Resume & Cover Letter Tips: Getting Started
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This presentation provides an overview of what to include in a resume and cover letter, geared towards emerging leaders who are seeking internship opportunities.
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Resume & Cover Letter Tips: Getting Started
- 1. RESUME & COVER LETTER TIPS: GETTING STARTED KIMBERLY WHITE INTERNSHIP COORDINATOR RISE3 INITIATIVE BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN COLLEGE
- 2. WHAT DO EMPLOYERS LOOK FOR IN RECENT GRADUATES? According to the Chronicle of Higher Education (2012), internships ranked highest:
- 3. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO OBTAIN AN INTERNSHIP? • Know your academic, professional interests and goals • Research what’s out there • Read up on job descriptions for industries that interest you • Stay connected to the news of your industry • Research companies in your field • Spruce up your documents! • Resume: your first impression • Cover letter: relate it back to the internship’s duties and your interest in the industry and organization • Polish your communication skills • Develop an “elevator pitch” • Practice for the interview process • Know your etiquette
- 5. BUILDING YOUR RESUME What should go on my resume? It’s not simply a one-page summary of your work experience. Be holistic in what you choose to include, but be cognizant of what the internship is looking for. • Education: Where have you gone to school, what degree(s) are you currently seeking, and what honors and activities have you been a part of? • Volunteer experience: Service to the community is a great way to demonstrate skills such as project management, event planning, and communication with diverse groups, as well as commitment to a cause • Student organizations: Highlighting your leadership! Go beyond simply which organizations you’re a part of, but rather elaborate on particular groups that you’ve made an impact in • Internship and work experience: Choose experiences that are relevant to what the internship is looking for. Having a “full resume” is always helpful. It can go on for pages; choose which “blocks” would fit in best with the internship you’re applying for to provide a one-page summary of how your experience lines up with the position.
- 6. BUILDING YOUR RESUME Action words • Use active words, and vary word choice • Ex. Collaborated, taught, extracted, conducted • What did you do? Not simply what were you responsible for Results-based language • Numbers, facts, figures • What have you accomplished as a result of your work? • How did you impact the organization? Relevant coursework • Which courses relate to the skills, tasks, and expertise that this internship requires? Formatting • Get creative, where appropriate! Consider your audience • For any resume: be cognizant of the way that you organize the information. Where will the reader’s eye go first?
- 7. BUILDING YOUR RESUME Resume advice is always subjective, but some of my thoughts on the subject include: Avoiding buzzwords • Ex. Innovative, passionate, creative • Show me how you’re innovative (infographic, portfolio) Removing your objective • Differing opinions on this • My view: Takes up valuable space for communicating projects, skills, accomplishments. Show me your objective in what you’ve done, and tell me what you want to do with it Be wart of formatting mistakes and spelling errors • Have 2-3 peers review your resume before you submit it Keep your resume clean and readable
- 9. THE COVER LETTER Not always required in an internship application, but a great way to demonstrate your interest in the position and how your skills would make an impact. Formatting • Keep the cover letter to one page • 2-3 paragraphs on your background, interest in the position, and how you will contribute directly Reference the posting! • Hit on specific keywords, tasks, and projects in the internship description • How does your experience fit in? How will you grow as a result of these projects? Do your research • Why do you want to work for this organization? Be sure to touch on this in addition to the internship itself
- 10. QUESTIONS? If you have further questions or would like resume help from me: • Office hours: Thursdays, 1-3pm, Olin 209 • Email: kwhite@bsc.edu I also offer mock interviewing services.
- 11. REFERENCES Giang, M. (2012, September 28). 12 Of The Coolest, Most Creative Resumes We've Seen. Retrieved February 5, 2015, from http://www.businessinsider.com/unique-creative-resumes-2012- 9?op=1 Owen, J. (2013, May 21). 12 College experiences your resume needs [Infographic]. Retrieved from http://blog.boundless.com/2013/05/12- college-experiences-your-resume-needs-infographic/ The Chronicle of Higher Education (2012). The role of higher education in career development: Employer perceptions. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://chronicle.com/items/biz/pdf/Employers%20Survey.pdf
Editor's Notes
- Thank you so much for having me! [Quick introduction] So I want to take some time to share basic information about building your resume, because it’s an important step in your professional development while you’re a student. Building a resume isn’t just about internship or job experience, but what types of skills that you have and will help you succeed at your desired career choice(s). Leadership positions, volunteer experience, and extracurricular activities should all be featured, and you should be able to talk through what projects you worked on, what skills you gained through the experience (Budgeting? Leadership? Project management? Ability to work in a team? Discipline?), and how you can apply those skills to things like internships and your career in general.
- So this chart comes from a study that the Chronicle of Higher Education did back in 2012 to evaluate which experiences employers think are important when they review job applications from undergraduate students/recent graduates. Internships and employment rank highest, but I want to note that volunteer experience, academic content knowledge, and extracurricular activities are also on here. Internships and employment during college are incredibly important to the college experience, especially when you’re thinking of what your professional goals might be. Internships allow you to get practical experience in your field of interest, learn about different career opportunities (realizing that your original aspirations aren’t what you want is a part of this), and gain transferable skills in the workplace that you can bring to your work in the classroom, your other internships, and yes, on the job.
- Since my work revolves around internships, and it’s what employers look for most from job applicants, let’s focus here for a moment. Internships, especially in business (marketing) are crucial to building your network and experience to find a job after graduation. Your resume is the first impression – it’s what your potential supervisor will see first, before you even walk in the door. Note that the other experiences that aren’t ranked as highly are a great start use those experiences to build your resume, find internship opportunities, and keep building.
- Where do you start? Getting involved in experiences. The more “meat” you have to your resume (and by meat – I mean experiences and skills that relate to what you want to do!), the more you can draw from in an interview setting. The more details you’ll have for your story. Building your resume by actively participating in on- and off-campus experiences is incredibly important. This infographic lists 12 experiences, and I’ve picked out a few that I find to be particularly crucial. I must stress that the point of these experiences is NOT simply to add them to your resume, but rather active participation will provide you with some of the skills, projects, and interests you’d want to highlight on your resume. The more you’ve done, the more you can draw from when answering interview questions.
- So, you’ve got a good list of experiences that you would like to add to your resume, as well as other things such as your education, relevant coursework, projects, etc. Now what should your resume look like? One page! You can have a “master” resume with multiple pages but when submitting keep it to 1. Results-based language, where you can. Focus on the direct results of projects that you’ve worked on. How did you see them through to the end? Numbers and specifics in general are always great, too. If you’re an RA how many students do you oversee? If you’re in finance and work with budgets what are some figures? How much money are we talking? If you’re in sales mention some large commission projects that you may have worked on Avoiding buzzwords: Communicate your passion in person, in the interview (even in the cover letter). Writing down that you’re passionate, innovative, team player, hard working, detail-oriented – doesn’t mean anything. Show HOW you are those things. Get creative Some professionals are creating resumes that look more like infographics. It may be useful to create a one-page infographic about you, that goes with your more standard resume.
- Results-based language, where you can. Focus on the direct results of projects that you’ve worked on. How did you see them through to the end? Numbers and specifics in general are always great, too. If you’re an RA how many students do you oversee? If you’re in finance and work with budgets what are some figures? How much money are we talking? If you’re in sales mention some large commission projects that you may have worked on Avoiding buzzwords: Communicate your passion in person, in the interview (even in the cover letter). Writing down that you’re passionate, innovative, team player, hard working, detail-oriented – doesn’t mean anything. Show HOW you are those things. Have at least 3 other people look at your resume before you submit it anywhere. Anything that doesn’t make sense? Any spelling errors or formatting mistakes? Does your resume read clearly and tell your professional story? Get creative Some professionals are creating resumes that look more like infographics. It may be useful to create a one-page infographic about you, that goes with your more standard resume. A colleague of mine mentioned this as a neat way to stand out.
- Here are some classic examples, which I tend to recommend for our students. They are clear, they read well, and they focus on a variety of experiences (leadership, volunteer experience, relevant skills and interests). Contact information is also clear, and at the top of the resume. I would also add any professional social media that you may have – so, a blog, twitter, or LinkedIn account – to show industry knowledge and personal brand.