ASCII Resumes

Making a resume look pretty can be important. Unfortunately, one format will not work in every situation. You will need an ASCII version in addition to your MS Word version.

An ASCII file is a pure text file with virtually no formatting. You can’t bold, italicize, change fonts or font sizes, center or justify the test, or do anything else common in word processing programs. Think of an ASCII file as a text file similar to what an old typewriter could do. The only characters you can put in an ASCII file are the upper and lower case letters, numbers, punctuation and a limited number of symbols – generally, only the characters you can see on a standard keyboard.

ASCII files are important because there are a number of computer systems that can only read ASCII files. You are most likely to run into these when you fill out an online form. The form will have text boxes that do not allow any formatting. Making your resume look good in a text box like this is tough, but it can be done.

The first thing you need to do is use extra lines to space things out. You can’t use indents, changes in font size or bolding to identify new sections. This requires using a new line to add space. Your resume will get longer, but this is a small concession to make it readable.

The next formatting trick you need to use is bulleted lists. You have to manually create bullets in an ASCII file. To do this, you should select a symbol or combination of symbols for your bullets. A few options to consider are: *, @, #, >, ->, –>, =>, and ==>. I’m not a big fan of the @ or #, but I do see these on a lot of resumes. My favorite is a single equals sign and a greater than symbol: =>. This stands out in a resume and really calls attention to a line without being overwhelming.

You can also add some underlining by using dashes, underscores or equal signs. Be cautious when using them. The lines will draw the reader’s attention. If your resume has a bunch of them, the lines will be distracting and make it difficult to read.

An ASCII resume will never be a pretty as a resume formatted in a word processing program. You would not submit an ASCII resume if you didn’t have to. Despite this, there will be times when you will have to have a plain text resume. Below is a sample of how you can format an ASCII version of your resume:

Work Experience
—————

Job Title, Company Name, Start to End Dates
City, State

Text describing the positions with a summary of your responsibilities. Keep this to two or three lines max.

=> Bullet point demonstrating an accomplishment
=> Bullet point demonstrating an accomplishment
=> Bullet point demonstrating an accomplishment

Job Title, Company Name, Start to End Dates
City, State

Text describing the positions with a summary of your responsibilities. Keep this to two or three lines max.

=> Bullet point demonstrating an accomplishment
=> Bullet point demonstrating an accomplishment
=> Bullet point demonstrating an accomplishment

Job Title, Company Name, Start to End Dates
City, State

Text describing the positions with a summary of your responsibilities. Keep this to two or three lines max.

=> Bullet point demonstrating an accomplishment
=> Bullet point demonstrating an accomplishment
=> Bullet point demonstrating an accomplishment

Education
———

Degree, School
Major

Skills
——

=> Skill
=> Skill
=> Skill
=> Skill
=> Skill
=> Skill