This morning, I read one of the most comprehensive and well-informed advice pieces on job searching that I’d read in quite some time. The Internet has opened the world for us, broadening our eyes to new topics. Unfortunately, it has also opened the floodgates to bad advice and tips that miss the mark on what we’re trying to achieve. Online advice seems to linger, as well, so what might have been good wisdom to follow just a year or two back is no longer true for today. It’s the nature of the beast, I suppose. With good comes some bad.

One tip in particular caught my eye. The jest was to avoid attachment of a resume, instead copying and pasting within the body of an email instead.

A few years back receiving email with an attachment was a scary situation. Was the email safe, or will it cause us to spend the next three days trying to rid ourselves of a nasty new virus? Like many, I shifted to advising clients that resumes sent by attachment were to be avoided. I, in particular, advised clients that copying and pasting was the better option.

Forward a few years and attachments aren’t as scary. The introduction and widespread use of spam software has changed what arrives in our inboxes. It’s been prescreened; somewhat approved by an electronic assistant. The software is a lifesaver for many of us who receive hundreds or thousands of pieces of email every day. Keeping up with the quantity of junk was highly unproductive and caused many to spend more time on deletion tasks and less on what is important. Jobseekers applied that time to searching for a new job.

“… now that spam is under control”
(just kidding, of course)
Since spam is under control … well tolerable, jobseekers can utilize all job-search channels available to them. Right? Not quite.

Emailing your resume within the email body could be undermining the effectiveness of your search, whether you realize it or not. Spam software has taken care of millions of problem emails, but has created a new issue for both those on the sending and receiving ends.

Imagine this scenario. Over the last 30 days, you’ve responded to a couple dozen jobs perfect for your skill set. You thought: Finally, I’m a shoe-in for this position. These people would be crazy not to call and schedule an interview. The phone doesn’t ring, however. In fact, it’s so quiet that you checked the phone several times to ensure it’s plugged in — and adding to the weight on your shoulders is not a peep through email either. If you were in the Wild West, you’d be on one side of the town with your six-shooter, but your opponent never shows. The town is deserted, and a tumbleweed rolls across the street in front of you. In the background, eerie music made famous in countless Clint Eastwood movies.

You’ve done everything right. You have a perfectly written resume. The cover letter highlighted all the key points requested by the hiring company. You are everything the company wants and needs in a new employee.

You retrace your steps, as an added precaution. Resume doesn’t have a typo. Check. Cover letter said all the right things. Check. You sent it to the right email address. Check. You didn’t sound too desperate in your introductory email. Check.

So, what’s the problem? Have you been blacklisted? Are you giving off bad mojo? You may have overlooked one critical element. Did you copy and paste the resume into the email body? If you did, that might explain things.

What countless jobseekers haven’t considered is the true effective, and sometimes job-hunt ruining spam software. Sex and drug names are some of the most highly used and abused spam words on the Internet today. Now, unless you were targeting a job as a dominatrix or drug distributor, you’re wondering how this has anything to do with you. Well, take the following two examples: Sussex Street and specialist. Can you identify the potentially harmful spam words?

Much as subliminal messages are revealed when listening to records in reverse, spam words might be in your resume right now. Unlike recorded messages, however, words that identify your resume as spam are hiding in plain sight. You looked at them many times, but didn’t “see” them. Most software is getting smarter, but some feel it’s still in infancy. If these words are detected, your resume may be good as garbage and not reach its intended destination.