As we all know, it isn't the big decisions in life that drive us crazy, but the niggling little ones. After all, the big decisions come with their own manuals. Buy a home or rent? Get a master's degree? Start a business? There are books to help you answer all those questions.

But how will you weigh the advantages and disadvantages of cover letters sent by e-mail and those sent by U.S. Postal Service? Or the hundreds of other pesky problems that arise in an active job search?

I don't have space today for hundreds of answers, but here are a couple.

1. Mail vs. e-mail. That cover-letter dilemma is a good place to start. Back when job-seekers mainly worried about outrunning velociraptors, the questions focused on what kind of paper to use for résumés. Today, if you haven't noticed, résumé paper has all but disappeared from office supply stores — replaced with racks of ink cartridges and flash drives.

Even so, there are times when mail is better than e-mail for job-search correspondence. To help you decide when that might be, consider the pluses and minuses for each method.

E-mail advantages are pretty easy to list. E-mailing is quick, cheap and direct, and e-mails can be forwarded easily to others.

One major disadvantage comes with the spam feature on modern e-mail programs. It can be tough to get through — and tougher yet to know if you've gotten through.

Perhaps most troubling is the permanent nature of the delete button. A reader in a hurry is going to delete in haste and regret in leisure, as the saying (sort of) goes.

Actually, people facing a hundred fresh e-mails a day are going to delete them without a moment's thought — including your letter, if it doesn't strike a chord.

Mail, on the other hand, may be gaining a retro kind of advantage in an era when very few hand-stamped, hand-addressed stationery envelopes are crossing people's desks. Physical letters also have the advantage of being portable, which means they can be read while the recipient waits for a meeting to begin or stands in line at the company cafeteria. And, as a bonus, they are retrievable from the trash bin — until the janitor comes at the end of the day.

Whether you mail or e-mail your letter and résumé, you should direct your correspondence to an actual name or you won't be able to follow up with a phone call to ask for an interview.

AMY LINDGREN

WORKING STRATEGIES

2. Speaking of follow-up calls, should you make them? What if you are replying to a posted job, and the ad read, "No phone calls"?

In most circumstances, the first answer will be "yes." If you sent a letter and résumé, you need to follow up. Because you went to the trouble of finding a contact name before sending the letter (see above, ahem), placing the call is simply a matter of asking to be connected to that person at the main switchboard.

Ah, but what if your first contact with the company was via an online application, and there was no name attached to the posting? To be honest, this is a primary reason I advise people to skip online applications. If you can't follow up, your chances of getting an interview are severely diminished.

To make things worse, postings that say "no calls" really should be obeyed. As one exasperated employer once told me, "If I had time to answer the phone, I wouldn't be hiring!"

Pay less attention to ads and more attention to a strategy of targeting companies and departments where you'd like to work. An employer who is not advertising will not be upset to find one enterprising caller on the phone.

Of course, if you've already been interviewed, all lines should be open, whether there was an earlier no-call request or not. You and the employer have invested time in each other, which gives you certain privileges.

Place follow-up calls within a few days of the earlier contact, whether it was an interview or a letter you sent, and get to the point relatively quickly. Then, repeat as needed, at intervals of one to three weeks, depending on the circumstances.

- Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecaree rservice.com or at 1071 W. Seventh St., St. Paul, MN 55102.