Explaing How to Write a Resume & Cover Letter

Resume

What is the goal of the resume? Not to get the job. It’s to get to the next step. No matter how good your resume is, you’re not going to get the job offer based on it. The focus of the resume is to 

Types of resume: 
1. Chronological resume - Orders experience from most recent to least recent
2. Functional resume - Focuses on experience irrelevant of the timeline
3. Combination resume- Flexibility to detail experience while also using chronological style
4. Targeted Resume- Tailored to the position. 

• Create both a master resume, industry resume, and a targeted resume. 
• Building your resume:
  • Sections to a resume:
    • Name & Contact Information: 
      • First and last name, street address (It is okay to only include State/zip code to keep your full address private), phone number, and email
      • If you have two addresses or are relocating to the city you are trying to get a job in it is ideal to put the address that is closest to the position so that they don’t ignore your resume due to needing to relocate. 
    • Education: 
      • Only include your GPA if it is a 3.5 or better
      • Coursework is optional, experience is better. 
    • Experience: Your experience can be broken down into many different categories depending on your types of experience and how you would like to display them on your resume. Type of experiences include:
      • Work Experience
      • Relevant Work Experience
      • Research
      • Extracurricular Activities
      • Studying Abroad
    • Additional sections:
      • Skills and/or Certifications
      • Memberships
      • Volunteer Work
      • You can also create a separate section title if you feel it fits your experiences better. Just be sure that it seems appropriate and professional. 
• Writing experience within each position
  • Three-Five bullet points per experience giving preference to the experience that is most relevant to the position. Ideally at least three bullet points and only more than five if necessary 
  • Focus on your impact on the organization. Demonstrate the value you brought to the organization by providing facts and specific numbers, and accomplishments achieved where available. 
  • Lead with an ACTION VERB. This helps convey to the reader what skills you utilized or the impact you had during the experience. 
• Creating a targeted resume:
  • Mimic the verbiage of the job description
  • What soft skills are they looking for? Pick the top 2-3 and be sure that you DEMONSTRATE how you exemplify these characteristics. 
  • Reorder, Add, Remove: 
    • Put what experience best qualifies you for the position first. Do this by utilizing the different sections of the resume. 
• What shouldn’t you include in my resume?
  • Unprofessional email. We all had that bad middle school email handle… Mine was Mikedaballer22@yahoo.com. When you are applying for a professional position it is best to leave the fun emails behind and go for something more professional such as (first name, last name, and a number if necessary). 
  • An objective. Many young professionals feel an objective is a necessary item in their resume but it is miss used 99% of the time and honestly rather unnecessary. By applying they know you are interested