1. Presenting Yourself
INTS 3301: Career & Professional Development
Brought to you by:
James Andrews, Dane Arnold, Kyle Caviness, Oggha Htut, Nick Magera,
Colby Mckelva, Marco Olvera, Collin Ryan, and Hayden Vinson
2. Cover Letters
Introduction
Every résumé you send, fax, or e-mail needs its
own cover letter.
The best cover letters spark employers interest
and create a an impression of competence.
Cover letters are an opportunity to convey your
focus and energy. (especially for students who
don’t have a lot of experience).
3. Introduction Continued
Cover letters should be written
in standard business format.
All letters should be single
spaced, left justified, with each
paragraph followed by a blank
line.
Most cover letters are two to
three paragraphs long and
should be no longer than one
page.
Crosby (2009, p.27)
4. Parts of a Cover Letter
Salutation- Specific/who
Opening- What job you’re applying for
Body- Brief explanation about
skills/qualifications
Conclusion- Thank You/commitment
5. • A compilation of
your skills and
work experience.
• A snapshot of
yourself
• Usually one page
Résumé
6.
7. On A Résumé
DON’T
• Do not lie or exaggerate
about your skills and work
experience.
• Do not state skills that are
obvious to the job
• Do not use comic sans!
8. On A Résumé
DO
• Keep your résumé concise, and one page.
• Use key words or “power” words.
• Be honest.
9. Résumé Layout
• Visual Hierarchy: First things first
• Proper use of white space
• Limit number of fonts
• Fonts need to complement one another and be
easy to read
• Use Bullet points to help the flow of your
résumé
• Design Consistency
12. Creativity
Ways to make your résumé more creative
• Primary purpose of visual appeal is to
facilitate the recruiter in reading the résumé,
not distract them.
• Accentuate key words:
-Bold or italicize you texts in areas of emphasis, but use sparingly
and avoid underlining as it tends to be more difficult to read.
13. Creativity
• Remove extra indentations:
-Too many in a résumé will cause the eyes to jump all over the page,
thus destroying the harmony.
-The goal is to have all text align to each other.
14. Creativity
• Easy to skim through:
-Make section headings more distinct by using borders.
15. Creativity
• Space out text set in ALL CAPS.
• Consistent Formatting.
• Use digits for numerical information.
17. • What are Applications?
• It’s a corporate made fill in the blank résumé
• Things you need to know before
starting
• Identification
• Employment History
• Education and Certification
• Special Skills
• References
Applications
18. Identification
Name, address, phone number, social security card, and an
alternate proof of identity
Employment History
Start and end in month, year format
• Ex(Jan./2006 – Dec./2010)
Name of supervisor, address, and phone number
Job title, location, salary(starting and ending), major duties
Reason for leaving
Applications
19. Education and Certifications
Name and location of the school/schools you attended
Year you received your degree
Name, level, award, and renewal date of certifications
Special Skills
References
Name, phone number, and address of 3 to 4 that have
AGREED to recommend you
Applications
20. When Applying
•Make a good impression.
•Dress for the job.
•Have another copy of the Application.
•Fill in everything.
22. Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
What is it?
•Software that sorts and organizes the recruitment
and application process.
•Decreases wasted time per application.
•Commonly used by companies that receive large
volumes of applications, but smaller businesses
are adopting the system more and more.
23. How does the ATS work?
•Scans your résumé and stores in database.
•Detects key words for job description,
qualifications or skills and ranks your résumé
against competing applicants.
•Schlinger (2014) found that some programs
work with social media platforms (I.E.
Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter) and will scan for
key words for the social recruiting software to
pick you out of the pile.
24. Making the ATS work for you!
Design a résumé that is targeted to work with the
ATS.
What does it commonly look for?
Keywords, Education, Contact information, Skills & Work Experience.
Don’t game the system with “white words.”
The ATS scores the positive hits with years of
experience and ranks your résumé for review.
Research the company and network with HR staff to
determine key words and what other items the ATS
looks for.
25. Proofreading and Feedback
Helps you to perfect your résumé before
submitting it to an employer
Provides an opportunity to catch mistakes in grammar or
spelling
Helps to ensure there is an appropriate amount of white space
Provides alternative perspectives on formatting and content
Have people of different disciplines proofread
Allows people with different thought processes to provide
insight
May provide ideas that help your résumé stand out
26. Career Center
Located in Wiggins Complex near
Chitwood/Weymouth Residence Halls
Provide services for mock interviews, as well as
résumé editing, and step by step instructions for
writing résumés or cover letters
Available to all Tech students and alumni
Professional help in all aspects of career search
27. Conclusion
• Do’s and Don'ts
• Use your resources
• Be creative
• Be job specific
• Be professional!
28. Paper airplane activity ☺
Let’s see whose paper airplane can fly the best.
If your paper airplane manages to touch the Sun, you win!
29. References:
Crosby, O. (2009, June 22). Resumes, applications, and cover letters. Occupational Outlook Quarterly, 21-21.
Good resource on with instructions on how to set up a basic cover letter and résumé.
Recruiter, U. (2014). 10 Funniest things job applicants put on their resumes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFK0yz2skrA
A video from YouTube to break the ice and give examples of descriptions applicants actually placed on their résumé.
Schlinger, R. r. (2014). Applicant Tracking Systems How to Navigate the ATS Resume-Writing Landscape. Career
Planning & Adult Development Journal, 30(2), 164-175.
Very in depth article on the advantages and drawbacks of using an Applicant Tracking System. This article dispels myths about the
overarching capabilities of the ATS as well as highlights what various ATS programs are able to do for a company of various sizes.
The typical résumé (LifeClever RSS)
http://www.lifeclever.com/give-your-resume-a-face-lift/
Excellent web page that discusses cleaning up the layout of a resume that allows for easier reference by hiring managers and other HR
professionals. Many guidelines that guide the prospective employee through the process of streamlining their résumé.
