Resumes and Cover Letters

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Resumes and Cover Letters

• Cynthia Favre
• Career Center

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The Basics

• Resumes
• Cover Letters
• Career Center Help
• Drop off and returned by campus mail
• Quick Questions Mon - Fri, 200 - 330
• Appointments
• Samples

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Resumes - General

• There is no one right way
• Persuasion paper not a laundry list
• Effective Resumes
• Show pattern of interest and experience
• Make clear connection between qualifications and
  opportunity
• Readable and professional in presentation

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Get Started

• Experience Memory Jogger (page 4)
• Paid or unpaid?
• Does high school count?
• Skills and Qualities
• Demonstrated or gained
• Make a list of 150 Positive Skills and Qualities
• Victory log
• Peak Experiences
• Patterns

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NameCurrent Address Permanent
Address Phone PhoneEmail EmailOBJECTIVE
/CAREER INTERESTS Specific objectives
Elementary Teacher, Public Accountant,
Consumer Product Sales Representative or,
indicate career interests Finance, Banking,
Sales Writing, Research, Publishing, and
Editing Human Services, Children,
Counseling. EDUCATIONBachelor of Arts,
Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, MN, May
20______Major
Minor
GPAStudy Abroad (optional) Indicate
where, when, for how long, and what.Special
Preparation (optional) Indicate courses or
other training that may be of special interest to
employers. EXPERIENCE or SKILLS Position
title, employer, city, state, dates of
employment. Short description of activities
using past tense verbs and nouns to show
skills.Evidence or proof that you have
demonstrated specific skills. For example,
evidence of writing may be GPA of 3.5 in all
writing courses. You may also want to include
an employment section with just job
titles. ACTIVITIESList items that indicate
skills, leadership, competitiveness, personal
qualities or interests. High school activities
may be included, but are not required. HONORSLi
st positions or honors for which you were
selected such as scholarships, awards, and other
recognition. High school honors may be
included. THE KICKERMake the last item a
strong statement by centering across the bottom
with important information such asWilling to
Relocate and Travel or Worked up to 20 hours a
week while attending classes full-time.
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Process

• Gather information
• Use Resume Worksheet
• Write
• Rewrite
• Layout (this will take time!)
• Revise
• Have it reviewed
• Edit again

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Resume Outline

• Contact Information
• Career Objective/Interests
• Education
• Experience
• Activities/Honors/Service
• Kicker

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Career Objective/Interests

• Be specific if you can teacher, nurse, CPA
• Career Interests
• Human services, children, program management,
  counseling
• Sales, marketing, promotions, advertising
• Business operations, administration, customer
  service
• Consider more than 1 resume

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Education

• BA- it is the only one we have!
• GPA
• Study Abroad
• January Term counts
• High School Counts
• Selected Courses
• Special Preparation

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Experience

• Paid or unpaid
• Summarize experience not directly related
• Give most space to most important experiences
• Persuade! (Fill Milk Tanks)

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Activities/Honors/Service

• Why am I putting this on?
• What does it tell the reader about me?
• Summarize similar experiences
• Scholarships
• So What?

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Kicker

• References available upon request is not needed
• Make a strong ending
• Worked up to 20 hours per week while attending
  classes full-time
• Eager to travel and Relocate
• Commit up to 30 hours a week to varsity sport

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Reference Page

• References for Name
• List 3 -5 references
• People who can speak to your work
• Name, position, organization, address, phone,
  e-mail address, relationship
• Give written permission
• Release forms

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Cover Letters

• Handshake through mail
• Never send resume by mail, fax, or email without
  a letter
• Resumes submitted in person or given out at job
  fair do not need a letter
• Resumes submitted on eRecruiting should have
  letters with them.
• An added tool to sell yourself!

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What to say

• Paragraph 1Tell them why you are writing
• Paragraph 2 Promote skills and experiences
• Paragraph 3 Tell them what you want to have
  happen

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Make it good

• Use past tense verbs
• Avoid personal pronouns on resumes
• Be consistent
• Use graphics sparingly
• Use no less than 10 point fonts
• Avoid underlining, italic or script fonts

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Send it

• Resume, letter, reference page, and envelope all
  on the same paper
• Stay with professional neutral colors of good
  quality paper
• Email - as attachments
• FAX - with cover page

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Get Started!

• Let the Career Center know how we can help!