How to FAX a resume

Faxing a resume is easy to do, but you must be careful to do it correctly.

Faxing a resume is a simple skill that can pay off with great results if you do it correctly. Rather than having to mail in a physical copy of your resume, with a fax machine you can ensure that your potential employer receives a record of your skills and qualifications for immediate review. For the best results, consider the way you send your fax to be a part of your extended job interview. If you mishandle your fax delivery, you may give your employer an opening to eliminate you from a competitive pool of job candidates.

Instructions

1. Proofread. Part of the process of sending a fax is ensuring that the material you send is accurate and flawless. If you fax over a resume with errors, you might have been better off not even sending the fax in the first place.

2. Fill out a cover sheet. A completed cover sheet can help keep your resume from being lost in a pile of paper. Even if you are sending your resume to a sole proprietor, it is entirely possible that he receives tens or even hundreds of faxes a day, and your resume might get lost in the shuffle without an attached cover sheet.

3. Send your resume to a specific person, if possible. Faxing in a resume to an anonymous phone number could result in your fax falling into a dead letter file. If you address your transmission to a specific person, it is much more likely that he will receive it directly.

4. Verify the phone number. If your resume does not reach the intended audience at the end of the correct phone number, you might not know until the position you are applying for has already been filled. Always call and verify a fax number before you send a resume.

5. Place your fax in the correct tray. While the orientation of your resume may vary based on the fax machine you are using, it should be clear how and where to put your documents for transmission.

6. Dial the fax number and hit enter. Most machines require you to hit a final button after entering the phone number in order to begin the transmission, most often labeled "Enter," "Start" or "Send."

7. Confirm the fax transmitted successfully. Sometimes papers stick, get jammed or otherwise do not scan property into a fax machine, resulting in a failed send. After you transmit your fax, the machine should indicate how many pages were sent, if any. Verify that all of the pages of your resume, including your cover sheet, were included in the transmission. You should also call someone at the destination fax location to get firsthand confirmation of transmittal.

References

• Accessline Communications: Proper Business Fax Etiquette
• Southern Methodist University Center for Information Processing: Fax Machine Instructions
• GrandResume: The Essentials of a Fax Resume

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish