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> I'm rather anal about consistent use of styles in Word. Surprisingly,
> we've recently received several resumes from applicants who re-defined
> the normal style multiple times as well as other styles. This bugs me
> and immediately marks the candidate down a few pegs. I mean, if they
> can't use styles consistently within a single document, what makes me
> think they'll use styles consistently with our style guide so that our
> manuals and single-sourcing efforts have fewer problems? (Proper use of
> styles is the only way to get Word to do numbered and bulleted lists
> correctly.)
>
> Hence, if you have a tendancy to use Word fast and loosely and are quick
> with the Bold, Italic, and bullet buttons, hide that with a PDF.
> Otherwise you'll be flamed (unknowingly).=20
To me the above advice is only pertinent if the job you're applying for
requires you to use Word, and expects a level of Word expertise. As we've
seen on this list, many writers avoid Word when possible (and jobs that
require it), and might just be whipping together a Word resume to meet
submission requirements.
I have been in the position of needing to hire a Word expert, in which
case I agree with those criteria. But to force those expectations on all
applicants without Word skill being an actual job requirement seems
unreasonable.
That said, I also hasten to add that MOST job openings I'm seeing require
a Word resume, which presents a hurdle to those list members who have
vowed to never send a Word doc via e-mail. In my experience, Word is what
businesses use to communicate with each other, so that attitude seems a
bit militant.
I guess you could say that I think Word has become sort of the lingua
franca of businesses who correspond via e-mail. ;)
- Keith Cronin
_____________________________________
A shout-out to my tech-writing homeys: Keep it real, know what I'm sayin'?
Word. Or maybe WordPerfect.
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