Cover Letters and Resumes
Often the initial communication that a person seeking employment has with a company is via the application process. Many times this amounts to a cover letter and a resume. A good cover letter will not only draw in the readers attention, but will also communicate your personality. A great resume provides a list of your abilities and evidence to back them up.
Cover Letter
General Information
- Try to be succinct. Focus on writing sentences that relate who you are to the job you want. A paucity of pertinent paragraphs precedes a plethora of prolix pages.
- Clearly identify the position or type of position you would like to have within the company.
- Be very careful to avoid simple spelling and grammatical errors.
- Sound professional, but personal.
Example Template
your name (optional)
your address
your city, state, zip
your phone or email address (optional, but suggested)
date
recipient's name
recipient's job title (if known)
recipient's company
recipient's address
recipient's city, state, zip
Dear Mr./Ms./Dr. Lastname:
- In the first paragraph introduce yourself and the position you are applying for
- In the second paragraph state the personality aspects that make you good for the position and company (hard working, people person, etc)
- In the third paragraph prove those personality traits (what have you done to show that you are hard working or good with people?)
- In the fourth paragraph thank the person for their time and consideration
Sincerely
(leave 4 lines for your signature)
Your Full Name
Resume
General Information
- Limit your resume to one page (unless you have a lot of related work experience)
- Fill that one page with as much information as you can fit on it
- The order in which you present your information is also important. The following is recommended for students graduating with a bachelor's:
- Your name and contact info
- Related work history (internships, co-ops, etc)
- Recent education (universities, colleges, but no high schools)
- Related volunteer work (open source contributions, student organizations, etc)
- Unrelated work history
- Related coursework and class project descriptions
- Computer skills
- Awards and activities
- Double-check for simple errrs. Like tyops.
Examples
