ASCII

Creating an ASCII (Text Only) Resume/Document

Before creating your ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange, Text Only) resume, create free e-mail account with Hotmail for classroom use.  If you already have a Hotmail account click here to skip directly to the instructions for creating an ASCII resume. 

Directions for Setting Up a Hotmail Account

Launch Internet Explorer

In the ADDRESS BOX, key the following URL or click the link below:

Or

 Click the FILE, OPEN and key the following URL:
http://www.hotmail.com/   http://www.hotmail.com/

Click the Sign Up button.  Click the Get it Free button and complete the form as indicated.  When you're finished, click "I accept"

To Login to Hotmail

You only have to register with Hotmail once.  After you have registered login to Hotmail by completing the following steps:

Launch Internet Explorer

In the ADDRESS BOX, key the following URL or click the link below:

Or

 Click the FILE, OPEN and key the following URL:
http://www.hotmail.com/   http://www.hotmail.com/  
 
  • At the Hotmail Web site, type your new email address.
  • Press the TAB key and type your password.
  • Click the Sign In button.

To Read Your E-mail

  • If you have mail you will see the senders name, date and the subject of the message in blue.  Click the BLUE LINK; do not click in the check box.

  • Read your E-mail.

  • If you want to reply to the sender, click the REPLY BUTTON.
  • Note:  The address and subject lines are already filled out.

  • SELECT and DELETE the old message and type your new message. 

  • Click SEND.

 To Send an E-mail Message

  • Click the New Message button.

  • Type the e-mail address of the person you want to send the message to.

  • Type the subject.

  • Type the message in the big blank box.

  • Click the SEND button at the bottom of the screen.

Attachments

You use the Attach button to attach your resume to your message.  Some employers will accept resumes formatted in Word, others prefer text only resumes. 

  • Click the New Message button.

  • Type the e-mail address of the person you want to send the message to.

  • Type the subject.

  • Type the message in the big blank box.

  • Click Attach (you should see a paperclip next to the Attach button), then click File.

  • Click BROWSE.

  • Locate and select the file you want to attach and click OPEN. 

  • Click OK or OK and Attach Another if you need to send more than one file.

  • Click Tools > SPELL CHECK to spell check your document before you send it.

  • Click the SEND button at the bottom of the screen.

Copying a Document to an E-Mail Message

  • I recommend composing important documents (cover letters, thank you letters, etc. in Word, saving them and then copying them into your e-mail message.  Then you will be able to have the documents available to edit and send to different employers as needed.  
  • In Microsoft Word select the portion of the document or entire document (CTRL+A) that you want to copy.
  • Press CTRL+C to copy
  • Open the e-mail or Web site that you want to copy to (Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc.) and compose create a new mail message.  Position your cursor in the message body and and press CTRL+V to paste. You can use this same process to copy your resume into Monster and other job boards.

Creating an ASCII (Text Only) Document

(Note:  Saving your resume as text only will not have any effect on your original document.)

  • Open the resume/document in Microsoft Word.
  • Select FILE, SAVE AS.
  • In the SAVE AS TYPE drop down box, select TEXT ONLY.
  • Click SAVE.
  • Open the newly created resume/document in NOTEPAD Start > Programs > Accessories.  Your document will probably need to be cleaned up (text may not be aligned properly, you may have strange characters that need to be deleted, etc.). Make formatting changes as necessary.  You will not be able to add any formatting (bold, italics, underline, etc.) to the document.
  • Resave the document by clicking File > Save.
  • You can now attach your resume to your e-mail messages as necessary.