Chapter 14

1. Chapter 14 Writing Résumés and Application Letters

2. Chapter 14 Objectives • Explain why companies are encouraging employees to get varied job experience. • Delineate three things that need to be analyzed when planning a résumé. • Discuss how to choose the appropriate organization for your résumé.

3. Chapter 14 Objectives continued • List the major sections of a traditional résumé. • Adapt your résumé to an electronic format. • Define the purpose of application letters and how to apply the AIDA approach to them.

4. Building Toward a Career • Employers are looking for people who • Are able and willing to adapt to diverse situations • Thrive in an ever-changing workplace • Continue to learn throughout their careers • Are team players with strong work records • Are versatile leaders • Are sensitive to intercultural differences (and have perhaps studied abroad) • Have a sound understanding of international affairs (and have perhaps learned another language)

5. Steps Toward BuildingYour Career • Keep an employment portfolio. • Take interim assignments. • Polish and update your skills. • Learn about the services your campus career center offers. • Don’t think the process is over once an employer hires you.

6. Planning Your Resume • Your résumé is • A structured, written summary of your education, employment history, and job qualifications • A form of advertising • Intended to get you an interview with prospective employers • Your purpose in writing a résumé is to create interest, not to tell readers everything about you.

7. Before the Resume… • Before you can create a successful résumé, you need to find out • What you have to offer • What you want to do

8. Analyze Yourself • The first step toward knowing yourself is to analyze your talents and skills: • Jot down ten achievements you’re proud of, and think about the skills they demanded. • Look closely at your educational preparation, work experience, and extracurricular activities. • Take stock of your personal characteristics (making a list of your most important qualities). • Consult your college placement office for help identifying interests, aptitudes, and personality traits.

9. Analyze Yourself • The second step toward knowing yourself is to discover what will make you happy and satisfied on the job: • What would you like to do every day? • How would you like to work? • What specific compensation do you expect? • Can you establish some general career goals? • What size company would you prefer? • What type of operation is appealing to you? • What location would you like? • What facilities do you envision? • What sort of corporate culture are you most comfortable with?

10. Knowing the Job Market • Employers hire people by • Hearing about candidates from an employee (personal contact) • Sending representatives to college campuses to interview students for job openings • Accepting unsolicited résumés • Recruiting candidates through employment agencies, state employment services, temporary staffing services, and employment bureaus operated by some trade associations • Posting jobs through classified and display ads in newspapers, trade magazines, and campus publications • Advertising positions on the Internet

11. Resources for Employment Opportunities Journals and Periodicals Business and Financial News Specific Companies Web Sites Career Counseling Contacts

12. Writing your Resume • Call attention to your best features and downplay your weaknesses—without distorting or misrepresenting the facts. • Turn negative into positive

13. Creating Successful Résumés • Your résumé should convey the seven qualities employers seek in a candidate: • Thinks in terms of results • Gets things done • Is well rounded • Shows signs of progress • Has standards of excellence • Is flexible and willing to try new things • Possesses strong communication skills

14. Types of Resumes • Focus attention on your strongest points by adopting an organizational approach: • Chronological • Functional • Combination

15. A Chronological Résumé • A chronological résumé emphasizes your work experience, placing that section in the most prominent position (immediately after the name and address and the objective): • You list your jobs sequentially in reverse order, beginning with the most recent position and working backward toward earlier jobs. • For each listing, describe your responsibilities and accomplishments. • If you’re a recent graduate, you can vary this approach by putting your educational qualifications before your experience.

16. A Chronological Résumé • The chronological approach has three key advantages: • Employers are familiar with it and can easily find information. • This approach highlights growth and career progression. • This approach highlights employment continuity and stability. • The chronological approach is especially appropriate for candidates with a strong employment history who are aiming for a job that builds on their current career path.

17. Functional Résumé • The functional résumé emphasizes a list of skills and accomplishments, identifying employers and academic experience in subordinate sections: • You list your skills and accomplishments in the most prominent position. • You stress individual areas of competence.

18. Functional Résumé • The functional approach has three advantages: • Employers are able to see what you can do for them, without having to read through every job description. • You can emphasize earlier job experience. • You can de-emphasize any lack of career progress or lengthy unemployment. • The functional approach is especially appropriate for candidates who are just entering the job market, who want to redirect their careers, or who have little continuous career-related experience.

19. Combination Résumé • The combination résumé includes the best features of the chronological and functional approaches, but it is not commonly used: • It tends to be longer. • It can be repetitious if you have to list your accomplishments and skills both in the functional section and in the chronological job descriptions.

20. Writing Your Resume • To compose an impressive résumé, • State your information as forcefully as possible (avoid weak statements) • Write your résumé using a simple, direct style (use active statements that show results) • Use short, crisp phrases instead of whole sentences • Focus on what your reader needs to know • Absolutely avoid using the word “I” • Start your phrases with impressive action verbs

21. Writing Your Resume • Begin your résumé by identifying yourself and providing your contact information: • Include your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address (if you have one). • If you have contact information at school and at home, provide both. • If you have a work phone and a home phone, list both and indicate which is which.

22. Career Objective • Stating a career objective is optional: • Some experts advise against it, saying that your objective is obvious from your qualifications and that a stated objective labels you as being interested in only one thing. • Some experts argue for it, saying that employers will try to categorize you anyway, so you might as well give them the right label. • If you choose to state your objective, make it as specific as possible. • If you have different types of qualifications, prepare separate résumés. • If your immediate objective differs from your ultimate one, combine the two in a single statement.

23. Education Section • In the education section, present your academic background in depth: • Use a simple heading such as “Education,” “Professional College Training,” or “Academic Preparation.” • List the name and location of each school you attended (starting with the most recent). • Include the term of your enrollment (in months and years) for each entry. • List your major and minor fields of study for each entry.

24. Education Section • Include significant skills and abilities you’ve developed in your course work. • List the degrees or certificates you’ve earned at each school. • List the courses that have directly equipped you for the job you’re seeking. • Indicate any scholarships, awards, and academic honors you’ve received. • Include any off-campus training sponsored by business or government.

25. Education Section • List any relevant seminars or workshops you’ve attended (and any certificates you received). • Mention high school or military training only if the associated achievements are pertinent to your career goals. • If you choose to show a grade-point average, include the scale (especially if a 5-point scale is used instead of a 4-point scale).

26. Work Experience Section • In the work experience section, highlight the relationship between your previous responsibilities and your target field: • List your jobs in chronological order (with the current or last one first). • Include any part-time, summer, or intern positions, even if unrelated to your current career objective. • If you have worked your way through school, say so. • Include the name and location of each employer.

27. Work Experience Section • Briefly describe what each organization does. • State your functional title for each job. • State how long you worked on each job (from month/year to month/year). • Devote the most space to the jobs that are related to your target position. • Mention any significant achievements on the job (including facts about your skills and accomplishments).

28. Additional Sections • You might include a section describing other aspects of your background that pertain to your career objective: • Command of another language • Travel experience • Skills in operating computers, specific software, or other specialized equipment • You may insert information at the bottom of your résumé about additional materials that are available: • You might want to say that work samples are available upon request. • You may say that “references are available upon request,” but doing so isn’t necessary.

29. Additional Sections • In a section titled “Activities and Achievements,” you might • List volunteer activities such as tutoring, fundraising, or community service projects • List career-related activities such as speaking or writing activities • List participation in athletics or creative projects • List the offices held in academic or professional organizations • Note any awards you’ve received

30. Personal Data • Personal data should be left off your résumé, unless including it enhances the employer’s understanding of why you would be the best candidate for the job. • Exclude: • Political or religious organizations • Any protected class data • Salary information • Reasons for leaving jobs • Names of previous supervisors • Your social security number

31. Completing Your Resume • As with any other business message, you need to complete your résumé by • Revising it • Producing it • Proofreading it

32. Common Résumé Problems Too short Too slick Too long Too amateurish Misspellings Poorly reproduced Grammatical errors Boastful Hard to read Dishonest Wordy Gimmicky

33. Resume “To-Dos” • When producing your traditional, printed résumé, • Use a clean typeface on a high-grade letter-size bond paper • Use an envelope that matches the paper • Leave ample margins all around • Make sure that all corrections are unnoticeable • Avoid italic typefaces

34. Resume “To-Dos” • Use a quality laser printer • Try to keep your résumé to one page • Break up text with headings that call attention to various aspects of your background • Set off key points by underlining, capitalizing, or reversing indentation into the left margin • Use lists to itemize your most important qualifications • Leave plenty of white space (even if you run onto a second page)

35. Creating a Scannable Résumé • Prepare résumés in plain text or ASCII. • Eliminate complicated formatting such as boldfacing, underlining, multiple fonts, italics, or other formatting features. • Provide key words so employers can readily detect specific skills, experience, or education requirements. • Balance traditional language with current jargon.

36. Creating an Online Résumé • Provide employers with your URL • Use keywords as hyperlinks • Don’t use photos • Leave out names of references • Include a link to an ASCII file of your résumé, so employers can download it

37. Other Types of Employment Messages • In addition to your résumé, you’ll need to • Write application letters • Write job-inquiry letters • Fill out application forms • Write follow-up messages

38. Application or Cover Letters • The purpose of your cover letter is to get the reader interested enough to read your résumé: • Learn something about the organization you’re applying to • Focus on your audience so that you can show you’ve done your homework • Address your letter with the name, title, and department of the person you’re writing to • A solicited application letter is in response to an announced job opening. • An unsolicited application letter is sent to an organization that has not announced an opening.

39. Cover Letters • Present your strongest selling points (in terms of their potential benefit to the organization) • Be careful not to repeat facts presented in your résumé (interpret them) • Spell out a few of your key qualifications • Back up your assertions with some convincing evidence of your performance • Discuss each requirement specified in any advertisement

40. Cover Letters • Demonstrate a few significant job-related qualities (diligence, willingness to work hard, ability to learn quickly, skill at handling responsibility, aptitude for getting along with people) • Mention salary requirements (only if the organization has asked you to state them) • Refer the reader to your résumé by citing a specific fact or general point covered there • Ask readers for a specific action (for an interview) • Try to sound natural and appreciative

41. Cover Letters • Offer to come to the employer’s office at a convenient time • Make a reply easy by clearly stating contact information and the best time to reach you • Mention that you will follow up with a phone call in a few days • Refer again to your strongest selling point • Refer to your date of availability

42. Application Forms • Application forms are data sheets that simplify the comparison of applicants’ qualifications • When completing application forms, you should • Have your résumé with you • Never leave anything blank; if you have nothing to fill in, write “Not applicable” • Use a pen and print legibly • Do not distort information or lie • Follow up after a reasonable time

43. Let’s Discuss Test Your Knowledge • What is the purpose of maintaining an employment portfolio? • What is a résumé, and why is it important to adopt a "you" attitude when preparing one? • In what ways can job-seekers use the Internet during their career and employment search? • How does a chronological résumé differ from a functional résumé, and when is each appropriate? • What elements are commonly included in a résumé?

44. Let’s Discuss Test Your Knowledge continued • What are some of the most common problems with résumés? • Why is it important to provide a key word summary in a scannable or electronic résumé? • What advantages do résumés sent by e-mail have over résumés sent by fax or by mail? • How does a solicited application letter differ from an unsolicited letter? • How does the AIDA approach apply to an application letter?