer protocol) program. Rebecca’s website also provides a list of Web hosting sites and tips for promoting your Web résumé through search engines after it’s uploaded to the Internet.
Q: What should I include in my Web résumé?
A: A Web résumé gives you the opportunity to include links to samples of your work, such as other Web pages you’ve designed, photographs, project reports, and school transcripts for students or recent graduates… and other artifacts that can demonstrate your skills to employers. You can also offer employers the option of downloading your résumé in various formats: MS Word, PDF, and ASCII plain-text. An email link is a must.
Sandra Lim, CPRW, CCM, CECC is a Certified Electronic Career Coach (CECC). Through her company, A Better Impression, she provides résumé and career counselling services to help her clients create a better impression. She can be reached at newcareer@abetterimpression.com.