DO I FOLD OR STAPLE MY RESUME? 

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Do I fold or staple the resume and cover letter?
 

Do not fold, clip, or staple! Unfolding the resume is clumsy, and the information is not viewed 100% at a glance. You want your presentation to be received neatly. Place the letter on top, and insert into a flat 9X12 white envelope. In the light, you should see the letter through the back of the envelope. When the reader opens the envelope, they won't have to flip it over.

Your resume and cover letter are not bills or invoices.

The two make for an important presentation -- to make a good first impression.

If the reader has to open up a #10 envelope (typically the size of an invoice and junk mail) and fumble with clumsy "pieces of paper" in an attempt to undo several folds, they will get annoyed.

That is not going to make a good first impression! Worse, they will only see a third of the resume at a time and may miss something important at first glance.

If you staple the two, it will make it even more cumbersome to view the two separately, and will force the reader the "overlap" the cover letter to the back of the stapled resume to read the resume, giving the feel of an invoice or office paperwork. Not good!

The Solution

Use a white 9X12 envelope (catalog style by Colombia) found at your local office supply store such as Staples or Office Depot. Do not use the orange manila color - it will seem like an "inter-office envelope". If you have the option (not mandatory) choose the longer flap (along the top of the envelope) instead of the shorter flap (along the side of the envelope).

Place the cover letter on top of the resume and place them in the envelop face down. This way the documents will be facing the reader when they turn the envelope over and slip the documents out. They will see the cover letter first, which is your introduction, and then the resume, in their full visual glory without having the "handle" them.