When an editor is hiring for a position, she will have to wade through dozens, if not hundreds of resumés. It's a tiring and tedious job, and the editor is likely to have a low tolerance level for small annoyances. Anything you can do to make it easier for her to find and read your resumé and cover letter will work to your advantage. Follow these two simple rules and you'll already stand out among the applicants, even before the editor reads your application.


1. Send PDF files. Word documents can have font problems. All that tidy formatting you worked on can get messed up, making your resumé harder to read.

2. Name the document with your name. For example, "vangerwen-cover.pdf" and "vangerwen-resume.pdf" will be easier to find in a folder filled with documents labelled just "coverletter.doc" and "resume-final.doc."