3. Importance of Cover Letters
Creates initial impression of you as a potential employee
(or intern or graduate student).
Provides a sample of your writing ability.
Sells your qualifications.
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4. Standard format for letters
Heading (consider using design features from resume)
Date
Recipient’s Address
Subject Line
Salutation (use a person’s name, name of department, or the
business or organization – avoid “to whom it may concern” – too
generic)
Introduction
Body
Closing
End Notations
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5. Writing the introductory paragraph
State the position you are applying for and where you learned
of it.
Compose a “thesis statement” that serves to interest reader
and forecast what is in the letter.
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6. Example 1
I am applying for the student practicum position recently
posted at the University of Idaho’s College of Forestry. My
coursework has prepared me well for this position and
includes extensive study in all aspects of rangeland ecology
and management. My senior class projects were focused in
areas important to your organization: wild land vegetation
restoration and forest ecosystem management.
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7. Example 2
The enclosed materials are in application of the project
engineering position recently posted in the Civil Engineering
Department at the University of Idaho. My strong background
in construction and engineering education make me well
qualified for this position.
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8. Writing the body of your letter
Compose paragraphs in statement - support form. Address
the employer’s needs.
Elaborate upon skills/experience/capabilities from your
resume that are most applicable to the position.
Display knowledge of the organization.
Be specific in word choice and concise in phrasing.
Show what separates you from other applicants.
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9. Elements of the body of your letter.
Education – focus on advanced course work, particularly
projects
Employment – Internships. Explain what you did. Be
specific.
Highlight accomplishments.
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10. Writing the conclusion to your letter
Emphasize something important to employer.
Indicate when you are available for an interview.
End on a forward looking note.
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11. Pay close attention to prose style.
Example 1:Wordy and Vague
I have spent many hours in the laboratory and I am very familiar with this
environment and feel quite comfortable working there.
Many, very, quite, and there are vague words. Have is not necessary.
Revision 1: Concise but not specific
I spent hours in the microbiology lab and feel comfortable in this familiar
environment.
Feeling comfortable is nice but is it really helpful in conveying what you know
how to do?
Revision 2: Concise and specific
My lab work in microbiology includes: [Follow with a list of standard lab techniques /
protocols using a multiple column format or consider listing in a multiple column format.
keywords and following with a description if appropriate.]
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12. Review Structure and Coherence of Your Letter
Start by outlining the structure. What is each paragraph doing
that you wrote?
Example:
Paragraph 1: Science skills from coursework
Paragraph 2: Leadership skills and employment
Paragraph 3: Personal background
Is this order emphasizing most skills/experience/capabilities to
employer?
Keep paragraphs to one topic. Use topic sentences.
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13. Example 2: Wordy and Vague
I studied for three years in Alaska at the University of
Alaska in Anchorage. My coursework there
included many hours of field trips, where I have worked closely
With other team members mapping various volcanic
areas and researched many of the volcanoes of the
Aleutian chain.
Most of the time there and have can be eliminated. The other underlined
words here are vague. Notice how the revision on the next slide improves
the paragraph both in terms of conciseness and specific detail.
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14. Revised
During three years of study at the University of Alaska,
my coursework included field trips, mapping
and analyzing volcanic activity in the Aleutian chain.
This research included working in teams of up to six
People collecting . . . . .data using . . . .
Reducing unnecessary and vague words allows writer
to be more specific.
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15. End Notations
Serve to explain what is included in your application.
Here is an example.
Enclosed:
Resume
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16. Strategies for Reviewing
Read your writing as if you were the employer or graduate
school.
Check all sentences that “stop” your eye.
Keep sentences short (15-20 words) unless you are skilled at
writing compound sentences.
Review to eliminate:
1. Vague words (many, very etc.).
2. Unnecessary tense constructions (I have).
Paragraphs should seek to answer specific who, what, why,
where, and how questions.
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18. Chronological Resume
Arranged according to paid employment
Lists positions in reverse chronological order
Advantages / Disadvantages
works best for candidates with a work history that matches employer
needs exactly.
if work history does not specifically fit needs, it may be difficult for
employer to determine your fit despite the fact that you have skills the
employer needs.
poor choice for recent graduates with no work history in their field of
study.
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19. Functional or Skills-Based Resume
Arranged by categories of skills employer needs and includes
descriptions of skills.
Includes work history but not in the traditional format because
the work history is not directly relevant to position.
Advantages/Disadvantages
a good choice for recent graduates without work history directly
related to a position
able to showcase educational, business, and extracurricular activities
that demonstrate capabilities
employer may find it difficult to connect your capabilities to the
needs of a specific position
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20. Targeted Resume
May be chronologically or functionally organized, or a
combination of both. The aim is to match your skills /
capabilities directly to the position, so it requires you to focus
on what the employer needs
Skills / capabilities not directly relevant to the position are
either left off the resume or not emphasized.
Advantages / Disadvantages
Employer can easily see how well you fit the position
Narrowness of approach may block other possibilities
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21. Electronic Resumes
ASCII – composed using limited ASCII character set, saved as
.txt file, can be entered into organization’s database.
Scannable – emphasizes nouns/noun phrases not verbs.
Web authored - Posted on web boards such as LinkedIn.
Print Resume – sent through snail mail, email, or posted within
a data based. Remember to use pdf files for both cover letter
and resume to preserve formatting.
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22. Resume Design
Requires design for eye-at-a-glance-appeal
Omit information that is not relevant
Focus with keywords (nouns and noun-phrases) and
specific descriptions of skill sets using strong verbs
Try different layouts
If you use a template, modify it, so you don’t look like
everyone else who is using the same template.
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24. Heading
Contact information (college and home)
Objective
Education
- certifications
- scholarships (received for academic excellence)
- awards / honors (relevant to position)
Relevant Curriculum (best to use only if it is a short list revealing an
emphasis).
Use table feature to create structure in your resume such as
two columns (just eliminate the borders when you are done.
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25. Objectives should . . .
Reflect the employer's perspective.
Tell what you can contribute.
Demonstrate your value to the employer.
Be as concise as possible.
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26. Weak objective statements:
not focused on employer but on writer
Position in civil engineering that will provide me with
opportunities for professional advancement.
To obtain experience in the field of engineering before
opening my own business.
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27. Examples of objective statements.
Example 1:
To obtain a position in the support areas of manufacturing
with
emphasis on material or quality control
Example 2:
Internship in Chemical Dependency Treatment Unit working with
individuals, families, and groups
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28. Effective objectives continued…
To apply my engineering education and technical skills to
produce quality products
Seeking a position as a software engineering or
application developer
Objective statements are not absolutely necessary, so
leave them out if they take up too much space on a
resume.
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29. Resume body
Use keywords or phrases to focus reader’s attention and to
organize for emphasis.
After keywords, describe skills and/or projects with specific
detail – use phrases rather than complete sentences.
See my resume help sheets for how to do this.
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30. Additional Sections
Memberships
Awards and Honors (move after skills section if the list is long
and doesn’t fit well in heading area)
Activities (some writers combine with memberships as in
Activities and Memberships)
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31. Length of Resume
Average is two pages.
Research shows employers often prefer two page resumes –
even when they claim otherwise.
Avoid crowding on a single page or “padding” resume.
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32. Writing a targeted resume.
Analyze position description to identify skill categories
Create a list of skills (what the employer wants)
Organize in order of importance (to the employer)
Analyze your skills (what matches or closely matches?)
Write concise, detailed descriptions of these skills
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33. Describing Skills and Experience
Choose active verbs and keywords (see help sheets).
Use short phrases (fragments).
Provide supporting evidence through detail.
Be concise and specific.
Use parallel construction in headings and phrasing.
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34. Review Strategy
Do your descriptions answer at least three of the following?
What?
Where?
How?
Why?
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35. Remember
Organize the body of your resume to emphasize qualifications that match
employer needs.
If you have paid experience that matches (or closely matches) employer
needs, consider composing a combination resume that emphasizes
employment and course projects.
If all of your employment experience is unrelated to employer needs,
emphasize course work (i.e. projects) etc. Include a one line list of non-
employment in chronological form (without descriptions of duties) for all
paid experience that is unrelated to employer needs.
See examples of resumes and my notes about these in bblearn.
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36. Parallel Construction
Use consistent grammatical structure
Headings are not parallel:
Computer Skills
Analyzing Research
Management Experience
Headings that are parallel:
Computer
Research and Analysis
Management
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37. Review descriptions for this problem
Not parallel:
Responsibilities included: recruitment of volunteers;
coordinating fund-raising; and distributed promotional
materials.
Parallel:
Responsibilities included: recruiting volunteers; coordinating
fund-raising activities, and distributing promotional materials.
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38. References
Include if you have room.
Between three and five references is a reasonable choice.
Choose a range of people.
Make certain they know you have listed them as a
reference.
If no room, just write “references available upon request”
at the bottom of the resume.
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