When applying for a job, some employers will require you to email your resume and cover letter as an attachment.
Not only your employers.
If you have contacted somebody in your network to help you to find a job, the person may also request that you email your resume and cover letter.
As a result, you need to know exactly how to email your resume and cover letter or risk losing the opportunity to get an interview.
There are lots of mistakes that you can make when you are sending these documents.
However, after reading this article, you will be able to properly attach your resume and cover letter in your email before sending it to the hiring company.
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Why are resumes and cover letters important?
Generally, employers do not have prior knowledge of the people who are going to apply to get a job with the company.
As a result, every applicant will have to introduce themselves so that the employer has a fair idea of who the candidate is.
Also, this introduction helps the employer to determine the best applicant for the job position available.
So, for the employer to select the best applicant, all applicants must submit a form of introductory document.
This is why resumes and cover letters are important.
The purpose of a resume is to showcase your skills and training, work experience, and education, and, most importantly, the accomplishments you have made with past employers.
It also informs the employer of your career objective and then, it communicates in a concise manner the benefits you will bring to the job if hired.
A cover letter, on the other hand, usually accompanies your CV as part of a job application.
It highlights your major accomplishments and motivates the hiring manager to read your resume and set up an interview.
A cover letter is an important way to showcase how your unique combination of skills and experience meet the key requirements of the job description.
It is your chance to show a clear link between your knowledge, experience and abilities and the needs of the employer.
With your well written cover letter, you can easily become the best candidate that the recruiter cannot ignore.
How to Email a Resume and Cover Letter Attachment
Now that we know what resume and cover letter are and why they are important, now we need to know how to send them as email attachments.
But we get to that, just take a minute to reflect on this.
Imagine that you found a good job position that suits your qualification.
This job is your dream job and comes with very good pay.
You spent some time to customize your resume and write a compelling cover letter for the job position.
Then you send your job application via email.
You wait for some days, and then days turned into weeks and you’re not getting any callback.
So, you start worrying and wondering why you have not heard from the company again.
Well, I guess I know what happened.
No one ever saw your resume nor your cover letter.
And why’s that?
It is because you don’t know how to email a resume the right way.
Well, this is about to change for you now.
In this section, you will be learning how to email your resume and cover letter attachment the right way.
So, where do we begin?
1. Do your research:
Doing your own research is the first thing you must do before you think of sending your resume and cover letter via email.
The reason is that not all job listings require you to submit an email.
So, when you go ahead and submit an email without finding out whether that is the right route to follow, your email may never be seen.
Read the job listing properly and check the company’s website to see the procedure for submitting your resume and cover letter.
2. Stick with the company’s instruction:
Now that you have done your research and confirmed that you need to submit your resume and cover letter via email, the next is for you to follow the company’s instructions.
What this means is that you need to read between the lines when doing your research.
That is because the employer may require you to send your cover letter in one of two ways.
You may be required to send the cover letter as an email attachment or as the body of your email
So, if you miss that tiny detail and do the opposite, then you will appear to the employer as one who is careless and does not pay attention to details.
3. Save your cover letter and resume with your name:
The employer may request you to send your application as PDF or Docx. file.
But most likely, you will have to submit them as PDF so that they will retain the document formatting.
When you save your document, ensure that you add your name as the name of the file.
For instance, you can save your document as “John_Doe_Resume.”
By doing this, the employer can easily identify the document as your resume.
You should also do the same with your cover letter.
But this time, you will change the “resume” in the file name to “cover letter.”
So, saving your cover letter will be “John_Doe_Cover_Letter.”
4. Write the email message to send with your resume and cover letter:
After adding your name in the file name of your documents, it is time to email them to the hiring company.
But you are not going to just attach your documents and send them just like that.
You need to write a message to whoever is going to read your email.
The first line of your message should contain the reason for sending the email.
Then, the next paragraph will talk briefly about your qualifications, experience and achievements just to grab the attention of the reader.
The next paragraph should direct the reader to check your attached documents.
Finally, close the message by thanking the person and anticipate a call for an interview.
5. Include an email signature
At the end of the message of your email, make sure to add the proper email signature to close your email.
Doing this makes it easy for the hiring manager to get in touch with you.
Your email signature can follow the structure below:
First Name Last Name
Email address
Phone number
6. Attach your resume and cover letter to the email:
Now that you are done with the message of the email and the signature, the next step is to attach your resume and cover letter.
Remember that you can only send your documents via email if and only if the job posting specifically requests it.
The reason you have to be sure of this move is that some companies automatically block emails with attachments to prevent computer viruses.
So, refer to the second tip and make sure you stick with the company’s guidelines.
7. Add a subject line to your email:
When writing your email to submit your resume and cover letter, make sure that add a straightforward subject line.
This is because a straightforward, informative subject line increases the chances that the recruiter or hiring manager will open your email.
Since employers may be hiring for several positions, it’s important that they can immediately identify which role you’re applying for before they open the email.
In less than 60 characters, write your full name and the job title in the subject line.
Possible ways to structure your email subject line include:
Cover Letter – Job Title – Your Name (E.g. Cover Letter – Accountant – John Doe)
Cover Letter: Your Name for Job Title (E.g. Cover Letter: John Doe for Accountant)
Your Name Cover Letter: Job Title (John Doe Cover Letter: Accountant)
8. Use a professional email address:
When submitting a job application via email, it is always advisable to use a professional email address because it matters a lot.
A professional email address usually made up of your first and last name.
For instance, your professional email can be “Johndoe@email.com.”
If your full name is already taken, then try using a combination of your name and initials or underscore.
For example, your email can be “JohnD@email.com, Jdoe@email.com, John_doe@email.com, or John.doe@email.com.
By all means, avoid using nicknames or numbers in your professional email address.
9. Send yourself a test email:
Before you click send, make sure your attachments are working properly by sending yourself a test message.
Download the attachment from your test email to ensure it’s the correct file.
Also, double-check your spelling, grammar, and formatting before sending your final cover letter email to the hiring manager.
10. Follow up your email:
After sending your resume and cover letter, don’t go and relax.
You need to be sure that your get a reply from the employer.
A good way to be sure of the employment update is to send a follow-up email to the employer after about 2 weeks after the application deadline.
Sending a follow up to the employer sends the signal that you are passionate about getting the job.
Conclusion
Many job seekers lose a lot of job opportunities because of the little mistakes they make when sending their resume and cover letter via email.
Always refer to this article to see the proper guide that will help you to submit your documents the right way.
Any deviation from the rules in this guide may cost you the opportunity of getting an interview and ultimately losing the job.
Please, share this article on social media to help other job seekers out there who have no idea about these tips.
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