Publishing

File format

Common file formats for resumes include:

• PDF
• Microsoft Word (doc, docx)
• Plain Text
• HTML

Here we recommend PDF most:

• PDF has excellent cross-platform output quality, ensuring nearly 100% consistent printing and display
• PDF can be embedded with fonts, allowing great freedom in font selection
• default PDF reader available on most platforms
  • Windows 8 and above have a built-in PDF reader
  • macOS has Preview (opens in a new tab), iOS has iBooks (opens in a new tab)
  • many browsers (such as Chrome) have built-in pdf.js (opens in a new tab), which can also open PDF by default

It's easier to learn MS Word, but delivering a resume with Word format has great disadvantages:

• Word documents must be opened with additional office software installed
  • Microsoft Word, WPS Office (opens in a new tab) for Windows
  • iWork (opens in a new tab) for macOS
  • WPS Office (opens in a new tab), LibreOffice (opens in a new tab) for Linux
  • many online document editing systems such as Google Docs (opens in a new tab) can also open and edit Word documents
• Word documents may display quite differently in different software on different platforms
  • in reality not everyone has installed Microsoft Word (opens in a new tab) on his computer
  • another fact is that a genuine license for Microsoft Word may cost hundreds of dollars
• in order to try to ensure consistent display and output, Word documents are best used with only a few fonts that are common to the major operating systems, which results in Word documents with very little freedom in font selection.

Of course, different HR managers in various companies can have different requirements and preferences. We recommend that you export the resume to PDF as an alternative if making it by Word

Email etiquette

Aside from the company's proprietary recruiting system, the primary method of submitting resumes for job applications should be email. Some basic e-mail etiquette is as follows.

• set the correct email nickname, don't use informal overly fancy nicknames, it will give the employer an impression of being very unprofessional
• use a uniform format in the email header, keep it clear and concise to convey the most important information
  • recommended format: Apply-Company Position-Name-[University/Education]-[Work Experience]
• the body of the email should be concise, it is not recommended to write a long cover letter with a lot of personal subjective evaluation
  • best to add the title and a greeting at the beginning of text
  • contents in body
    • basic personal information, such as work status (in-service or not), position, education and work experiences, etc.
    • applying position
    • applying approach, whether recommended by others
  • add an inscriber containing name and contact information (telephone/email)
• attach the resume file named with the same format of the header