In my last post, I spent time writing about some of the intangible connections you could make that might lead to tangible opportunities if you decide to look for work after graduation instead of going to graduate or professional school. I thought I’d spend some time in this post focusing on a more tangible part of the graduation and job search process: resumes (and cover letters).
There is a wealth of information on the internet for resumes, and I’m sure that if you’re interested in what I’m writing about, you’ve probably already seen those resources. Since I don’t think it will do anyone any good to simply re-post instructions or good examples that you can find elsewhere, I just plan to share some experiences and tips that I’ve gathered from friends and colleagues on resumes and cover letters.
Resumes:
- Keep it short. This is advice that you hear all over the place. Everyone from recruiting managers to salespeople will tell you that a one page resume is best. If you’re crafting a CV for academic reasons, that’s a different (and longer) story, but for the average job applicant: one page is best.
- Use the resume to tell a story. If you are applying for jobs where you’ll be asked about your writing skills, highlight experiences you’ve had where you needed to write. It might be more important to note your role as a volunteer blogger than your role as a life guard, even if you only consider the life guarding position as a “job.” The people looking at your resumes aren’t interested in what your tax history is: they care what skills you have. Use past positions to highlight those.
- Be precise. In nearly every field, it’s an “employer’s market.” They’ll have more applicants than they have space for. Everyone’s resume is going to be on that hiring manager’s desk: make sure yours stands out. I don’t mean to use an elaborate border (in fact, I’d urge against things like that), but to make sure that your resume is an accurate reflection of your training and experience. If your resume hits all the key points, he or she will call you, because it means that you have the key things the company is looking for.
Cover Letters:
- Don’t be generic. Remember those college essays you had to write? Admissions officers don’t like reading the same thing over and over again, and neither do recruiters or managers. If you apply for a job at UPS and a job at Bank of America, you should have two different cover letters. Again: know your audience (to the best of your ability) and write for it.
- Illustrate who you are. Don’t submit a cover letter just because you are required to. Think of all the things you want to tell the person reviewing the resumes but can’t fit on your resume. Use your cover letter for all those things. Applying for a job with Turkey Hill? There’s no place on your resume (or at least I can’t think of one!) where you could share how well you think your particular skill set will fit with their business model. Do that in the cover letter. Or maybe you don’t have a required experience on your resume but you still think you’d be great for the job. Find a way to explain that in the letter.
- Be careful! If you’re writing a lot of cover letters, do yourself a favor and read them twice before submitting them. Spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, incorrect dates or names: these are all easy ways for your resume to get tossed aside. Don’t let them happen!
Do you have questions that I didn’t address? Are you looking for additional resources on resumes and cover letters? Let me know in the comments! If anyone else would like to offer advice that I didn’t get to, I’m sure our readers would love to see that in the comments too.