May 22, 2012

Converting a resume to plain text from Microsoft Word.

Many resume writers and career consultants recommend that your resume makes a splash with sharp graphic design and other style features. But what about those job sites that want you to email your resume within the body or require you to upload the resume into their online app? Or maybe you have a website and want to include your resume as part of the content – either as a job-seeker or even a business owner – and you simply just want clean text. Plain text or ASCII format is the answer. (pronounced ASKEE).

ASCII means American Standard Code for Information Interchange and refers to the universal code that most computers understand. A document saved in this format is very simply put, just words. There are no pictures, graphics or fonts and no special style characteristics like bod or underline. If it sounds boring to you, don’t worry you’re not alone in that thinking. It is a very boring document to look at, but it has all the information necessary.  For job-seekers, it’s just what you need to get your information in front of a person via email or if you want to respond to an online job listing — think Monster or Careerbuilder. And if clean text is what you need, like the sample below, here are some tips to help you get there:

A plain text resume is easy to copy and paste into the body of any email.
Photo Credit: Words Etc.

  • When creating your resume in a word processing format, remove all of the special character attributes like bold, italics or underlining.  Special fonts and font size will disappear, along with tabs when you convert to plain text, so you may want to remove these features from your document before you convert it to make the adjustments easier to make later.
  • Rather than using the “bullets” feature, use these characters to define lists in the body of your resume:    + * or ~.  To separate sections of your resume, use a series of special characters.  For example:  ———————— ***************** ================= ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  • Align text to the left. You want a ragged right margin.
  • Let your sentences wrap to a new line.  Do not use the “enter” key to try to control the length of each line. But you should use the enter key to add white space between sections of your resume.

Following these tips will assure that your plain text resume will be easy to read on your recipient’s screen, whether he is using a computer, iPad or phone.

Once you have your document in as simple a format as possible, following the above guidelines, you will need to use the “save as” feature to save it as a “plain text” document.  Depending on the software you’re using, your choices may include ASCII, Plain Text or Text Only.  Any of these should work. You now need to reopen the file.  You’ll find that your program has reformatted your resume file into Courier font and removed all formatting and left-justified the text.

Next, you’ll need to make some adjustments to your document:

  • Reset the margin to 2 inches on both left and right margins
  • Fix any strange characters that now appear where you may have used curly quotation marks, dashes, accents or other  non-standard symbols
  • Remove any tabs and adjust the spacing.  You may have to add a few blank lines to make your resume easier to read.
  • Add a series of characters as mentioned above to separate the sections of your resume.
  • Re-save the file.  It will now be saved  as a “.txt” format file.

You’re done! Now you can open the .txt file and copy and paste it into either the body of an email or to an online application.

If you have any trouble with creating your plain text resume, leave me a comment or contact me at christine@wordsetc.info

Thanks for reading!

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May 5, 2012

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!

It’s Cinco de Mayo and that means, music, celebration and, of course, food and drink.  In spite of all of the ideas spinning around in my head about what I should be blogging about – like converting a resume to plain text or discussing  different writing styles -  the tastes of the day keep permeating my imagination.  As one who has been working hard on losing a few pounds, those blasted “caloric counts” are always on my mind.  Now I’m doing good in the weight-loss department with the assistance of MyFitnessPal  - a great app to help you count calories and exercise.  I am pleased to report that I have 15 lb less body fat surrounding my middle than I had just  7 1/2 weeks ago.  It’s been a pretty easy ride with the help of MFP.  I’ve become so much aware of every bite I put in my mouth and what it’s worth.  I don’t feel deprived; I just count everything I eat.  So that means today, a Margarita or a Corona Light is not out of the question — as long as I count it! But do I really want to waste all those calories on one little drink.   Hmm, have to think about that one.  I’d much rather enjoy good, fresh goodies from my kitchen.

MFP makes to easy to count your calories and exercise!

Those of you that follow me know that I communicate with my readers on all levels – and that includes food and eating.  So on on a lighter eating note, today I communicate with you through my Black Bean and Mango Salad or call it a salsa.  I made this with fresh jalapeno and cilantro from the garden — some of this year’s first spring bounty. And at only 53 calories per half cup, it’s pretty guilt-free, so enjoy!

Black Bean and Mango Salsa

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups chopped mango

1 cup diced sweet red pepper

1 jalapeno – seeded and chopped fine

½ cup diced red onion

¼ fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

¼ cup fresh lime juice

1 tbsp extra virgin oil oil

Coarsely ground salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mixing well.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  Serve with pita chips.

If you have the time to make your own pita chips, they are well-worth the effort, especially when still warm from the oven.  Here’s my version – short and simple.

The Best Homemade Pita Chips

Whole wheat pitas

Coarse sea salt

Extra-virgin olive oil

Prepare baking pan by drizzling lightly with olive oil, using a pastry brush to spread evenly if necessary. Cut each pita in half and then into triangles, separating each triangle into 2 pieces. Place triangles on pan in a single layer.  Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with coarse salt.  Bake at 350 for 8 – 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Watch carefully as they can brown quickly.

Enjoy with Black Bean and Mango Salsa.

See you next time!!

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April 22, 2012

Earth Day and your life…

Hope everyone celebrated Earth Day in some way this weekend.  We should learn to make every day “Earth Day!”  Plant a tree, recycle, conserve water and energy, enjoy the outdoors by walking and bicycling instead of driving everywhere, grow  your own veggies and herbs.  There are so many ways to enjoy our Earth and make sure its resources are here for future generations.

Our community had several ways to celebrate.  See some of the ways we marked the weekend here.

I think the best way to demonstrate the beauty around us is in photos.  Take a look!

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March 22, 2012

More résumé tips

Before you send that résumé out, take some time to make sure it’s the best it can be. Here are some general tips:

  • Be sure to proofread. Have someone else proofread too. It is easy to skim over typos, punctuation errors or grammar mistakes when we review our own writing. Check it twice and then check it again. Errors may be perceived as an indicator of a lack of attention to details – often an important job skill.
  • Use action keywords. Here’s a list of Power Words.
  • Stress accomplishments using metrics to demonstrate success; for instance, if you increased sales from one year to the next, show the percentages:

 Increased sales from 2009 to 2011 by 30%

  •  Try incorporating a bar graph to further demonstrate these accomplishments

    Use a graphic to demonstrate your accomplishments

  • Be honest with details. The Dean of Admissions at MIT lost her position because she lied on her résumé. Don’t run that risk.
  • Make your areas of expertise stand out near the top of your résumé. Consider using a text box framed with shadow and color to really make a splash.  See the image to the right.
  • Put your finest assets on center stage. In other words, if your education is your strongest point, put it near the top; however, if you have years of applied experience, you should list your experience first and move your educational background to a lower position within the body of the résumé.
  • If you have limited experience and education, a one-page résumé is suitable, for instance in the case of a new graduate, but it is no longer the norm. We discussed this in my last post. Don’t be afraid to use two, or even three, pages to support the targeted positions and demonstrate your worth. Remember that today it’s about keywords. The more keywords you use in your résumé, the better your chance of being selected. So use the space you need to describe your skills and qualifications.
  • If you are using a professional résumé  writing service, request that you receive your final files in both Word (or rich text) and PDF formats.  And if you plan to submit your résumé via email, ask about a plain text (ASCII) file format too. Or you can convert it yourself from the Word (rich text) version. This plain format is often required at web-based job sites and is also recommended for embedding your résumé within the body of an email. More about plain text or ASCII format for your résumé next time.

If you have résumé questions, please leave me a comment.  I’d love to hear from you and what challenges you are facing!

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March 3, 2012

An important resume decision – one or two pages

Should your résumé be condensed to one page?  We’ve been hearing that advice for many years.  After all, the goal is to give a quick overview of your background, skills and education in a concise and relevant manner.  You want to choose the right words and graphic elements that express your work style and accomplishments while keeping the attention of your reader — in this case the résumé reviewer.

But don’t let the one-page rule influence you too much.  If you’re a new graduate or don’t have a varied work history, of course a one-page version will probably work fine for you.  But if you’ve had the chance to build a large skill set with relevant work experience and education, you don’t want to sell yourself short.  So don’t be afraid to  use the two-page format.  In the case of a top-level business executive, three pages may even fit the bill.

Sample of a one-page resume. Resume by Words Etc. Click on the image to enlarge.

Résumé experts agree that today the important thing is that you include all your skills and qualifications, using as many keywords as possible, even if it takes two pages.  It is likely that your résumé will be scanned for keywords, so the importance of including as many of them as possible cannot be stressed enough. And except in the case of a plain text résumé, which we’ll discuss in another post, you also want to keep white space, graphic design and formatting in mind, and this often means use of space that may result in two pages. Click on the link below to view a sample two-page resume.

Resume.2page.sample

White space should be used consistently through your résumé. A general rule is to use the same amount of white space between sections of the résumé and less space between the individual  items – for instance the lists of your duties and responsibilities.  See the sample two-page resume below.  The use of graphic lines also helps to define the sections of your résumé. These design elements create a document that is easy to scan quickly as the reviewer looks for the elements they want in their next employee.

Remember your résumé is your advertisement for you. Just like an ad in a magazine or newspaper, you’ve got  to grab your reader’s interest and keep it by making your “ad” easy to review and  highlight those keywords that will put you on the short list for interviews.The last thing you want is a  jumbled up document that is crowded and so hard to read or scan quickly that you end up in the dreaded “round file!” So don’t be afraid to expand to a two-page version for your résumé.

What challenges do you have in creating your resume?  Please share.  I’d love to hear from you!

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February 22, 2012

Kreativ Blogger Award/JustSaying

Reblogged from claudiajustsaying:

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  • Click to visit the original post

I am  green to writing and a new blogger, and when notified I was a recipient of the Kreativ Blogger Award thought it was a poke, like on Facebook.

Pleased by the  recognition, I graciously accepted and immediately sent a thank you to Christine Speno of Words,etc. For some unknown reason, Christine has taken me under her wing and gladly meets with me to discuss various how to subjects.

Read more… 448 more words

Here's another acceptance post from yet another recipient of the Kreativ Blogger Award. Thanks to Claudia for accepting my nomination for the award!

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February 20, 2012

Out on a limb with food

For those of you that have been following me for a while, you know that I sometimes go off in different directions with content for this blog. I usually stay focused on words and writing or freelance strategies, but once in a while I like to explore the not so obvious paths of communication.

So today I’m going back to an area I’ve visited before – food. 

Cooking, eating, or sharing a meal are all great ways to communicate with nature, our inner creativity and our friends or family.  So I can’t resist the urge to share with you something I put together a few days ago for dinner.  It’s based on a dish I enjoyed at a St. Augustine Beach spot – Mango Mango’s.  This great spot offer a touch of the islands to every dish they serve.

Here’s my version of brown rice, peppers and mango.  In addition to the whole grain benefits of the rice, it also peps up your metabolism with hot peppers.

Photo by Words Etc.

Christine’s Spicy Brown Rice Pilaf with Mango and Peppers

February 16, 2012

  • One cup organic brown rice (I like Gourmet House brand that I get in the Publix organic food section)
  • 2 ½ cups water
  • 1 tsp. salt (optional)
  • ¼ tsp. Mrs. Dash Chipotle Seasoning (or to your taste)
  • ¼ cup each green and sweet red or orange pepper
  • ½ jalapeno pepper chopped fine
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • ½ medium-sized mango, chopped
  • Grape seed oil

Cook rice in rice cooker or on stove top with water, salt, Mrs. Dash, and a dash or two of olive oil. Cook ahead of time if desired so rice dries out a bit.

When ready to prepare, coat medium sized skillet with grape seed oil. I use grape seed oil because it has a higher cooking temp tolerance than olive oil. Add peppers and sauté until peppers are soft. Add garlic and cook for a minute or two more.

Add cooked rice, adding a little more oil if necessary. Stir gently. Add mango and stir again. Serve with a wedge of lime. Delicious!!

We also serve with my homemade sweet plum sauce. (I’m not sharing that just yet, but stay tuned!) You can make this dish as mild or hot as you like. Just adjust the Mrs. Dash or jalapeno use. Just remember the heat of the peppers is good for your metabolism and helps you burn more calories!

A side of fresh strawberries and mango is a perfect accompaniment.  Now my vegetarian friends (it qualifies as vegan) will enjoy this as a main dish, but it’s also a great side.

Enjoy!  And here’s a little Calypso music to entertain you while you fix this dish……

STOP HERE IF YOU’RE VEGETARIAN!

We had it with Chicken medallions that were sprinkled with Chipotle Mrs. Dash.  I have an Armatale pan that works great on the grill and is perfect for sauteing just about anything on the grill.  Any grill-safe pan will work, but be sure to check out the link if you’ve never heard of these pans.  They are extremely versatile and well worth the investment.

Start by warming some grape seed oil in a pan on the grill, then add the medallions and saute, turning once to keep a nice brown.  At the very end I add just a touch of dry white wine (optional) and continue sauteing for just a few minutes.

As always, thanks for reading, and I welcome your comments!

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