How to Turn Your Formatted Resume Into a Plain Text File

Saving Your Resume in Plain Text Format

In some cases, when you copy and paste your resume into a text box on a resume posting board, you will find that the outcome is something that looks jumbled and has a bunch of unusual characters in it.  To avoid this problem you will need to recreate your resume in text only format (ASCII).  Follow the instruction below to achieve this.

•        Open your resume in the regular format.

•        After you have opened your resume file in the appropriate word processing program You’ll want to save the document as an new file

•        Click on the File
menu

•        Click on ‘Save As’

•        The save as window will open.

•        Select the folder where you want to save the file, by double clicking on it

•        Type in the name of your resume.

•        Give the document a name that reflects the type of job you are looking for.

•        Click on the down arrow beside the “Save as type bar, scroll down until you see the “Plain text” selection.  Click on the selection

•        When you see a confirmation screen open, click “OK”

•        And then “Yes” to continue with the save

•        Click “Save”

•        It may appear that the document didn’t save any differently than the original, so you’ll have to close it and then re-open it again.

•        Click on the “X” to close the document without closing the program.

•        Then click on “File” to open the menu,

•        And click on the name of the document that you just saved.

•        Now, the document will look something like you would see coming off of a typewriter. If it does, then you know you’ve saved it properly.

•        Next, you’ll need to:  Set the page margins, check for and replace bad symbols, and remove any extra tabs and/or realign parts that were moved.

In the next section I'll go over how to post your resume and the tricks that can help you get noticed by potential employers.