Greetings,
I am using the last weeks of my summer vacation to prepare for the upcoming 2013-14 hiring season. I've been making scans of these documents: teaching certificate, transcript, passport and reference letters and I have a couple of questions about this.
1) When requested, is it difficult (because of their size) to send these scans attached to email?
2) Has anyone been asked to send these items over email? It seems there would be a security/identity theft issue. I'm afraid to do it!
3) My references have provided me both with a paper copy and a digital copy of their reference letter. Therefore I would not need a scan of these letters, correct?
Thank you!
Preparing Scans of Documents
Re: Preparing Scans of Documents
1) When requested, is it difficult (because of their size) to send these scans attached to email?
Not at all. I have each type separate so the recruiter can open just the one he needs (e.g., transcripts; state certificate; resume).
2) Has anyone been asked to send these items over email? It seems there would be a security/identity theft issue. I'm afraid to do it!
I've done this a number of times. In my day, i.d. theft was not an issue so my SS number appears on transcripts. I place a bit of opaque tape over it before scanning. Otherwise, I don't see anything useful to a thief on my documents that he can't find online anyway. I've never sent a copy of my passport page to a recruiter, and that might be the only thing I'd be wary about.
3) My references have provided me both with a paper copy and a digital copy of their reference letter. Therefore I would not need a scan of these letters, correct?
That would be my assumption!
Not at all. I have each type separate so the recruiter can open just the one he needs (e.g., transcripts; state certificate; resume).
2) Has anyone been asked to send these items over email? It seems there would be a security/identity theft issue. I'm afraid to do it!
I've done this a number of times. In my day, i.d. theft was not an issue so my SS number appears on transcripts. I place a bit of opaque tape over it before scanning. Otherwise, I don't see anything useful to a thief on my documents that he can't find online anyway. I've never sent a copy of my passport page to a recruiter, and that might be the only thing I'd be wary about.
3) My references have provided me both with a paper copy and a digital copy of their reference letter. Therefore I would not need a scan of these letters, correct?
That would be my assumption!
Responses
It depends how you scan them. An average quality scan size for a single page should be around 50-100 K. Typically I scan at 150 dpi, black and white. Sme things like transcripts because of the print size I scan at 200 dpi. Photos should be scanned in color but you don't need anything above 300 dpi, and actually 200 is fine (photos don't get printed very often). You should download a virtual PDF print driver. So that you can convert your scans or digital documents into PDFs.
It can be hard to get your documents through depending on size, so keep multiple page documents like transcripts small. You should only send supplementary material when asked to do so. different systems have different limits. Some schools reject anything over 1Mb, some seem fine with even really big files.
People are asked to send transcripts, certifications, letters, passports, photos all the time over email, it is very common. there is a chance for identity theft, but the reality is the school needs the stuff and if you don't send it, you don't get the job. It's no different then at home, if the school in your local area asks for your drivers license and social security card you either give it to them, or they can't/don't hire you.
If the digital copy is already in a JPG or PDF format you do not need to rescan it. If its still in word, you should print it as a PDF document or scan it. Most schools don't care much about letters unles they are confidential (such as those through an agency), and will just contact your references to talk to them personally.
When you print PDF documents, set your paper size to A4.
It can be hard to get your documents through depending on size, so keep multiple page documents like transcripts small. You should only send supplementary material when asked to do so. different systems have different limits. Some schools reject anything over 1Mb, some seem fine with even really big files.
People are asked to send transcripts, certifications, letters, passports, photos all the time over email, it is very common. there is a chance for identity theft, but the reality is the school needs the stuff and if you don't send it, you don't get the job. It's no different then at home, if the school in your local area asks for your drivers license and social security card you either give it to them, or they can't/don't hire you.
If the digital copy is already in a JPG or PDF format you do not need to rescan it. If its still in word, you should print it as a PDF document or scan it. Most schools don't care much about letters unles they are confidential (such as those through an agency), and will just contact your references to talk to them personally.
When you print PDF documents, set your paper size to A4.