Error in application process, need input
I found a position advertised a few days ago that seems ideal for my background and I wanted to make a great impression when submitting my resume. I worked 11 hours yesterday giving my resume a complete overhaul and crafting a targeted cover letter. I proofed the final product a dozen times or more and tweaked the formatting until the appearance was perfect. This morning at 7 a.m., I submitted my cover letter and resume via email as requested by the company. A little after 5 p.m. this afternoon, I received an email from an HR Assistant sayiing "we liked your letter and feel you could be a strong candidate for consideration, but we were not able to open your resume. Please resend." I was horrified and immediately began cursing Word 2007 which has given me some file compatability problems. I'm still trying to determine the issue, but I'm going to recreate it on my computer that still has Word 2003 so I can send first thing tomorrow morning. What is the most graceful and professional way to deal with this when I reply? I'm embarrassed that this happened and feel I should at least apologize for the inconvenience. Would it seem desperate to thank her for contacting me to request that I resend it? I'm touchy these days, having been out of work for 14 weeks now, so emotions are running high. Sometimes I worry that I come across as desperate or overly polite (in an Eddie Haskell sort of way). Other times I wonder if I seemed overly-confident or arrogant. I want to do as much damage control as I can now with this person. I suppose it is a good sign that she responded rather than just ignoring my inaccessible resume.....
I would just resubmit the resume in Word 2003 with a brief apology; i.e., "I'm sorry the resume I sent yesterday did not open properly. Attached is another copy. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me." Something along those lines. I'm sure that anyone who has ever used a computer knows they don't always work the way they're supposed to! You may have already sent it, but include a message in the email stating: "Attached is a copy of my resume. I seem to be having some problems with file compatibility within my new Word programs and I am taking steps to correct this situation." I actually have the same problem with Adobe. Most people either send me things with Adobe 5.0 and I have Adobe 4.0. Which means I get a pop up window that claims the file is either corrupt or I need to download the newer Adobe version. Which I would do except the new version is not compatible with Windows Millenium which is the dinosaur I am using for a home computer.
Thank you for your advice. Something along that line was what I had decided to say this morning- "there is a problem and I am fixing it, sorry for the hassle and don't hold it against me".... Apparently there is a major problem with my resume file that I can't seem to fix. It opens fine in Word 2007 on my computer and a friend with 2007 had no trouble opening it either. I tried it on my sister's machine with Word 97 and my dad's with 2003 and got an error on both. It was originally created in Word 97 which is the version I used at home until about six months ago when my trusty old Toshiba laptop died and I replaced it with an HP running Windows Vista and Office 2007. I have a lot more gray hair now than I did six months ago!!! Instead of finding a "fix" for it, I'm having to completely recreate it as a Word 2007 document with Word 97-2003 compatability enabled. And to think, I used to complain about using WordPerfect for DOS way back in the day! Somehow Microsoft has made their productivity software (and their OS for that matter) far less productive! =) When I realized this afternoon that I wouldn't be able to finish it and proof the final result multiple times before 5pm, I decided to give the HR person a call. She was very nice and we chatted for several minutes. She expressed her fear of migrating to Office 2007 and said she'd be on the lookout for it in the next day or so "because I'm sure they'll want to talk to you". It was encouraging and gave me an opportunity to make personal contact and give a good first impression over the phone....at least I hope that's what I did. If they don't insist on sending it as an attachment, you can email it through Word using the email option. It will then appear as text below the subject line and there should not be a problem with it. Try it by emailing it to yourself. Best of luck! | |
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