Three Data Bits

With e-mail addresses as commonplace as telephone numbers, it will be unusual for you to have only three bits of contact info. For those without an e-mail address (I recommend that you get one), the following example is a classic, traditional heading style.

Note that you don’t need to include the word residence or home in front of the telephone number. It’s assumed that this is a residential number when you list it below a street address. While I’m on the subject of telephone numbers, be certain to avoid the easy-to-make mistake of forgetting to include your telephone number. It wasn’t until 30 unanswered cover letters went by that a friend discovered she had accidentally omitted the telephone number from her résumé.

It is important to always include a ruling line under your contact information (also called a graphic line, border line, or rule) because it pulls the reader’s focus to the text at the visual center of the page. Recall from Techniques to Get an Interview that this is where you’ll pack the punch for maximum AIDA impact. You’ll see what I mean if, after you complete your résumé, you print one version with a ruling line and one without. The one with the line is discernibly more organized, orderly, and focused. You can experiment with the Borders and Shading feature in Word or the Graphic/Custom Line keys in WordPerfect for variations on ruling lines.

Four Data Bits

If you have an equal number of pieces of information that make up your contact data, consider “splitting” this information on the left and right margins. The following is an example.

In this header, the equal number of data bits is four:

1. Street address
2. City and state
3. E-mail address
4. Home telephone

By arranging this information on just two lines, you gain another line or two of precious space in the body of the résumé. Another benefit is that your name clearly stands out because of the extra white space you’ve created.

The ruling line style in the next example is also popular; it’s simple, yet striking.

Here’s a header example with a bit more personality. The vertical line extends the length of the page on the actual résumé.

Note in the following example how the size of Robert’s name is increased because of its positioning on the left margin. This was done because the name will be difficult to see if his résumé is in a stack of papers held together by a paper clip at the top-left corner. If your name is short-say, it totals only a few letters, like Lee Wu or Sue Ross-avoid this heading style. Instead, position your name in the center; otherwise you run the risk of being “invisible” when the interviewer flips through a pile of résumés.

The following example uses a text box for the candidate’s monogram: The dressier heading suited his career in broadcast sales.

The next example is a bold, four-bit version with ruling lines above and below.

Five Data Bits

If you want to add a fifth piece of information, such as an online portfolio, center it between the city-state and home telephone number, as in the following header. It is not always necessary to include the word e-mail (or email) in front of your electronic address. In cases where this word appears, it was done to add visual balance to the header.

Tip: When using multiple phone numbers, make it clear where each number rings. For a cellular phone, use the word “Mobile” or “Cell.” If you’re listing a business and residence number, pair the words business and residence, rather than business and home. In the same manner, pair the words work and home, instead of work and residence. Business and residence correspond in style and length, as do work and home.

Six Data Bits

The following example lists six pieces of contact data. The placement of the information on the left and right margins was determined from a design perspective rather than a content perspective. Note how each line of information on the left margin is relatively balanced by its counterpart on the right margin. There is a pyramid effect, with Robert’s name forming the peak. Some pieces of information could have been swapped-for instance, the home phone number with the e-mail address or Web site URL. Again, I chose this arrangement because it creates a good visual design.

Tip Try different arrangements of your “data bits.”Your goals in doing this are to keep the visual focus on your name, create an eye-appealing design, and maximize white space.

Seven Data Bits

Of the seven pieces of contact data in the following header, your eye is probably drawn to the URL for the candidate’s Web résumé because it has more white space around it.

Eight Data Bits

This is the greatest amount of contact information you should consider putting on your résumé. It pushes the limits. Anything more will detract from your name.

If relocation is not part of your plan, skip ahead a few pages to the section titled “Objective, or Focus Statement.”

Dealing with Relocation on Your Résumé

People relocate for a number of reasons. Career opportunities, quality-of-life issues, family obligations, and health requirements are some of the major ones. Whatever the catalyst for your move, there will be some barriers to overcome. They include the following:

• Accessing job opportunities as quickly as the “local” competition
• Arranging time off from your current employer for interviews
• Keeping travel expenses associated with your interview jaunts to a minimum

Your employer-to-be will have some barriers to overcome as well. In the employer’s case, they are more mental than physical. For instance, employers sometimes react to long-distance candidates in the following ways:

• They are wary about an out-of-town candidate’s commitment to moving to a new area.
• They perceive local candidates as more settled or better connected in the community.
• They sense that out-of-the-area candidates are difficult to contact and require extra work to schedule for interviews.
• They associate additional expenses with relocation.

Here are a few résumé strategies to help overcome the mental hurdles employers might have with your long-distance candidacy. These strategies will also help level the playing field in competing against local candidates.

An 800 number is an effective and inexpensive tool for candidates who want to relocate. It removes some of the mental barriers an employer senses because of geographic distance. Place your name, a toll-free 800 number (or, as 800 numbers run out, an 888 or 877 number), and the words available for relocation at the top of the page. The 800 number will serve you well if you’ve gone past the “move date” and résumés are still floating about on employers’ desks. You can place the rest of your data bits-address, fax, e-mail, and so on- can place the rest of your data bits—address, fax, e-mail, and so on- area, say so. Also include a projected move date because it will make you look more serious about your plans. Here’s an example of how your header might look.

Then, at the bottom of the résumé, provide your current address. This is a psychological strategy that gives the employer an opportunity to be impressed first by your qualifications before seeing how far your cross-country trek might be. Here’s what the footer would look like.

The following header example illustrates another technique for deemphasizing a long-distance address. The vertical treatment of the data requires the reader to turn the page sideways to find the address. However, the candidate’s name and 800 number stand out, which is part of your design goal.

Another strategy is to use a header that provides your name, telephone number, and e-mail address and then omit the rest of your address entirely from the résumé. The employer might wonder whether you live in the next county or nine states away. However, by doing this, you might earn a preliminary telephone interview instead of being peremptorily dismissed because of distance.

Use two addresses-your current address and a “message” address. The message address can be the address of a friend, fiancé, or family member in the area you will be moving to. If you don’t have a contact in the new area, hire a service to do the job, such as Postal Annex or Mailboxes Etc. Try to avoid a post office box number-you’d be surprised how many people suspiciously associate them with instability or mail-fraud scams! It’s unlikely that employers will contact you via snail mail for an interview. Unfortunately, this mode of communication is typically reserved for letters that say, “Thanks for your interest. We’ll be keeping your résumé on file.” Nonetheless, use an address in your target area. It will give employers the impression that you’re serious about your relocation effort and that you have some immediate connections within the community.

In the next example, note the words current address and relocating mo/yr (use the actual dates) to explain both addresses.

If you don’t use an 800 number, do include a telephone number that gives employers the option of making a local call to leave you a message.

The message number can be the telephone of a friend or family member in your target area-just make sure that anyone in the household who might answer the phone knows that you are also “in residence” there. It will negate your efforts if an employer calls for you and hears, “There’s no one here by that name. You’ve got the wrong number.” Also, make sure you have some system for messages to be immediately relayed to you. The goal is to promote, rather than prevent, accessibility.

Now that you’ve got your contact information formatted, it’s time to move on to the next step in your résumé outline.

Cell phones with e-mail help keep us in touch,
Can you chat for a text-messaging power lunch?

With Internet access and new URLs,
Customers go global to buy and sell,

Zillions of facts at the touch of a mouse,
Just plug in at airports, your work, or your house.

First PCs, then laptops, now PDAs a must,
Forgo them and risk being left in the dust.

This info-dense world can cause quite a strain,
So why can’t they make a fast chip for my brain?

Now that you are the product, take a lesson from business. Make yourself easily accessible to your “customers.” Technology makes it possible for employers and recruiters to reach you immediately, and if they can’t, they’ll find someone else. An employment agency owner tells the story of a sales manager who lost an opportunity because she was out-of-pocket too long. The candidate hadn’t promptly checked messages on her home answering machine and missed the window of time for an important first round of interviews. The candidate who ultimately landed the job was less qualified, but he was more accessible.

The following list includes 10 pieces of contact data, or “data bits,” that you might use on your résumé to make sure employers can reach you easily. Put a check mark in the box next to each of the data bits you will use in your résumé header. (Your name is a given!) Keep in mind that, on a paper résumé, your name, phone number, and e-mail address are the most important elements. If you allotted one line for every piece of information, you could take up as many as 11 lines on the résumé. Obviously, I don’t recommend using this many because it will detract from the visual appeal, make the résumé look cluttered, and steal the limited space available for the text portion of your résumé. So later I’ll show you how to combine these data bits to take up less space but still give ample contact information.

To List or Not to List Your Business Telephone Number

This is a tricky question. It can be a dilemma for confidential job seekers. If you don’t include some sort of daytime contact number, the delay the employer experiences in contacting you might just cost you your dream job. The following suggestions might help you decide whether to list your present work number:

• Definitely include your work telephone number on the résumé if your search is not confidential and your employer has no policy forbidding the acceptance of personal telephone calls.
• Do include your work number if you have a private voice-mail system that guarantees that your messages won’t be accessed by others.
• Don’t include your work number if your search is confidential and calls will be screened before they get to you.

These suggestions seem like simple advice. However, I’ve run into many people who didn’t think through the consequences of going public with their job search, only to find that a nonconfidential call to the office tipped off a coworker or boss about their search and caused work relationships to be strained (and, in some cases, terminated). If you want employers or recruiters to contact you at work and you don’t have confidential voice mail, consider providing your work telephone number in the text of the cover letter but not on the résumé. You can include it in the closing or next-to-last paragraph with words to this effect.

If you wish to contact me during business hours, please do so with a measure of discretion (any premature speculation about my departure could be advantageous to the company’s competitors). My work number is 888-8888.

The preceding sentence is effective because it lets the reader see your professionalism and respect for your current employer. It also implies that you will extend this same courtesy and professionalism to your new employer.

Other Solutions for Daytime Contacts

Human resource professionals, hiring managers, and recruiters prefer not to bring extra work home with them after putting in a long day at the office. Be thoughtful and provide a daytime contact number to make it easy to reach you. If listing your current work number on your résumé is out of the question, consider these ideas:

• For greatest accessibility, put your mobile number on your résumé and carry this phone with you regularly.
• If you don’t have a mobile phone, a less-expensive alternative is a traditional digital pager. Your caller needs only a push-button telephone to leave you a digital message, meaning a telephone number only. Nationwide or statewide pagers are available. The cost for a pager is nominal.
• If your boss or coworker questions the new contraption strapped to your belt or purse, be prepared with some innocuous comment, such as, “I just want to be more accessible to the important people in my life.”

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