Resumes Cover Letters Seattle Pacific University The Career

Resumes & Cover Letters Seattle Pacific University The Career Development Center

What is a Resume? • An advertisement… your personal billboard. • A way to obtain an interview, not a job. • A summary of your skills and accomplishments selected specifically to demonstrate your VALUE. • Digested in 10 -20 seconds.

What are Employers Looking For? • A Match!! A match with job qualifications, experience, education, and skills. • A Fit!! A fit within their organization.

Resume Writing Process 1. Broad Inventory or “Job Sketch. ” – Write down everything you did in your job (daily, weekly, monthly, etc. ) – Relive your experience – PAR: Problem Action Result

Resume Writing Process 2. Identify Skills and Unique Contributions 3. Organize, Prioritize, and Write 4. Format 5. Proofread, Proofread!

Components of a Good Resume Heading: Name, Address, Phone #, Email Objective: Skills: Short, Simple, and Specific Hard and soft skills Education: Degree, Major/Emphasis School, City & State, Date GPA (optional) Experience: Position, Company, Date, and Responsibilities Interests/Activities/Honors/Awards/Leadership:

Objective • Objectives are theme statements that will help organize the rest of the resume. • No pronouns or self-defining language. • Formula: Position + Department/Area + Industry + Skills = Objective

Sample Objectives • “To obtain a position as a financial manager in the health care industry. ” • “Entry-level position in broadcast journalism at a commercial television station. ” • “To use computer science training in software development for designing and implementing operating systems. ”

Skills/Qualifications • Hard Skills: – Computer Programs – Computer Languages – Foreign Languages • Soft Skills: – – Communication/Writing Public Speaking Organization Problem Solving

Skills Statement Examples • Skills Summary – Fluent in Word, Excel, Power Point, Front page, and Publisher – Experienced in C++, Pascal, and html – Able to process and organize large volumes of records – Learn quickly, seek out new responsibilities • Qualifications – Knowledge of Microsoft Office products. – Fluent in Spanish and extensive travel throughout Spain and South America. – Patient listener with excellent communications skills

Education • Full name of degree: – Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. • Full name of School • Location • Date: – Anticipated graduation June 2001 • GPA

Education Example • Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, Emphasis in Marketing • Seattle Pacific University, Seattle WA, Anticipated Graduation June 2001 • Major GPA: 3. 6 Deans List 6 out of 7 quarters • Related Coursework: _____, _____

Experience • Employers are looking for: – Position/Title, Name of Company, Dates, and explanation of your responsibilities. • Numbers and percents show accomplishments. • Use action verbs and details. Be specific. • Formula: Action Verb + Adjective + Quantify + Subject + Results = Experience Description

Experience Examples • “Motivated and supervised eight sales staff to best sales volume in 25 store district. ” • “Developed procedures/orientation manual for community services division. ”

Other Possible Headings • • • Interests Activities Honors/Awards Special Skills Leadership Volunteer Activities Related Experience Travel Certifications

Style of Resume • • Brief is best. One page. Avoid personal pronouns. Use action verbs. Use bullet points for skills or job descriptions. • Clean, simple layout with few indented margins. • Use of space can denote confidence.

Organization/Layout • Remember its an advertisement…sell yourself with a few key points. • Positioning on the page is important, what comes first gets read first. • Reverse chronological order. • Use CAPITALS, Bold, Underline, and Italicize to emphasize important features.

Final Product • Use laser printing. • Use resume paper – recommend white or off-white. • Absolutely NO errors!!

One Size Doesn’t Fit All Develop multiple versions of your resume: • Word processed document formatted for “human eyes” • Scannable • ASCII Text-only • HTML coded file • Targeted for specific positions

Formatted vs. Electronic • FORMATTED: – Viewed by a human being – Written for quick visual scanning – Formatted to be pleasing to the eye • ELECTRONIC – Loaded into a computer database – Written to be searched – Formatted for complete and exact transfer of data

Electronic Resume Tips • Save or create your resume as “text-only” • Review your resume and replace all unsupported characters with their ASCII equivalent • Break the one-page rule. 1 -3 pages is OK. • Personal home pages with resume link should be all business.

Keywords are the Key • Employers and recruiters search resume databases using keywords. – Nouns and phrases that highlight technical and professional areas of expertise – Industry-specific jargon – Projects, achievements – Personality and attitude • Check the detailed job description.

Submitting Electronic Resumes • Don’t send your resume as an attachment! • Always include an appropriate subject line. • When submitting a paper resume that will be scanned: – Do not fold – If faxing, use “fine” mode

Cover Letters Purpose of the Cover Letter: • Applying for specific known vacancies. • Inquiring about possible openings. • A business letter that professionally introduces your resume. • Explains the reason for sending your resume and contains additional information not found in the resume.

Preparing the Cover Letter • Produced neatly on 8 ½ X 11” paper that matches your resume. • Completely free of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. • Customized for the specific position, employer, and contact person. • Three or four brief paragraphs.

What Makes a Cover Letter Stand Out? • Clear, concise, well written, and interesting. • Helps the employer easily see the match between their needs and your qualifications and experience. • Shows your knowledge of the organization and its needs. • An internal company reference.

What’s in a Cover Letter? • First Paragraph: Who you are, Why you are writing, What position you are applying for, and How you learned of the opening. • Second (Third) Paragraph(s): Make the case for why you are a match for the position. Point out related experience, specific skills, unique qualifications that you know they need. • Final Paragraph: Closing and follow up. State your desire for an interview, let them know how and when you can be reached. Unless they say “No Calls, ” let them know when you will be calling to set up an appointment for an interview.