Job Hunting Makes You Paranoid.

I swear I'm turning into the nervous nelly that I normally mock. So many situations that people worry about I'm convinced they don't need to truly worry about. It's just nervousness and people tend to focus on how bad things can go instead of how well things can go.

Of course now I'm the one that is nervous.

I've sent out several resumes today. Yeah me! I triple checked the spelling of my cover letters. I read out loud the cover letter because sometimes when you say it you catch something that doesn't occur when you just read it. The issue becomes method of delivery.

Some potential employers provide an email address only. Obviously I'm going to email my resume as a Word doc and my "cover letter" is the email. Some potential employees provide a physical U.S. mailing address. Obviously I have to go old school and print out my cover letter and resume on two pieces of paper and use a fancy envelope to mail it in. While slightly more time consuming and requiring me to get resume quality paper for my printer that isn't a big problem. I should have a batch of resume paper with corresponding envelopes anyway since I'm on the job hunt.

The annoying situation which gets my paranoid fibers going is when you can email, fax, or mail it. For a business letter you have the block addresses at the top, the enclosure at the bottom, and the entire business letter format that Microsoft was nice enough to include as a template in MS Word. What happens if you're going to email your 'cover letter' though? Is it proper business etiquette to have the block addresses at the top and the three line gap between "Thank you" and your name? You don't need the gap because you physically can't sign the email. What happens when the specific ad says "submit a cover letter and resume" and the general Human Resources webpage has "you may do so via U.S. Mail, fax or by email" language? Paranoia is a terrible thing.

I believe this to be the best course of action. As a human being I'm going to be nervous no matter what. The true questions are how nervous will I be and will I let such nervousness dominate my thinking? When given the option and if time isn't an issue I prefer physical letters in the mail. Something about resume quality paper is unmatched in an email though it may be identical in content. However I had a deadline and I was concerned about the USPS getting my letter to the employer before the deadline. Email's best attribute is speed of deliver. When the email is printed off it will have the style of a business letter, including those address blocks at the top. That was the best compromise I figured.

Can you cross your fingers for me? I need some good vibes sent my way. Thanks in advance.