Before applying to any job, you need to make sure you have a complete resume, cover letter, or both. Believe it or not, many college students and recently graduated college students do not know how to properly write resumes and cover letters. Also, some people make silly mistakes that can gravely hurt their chances of landing a job.
Trust me, I’ve seen plenty of instances where the applicant makes small spelling or grammatical errors in their resume to larger mistakes like not mentioning the company’s name in their cover letter. If you want to make sure you have a good chance of being hired for a future job or internship, just keep on reading!
Resume Basics
First thing’s first: Your resume should be ONE PAGE. Adjust your fonts and page margins if your resume goes over one page.
Also, write complete sentences and use proper verb tenses and punctuation (like ending your sentences with periods).
Do not merely write “blogged” or “did social media”. Your sentences should have actionable verbs at the beginning of every sentence, such as “Worked with a CRM database for email marketing, updating donor and student contact information, and sending invitations to [insert name of company here] events.”
Sections of Your Resume (In Descending Order)
Introduction: Include your first and last name, address, professional email address, and best phone number where someone can reach you.
URL’s: Your LinkedIn URL (it should be customized and not the random numbers/letters that the site originally gives you—make it easy on the interviewer and have a URL that they can memorize) and website portfolio if you have one (if you are a writer, digital marketer, graphic designer or other creative, you should have an online portfolio that showcases your work).
Profile: Write a sentence or two about yourself. What stands out about you? What’s your career interest? What important and relevant skills do you have that are needed for the job you want?
Education: College name, city and state, major, minor if you have one, GPA, and graduation month and year. Up until your sophomore year of college, you can keep your high school education information on your resume because you most likely don’t know your major yet. Also, if you studied abroad, include the program name, location, and courses you took.
Relevant Experience and Leadership: This section should ONLY include experience and leadership that is relevant to the job or internship you are applying for. Be sure to include the company name, location, and dates of the experience. Include a couple of bullet points (three or four) on what important and relevant tasks you completed on the job.
Remember, if your experience happened in the past, use past tense, actionable verbs. If you are currently still working at your job or internship, use present tense, actionable verbs. Here’s a nice list of actionable verbs you should use in this section.
Additional Experience: Here’s where you can include experiences that aren’t necessarily aligned with the job you’re applying for, but helped you attain skills necessary for the position.
For example, because my career interest is digital marketing, I included my volunteer work (because I helped children gain team-building and leadership skills, but in turn I gained the same skills because I worked with other students my age) and a two-month position where I was a media specialist (which helped me strengthen my writing and design skills).
Activities and Distinctions: What did you do in college that you’re proud of? Were you on the Dean’s List? Did you receive a scholarship? Where you the Vice President of a club? Were you a published author? Were you in any academic/scholar clubs? List these in two columns so you don’t have a resume over 1 page.
The Cover Letter
Even if the position says a cover letter is optional, just submit one anyway. It gives you an opportunity to showcase your writing and go into details about your relevant experience that is listed on your resume.
Include This in Your Cover Letter (in Descending Order)
Full Name
Address
Company Name
Company Address
Greeting/Salutation
I do not write Mr./Mrs./Ms. because I don’t like to assume someone’s gender AND you never know if they are married. If you know the person’s first and last name, you can write that instead of “Recruiter” or “Hiring Manager.”
What I usually write: “To (Company Name) Recruiter (or Hiring Manager, whichever you prefer):”
Introduction
I usually begin with “It is with great interest that I apply to be your next [position name] at [AttorneySync].” Then, I talk about my education experience and how my skillset makes me a good match for the position. In the same paragraph, I write what I want the position to do for me in order to begin or further my career in my career field.
Body
First Paragraph: What do you have to offer the employer? Here, I make it a point to mention some of the tasks and skills the employer is looking for (keywords—some companies filter resumes and cover letters based on the amount, or lack thereof, of keywords included the applicants’ documents) and explain how I will be able to complete the tasks and achieve the goals they have set out for me.
Middle Paragraph #1: In another paragraph, I include what makes me qualified for the job. What skills did you get from your college courses or other job positions that makes you the perfect fit for the job? Did that philosophy class teach you how to think critically? Did that marketing course show you how to analyze consumer behaviors and build personas? Did studying abroad show you how to be open-minded in a new atmosphere/culture and encourage you to foster those teamwork skills? Did that copywriter position make you proficient at proof-reading?
Final Paragraph: Finally, is there a hobby you have that has helped you realize that this is the career or job position you truly want? Sometimes, I mention my YouTube channel because the backend of having one requires you to do some research on your audience, have an impeccable individual work ethic, and proficient consumer engagement skills.
Closing
Sincerely, best, thank you, and respectfully are all great examples of professional, appropriate signatures to use when closing a cover letter. If you have to submit the cover letter online, leave a space under the close and then simply type your name.
If you are required to mail the cover letter, or you plan on handing the cover letter in during the interview, type the close, leave a space to sign your name under the close, and then type your name just in case the recruiter cannot read your signature.
Under your closing, you are more than welcome to leave your email address, LinkedIn URL, and website portfolio (creating a new paragraph each time, of course). Be sure to include which link in what.
What’s Next?
NOW you’re ready to submit your resume, application, and cover letter. Need some help reviewing your resume or cover letter? Looking for a way to set up a digital portfolio? Visit my Contact page and leave me a message! Or, email me at creativelyjasmine [at] gmail.com.
With Love,
The Wrighter
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