I got an email from a young woman that consisted of nothing more than an attachment and the subject line "Crew position." Usually I ignore these kinds of things, but this time I responded & said that we don't consider resumes that don't come with some kind of cover letter, and it's generally good policy to introduce yourself and explain why you're interested in the position.



Dear arts schools: Teach your students how to apply for jobs. You're not doing anybody -- ESPECIALLY YOUR STUDENTS -- any favors if you don't.



But all is well. I'm currently sitting in Portland airport, waiting to meet up with all the other folks attending Sirens. I am going to spend the next four days gorging on books and it's going to be glorious. I'm already off to a pretty good start. I read The Dark Wife on the plane (verdict: extreme dislike, which merits its own entry), and will be plowing through more of the thus far delightful The Palace of Illusions once I wrap up some more things for work.

We live in a brave new world, ladies and gentlemen. A digital world, where things like cover letters and resumes are transmitted digitally.

BRAVE JOBHUNTER, BEWARE! I CAN SEE YOUR FILE NAME.


But seriously, people. This is like wearing nice slacks to an interview -- it's part of how you present yourself online. It is a small thing that shows you pay attention to detail and you are conscious of what other people might need. "John Doe 2012 Resume" is a nicer looking file name, and much more useful to me than "Updated JOE Screenwriting Resume [1][1]."


Does it mean you're incapable of doing the job you're applying for? Of course not. Neither does wearing jeans to an interview. But if you're trying to impress someone, it doesn't help.


So there. My advice for today's job hunter: pay attention to your file names.

Also, .docx is not a universally supported format. Send .doc files. Better yet, PDFs! PDFs are almost guaranteed to look nice no matter what platform or program you open them with.