Resume and Cover Letter Guide
Combined with the following asks:
Mr. ENTJ if you have time Iâm hoping you can shed some light on resumes. I donât know where to start and Iâm overwhelmed. Iâm sure you have a lot of experience, any advice? Thank you in advance this blog has helped kick my butt into gear
Resume tips for someone whoâs fresh out of college and new to the work force? Anxious. Thanks!
How would you go about writing a good cover letter? Especially when you have little experience for the job? Iâm trying to apply for a legal administrative job and while I have multiple experiences in an office, I donât have it in legal work. Thank you and I love your blog!Â
Iâm an introvert that understands that networking is a necessity but itâs intimidating and Iâm not sure how to go about it. Do you have any advice for networking?
Do you have any experience with hiring or selecting people to be on your team? How would you recommend filtering people who not only have the skills, but the capabilities for critical thinking as well?
Hey, do you have any tips on networking and how to keep in touch after a networking event. And how to write the first emails ?
I do, I run resume workshops for UCLA undergrads and USC graduate students. Tips below.
1. Extract keywords from the job posting and place them directly into your resume. Why? This is extremely important to bypass the online filtering system which will screen resumes based on keywords theyâre programmed to identify. Hereâs the thing. HR personnel are the gatekeepers to job postings but theyâre also clueless about the positions theyâre recruiting for so theyâll use certain keywords as guidance to select candidates for the next round. Take the bullet points in the description section of the job posting and transplant them into the experience section of your resume. Example:
Job posting:Â http://www.mckinsey.com/careers/search-jobs/jobs/implementation-consultant-0883
Keywords: Operational/operations, improvement, LEAN, execution, implementation, project, client, analysis/analytical team.
Another way to bypass this step is to email your resume directly to a hiring manager or recruiter. Thatâs why networking is important.
2. Resumes should only be one page. Why? Recruiters and hiring managers flip through dozens if not hundreds of resumes for one position. We work on speed so all the relevant information on your resume should be front and center on the first page. If I have to search for it like itâs Waldo, Iâm likely to get annoyed. Play with margins, font sizing, and formatting to get everything to fit. If youâre a mid-career professional (10+ years of experience), two pages is okay. Never three pages.
3. Exclude a goal in the resume. (Ex. Donât add: âGoal: Obtain an entry level position in engineering.â) Why? Itâs unnecessary. The goal is to get your ass a job.
4. Use the rule of 3, have a minimum of 3 bullet points for each job. Why? Less than 3 bullet points and it looks like you didnât do anything at the job. More than 5 bullet points and itâll look like youâre laundry listing your tasks.
5. Quantify your achievements and impact on the organization, donât just list your tasks. Why? What youâve accomplished is far more important, memorable, and impressive to the reader than what you were assigned to do. Remember to add numbers and percentages where applicable to provide measurable results. Every bullet point listed should answer this question: âso what?â Youâve written some reports â so what? What impact did your actions have on the organization? Example:
Prepared reports for Vice President on a bi-weekly basis
Created new hire packet for medical interns
Performed budget calculations on a monthly basis for the Department of Oncology
Prepared bi-weekly staffing reports for the Vice President of Human Resources to capture the turnover, retention, and vacancy rates in the Orthopedic Department
Created onboarding written and presentation materials for incoming 2016 medical residents; adopted by 12 departments in 2 facilities
Performed budget calculations for the Department of Oncology to identify $20,000 in annual equipment budget overages
6. Place your work experience above your education. Why? Employers place more weight on what youâve done rather than what youâve studied. If Iâm hiring for a software engineer position, Iâm more likely to select a culinary arts major with software programming experience than a software engineering major with cooking experience. List all applicable internships and work experience front and center.
7. Donât use colors or graphics in the resume, use black text on a white background only. Why? Resumes are printed out in black and white so using colors can fade light colored text. The focus should be on the content and not the aesthetic.Â
8. Use one readable font consistently for the entire resume. Why? Itâs a resume, not a scrapbook. Different sizes are okay to emphasize titles. Font suggestions below.
Free Fonts:Â Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Times New Roman
Premium Fonts:Â Helvetica Neue, Neuzeit, Gotham, Proxima Nova
Use Comic Sans if you enjoy being unemployed.
9. Proofread your work. Why? The odds are youâre using the same resume for multiple positions and if youâve made a typo on one then that typo has been distributed to all the positions you applied to. Donât rely solely on spell check, read through your resume line by line because software canât always interpret what youâre trying to say and can change the meaning of your sentences.
10. Save and send the resume in PDF (.pdf) formâ NOT Microsoft Word (.docx) form. Why? This will freeze and preserve the resumeâs formatting and fonts so the other person views it exactly the way you sent it.
Control your web presence. Why? 80% of employers Google applicants so itâs important to control search results for your name. If you have a funky ethnic last name like me then youâll be the only result that comes up in an internet search.
Create a LinkedIn profile. This is Facebook for adults. Load all the resume information into your LinkedIn profile and add a clear professional photo. See below.
Add a professional photo to your Linkedin profile. To do this, put on some professional clothing, stand in front of a white wall or some nice backdrop (university buildings with classic architecture work), and have someone snap a photo of you. Smile. Tips:
Donât take photos from below looking up because youâll have a double chin or from above looking down because this isnât a MySpace profile photo.
Donât use filters because this isnât Instagram or Snapchat.
Donât stand straight forward and stare directly at the camera. Tilt your shoulders to one side and look at the camera or look slightly left/right of it. Itâs a professional headshot, not a mugshot.
Lock up all your social media profiles. Tight. Tighter than Fort Knox. Change all usernames to something that canât be linked to you and edit all privacy settings so non-friends canât view anything. If your name is Boopbap Entjayness and I can Facebook find you in 2 seconds, flip through your photos, and see how turnt up you were last week at the club thatâs not good.
Optional: Claim your domain. If your name is Boopbap Entjayness then buy BoobbapEntjayness.com (domains are $10 a year) and create a personal page or one that redirects to your LinkedIn profile. If you have no coding experience, just use the custom domain with Tumblr. If this is too much work, skip.Â
Microsoft Office (if youâre a college student, you should qualify for deals on software through your schoolâs website or OnTheHub.com)
Free alternative:Â Google Docs
Free resume templates: (1, 2, 3, 4)
Cover letters, like essays, can be broken down into three essential parts:
Introduction: 1-3 sentences. Who you are, your education, your qualifications, and why youâre interested in the position. This should be short because the employer doesnât care who you areâ they want to know what makes you qualified and what you can do for them.
Body: 3 paragraphs. This is where you can explain what you can do for them. The body should include what you bring to the table, what youâll add to the company, why youâre a cultural fit, and what experience is relevant to the position youâre applying to. Use bullet points. Examples:
This position requires someone with project management skills and I have extensive experience delivering projects under aggressive deadlines. Some examples include:
Project 1: Project description, your role, the outcome/impact of your work.
Project 2: Project description, your role, the outcome/impact of your work.
Project 3:Â Project description, your role, the outcome/impact of your work.
Conclusion: 2-3 sentences. How to get in touch with you, thank yous.
If youâve made it this far, youâve read everything above, and youâve attempted a first draft, but you still need help Iâm willing to review your resume and send it back with redline edits.Â
If this is something youâre interested in, remove all personal information from your resume (name, address, phone number, etc.), replace it with dummy text, message me on Tumblr via private chat, and Iâll give you an email address to send it to. I need approximately one week of lead time but longer if itâs a busy week. Reach out and Iâll see what I can do.
