Resumes and Cover Letters

1. Resumes and Cover Letters

2. “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” - Confucius

3. HR Professional Skills • Define professional. • Define professional identity. • Put on your professional hats. • Task for the day: • identify the best ways to communicate your professional identity to others.

4. Professional Identity • Clean sheet of paper • Eight boxes • List strengths and assets you will contribute to an organization. • 8 • Room for notes

5. Professional Identity, cont. • 2nd sheet of paper • List successful past work experiences • What did you do at these successful jobs? • Note job skills and transferable skills • Keep it brief! • Who at these places could be a connection for you? Potentially a reference?

6. Professional Identity, cont. • Back to your strength boxes • Connect the info from page 2 to page 1 • Identify which job utilized your strength • Identify persons that can be connections for you to use that strength • Complete the following sentence: • Through my work as ____, professionally I am _______.

7. Professional Network • Former co workers • Colleagues • Supervisors • Professional contacts • On the back of your paper: • Write a list of potential professional connections • How many can you write in 60 seconds?

8. Social Media and Professional Networks • LinkedIn • http://www.linkedin.com/ • Social identity versus professional identity

9. Professional Identity, cont. • Create your elevator speech! • What is it? • A statement about who you are professionally that is quick enough to give someone in an elevator ride. • May answer: • What do you do? • Which types of jobs interest you? • What do you want to do with your life?

10. PRACTICE!!! • Communicate your professional Identity to group • Share elevator speech with your group

11. What is a Resume? • Tool to present an individual’s skills and qualifications to a potential employer • Advertisement of you and your skills • Gets you selected for an interview

12. Sarah A. Smith 123 South Wood Street Omaha, NE 68103 (402) 555 – 1234 smith@server.net Objective To obtain cashier position with ABC Corporation. Education Metropolitan Community College Omaha, Nebraska Pursuing an Associates in Applied Science Degree: Office Skills Technology January 2005-present • Anticipated Graduation: May 2006 • GPA 3.23 Experience Cashier May 2002 to present Super Target Omaha, NE • Balance drawer at beginning and end of shift • Enter charges for all items; total items; subtract discount • Take payments; issue receipts; count change • Deliver outstanding customer service • Employee of the Month: August 2002, January 2003 Skills Completed 4 years of Spanish in high school

13. Remember… • Employers get their first impression of your professional standards and talents from the resume. • Employers spend 35-60 seconds on your resume • You may be eliminated from consideration due to your resume.

14. Components of a Resume: • Heading- no title! • Objective • Employment History • Education • Training/Special Skills

15. Heading Bold Sarah A. Smith 123 South Wood Street Omaha, NE 68103 (402) 555 – 1234 smith@server.net Accurate Clearly identify you Conservative Professional

16. Career Objective and Personal Profile Introductory statements for resumé Both statements are used on résumé to relate to target career, target employer, introduce key skills, and express interest in a position Statement will be first item listed on resumé

17. Career Objective • A Career Objective is for individuals with little or no work experience • Include interest in position • Brief one line description of skills related to position and how you will utilize your skills • Acceptable to use “I” and “my” in career objective

18. Career Objective • Example: “Seeking a position with an established accounting firm where I can utilize and apply my current accounting and computerized skills toward the excellence of Bell Company.”

19. Personal Profile • A Personal Profile is for individuals with extensive work experience • Group key skills and accomplishments into general categories • Identify key qualities that match target job • Take information and turn into two-three sentence statement that provides snapshot of professional qualifications

20. Personal Profile • Example: “Highly professional and detail-oriented accounting professional with demonstrated leadership and success in the areas of payroll, collections, and project management. Excellent analytical, communication, computer, and organizational skills. Bilingual (English/Spanish).”

21. Tips! • Decide if your education or your work experience is the stronger qualification • List the strongest first • For work experience, decide between: • Chronological (most recent job 1st) pg. 129 • Functional (list of competencies and skills developed) pg. 130

22. Employment History • A section that emphasizes your past and present employment • Other Names: Professional Experience, Work History, Volunteer Work • Provide information to help persuade prospective employers that your experiences make you qualified for the job

23. Tip! • Stress duties or skills that are TRANSFERABLE to the new position • Use short phrases • Use action verbs • Provide SPECIFIC EVIDENCE • “Excellent customer service skills” • “People person”

24. What goes in this section? • Position title • Dates of employment/involvement • Company or organization • Location (City, State) • Descriptions of skills, knowledge or accomplishments, etc.

25. Example Cashier May 2002 to present Super Target Omaha, NE • Balance drawer at beginning and end of shift • Enter charges for all items; total items; subtract discounts • Take payments; issue receipts; count change • Deliver outstanding customer service • Employee of the Month: August 2002, January 2003

26. Describing Experiences • Use Action Verbs – pg 120 and 121 • They are more descriptive and powerful • Find an area of past employment and write down 5 action words you can use in your resume

27. Developing your descriptions Sample • Before: • Planned activities • Questions asked: • What kinds? • When? • For Whom? • After: • Planned arts, crafts, activities, and exercises weekly for children

28. Try to see your experiences as a professional would… Understated • Answered phone • Wiped tables Professional • Acted as liaison between clients and legal staff • Created healthy environment for customers and maintained positive public image

29. Tailor this section to the specific job description… • Select content that supports your qualifications and matches job descriptions • Consider organizing by order of importance • Use professional wording, integrating job specific terms

30. Education Section • A section that emphasizes your educational background and formal training • Persuade employers your educational background is relevant to the job, providing evidence of your qualifications

31. You need to include… • Schools you have attended, including universities, community colleges, technical schools, etc. • Do not include high school information • Location of school(s) (city, state) • Date of graduation, actual or anticipated • Degree(s) earned or pursued

32. What else may be included? • Extra information about your degree • Minor • GPA • Honors, etc. • Specializations • Special projects / involvements

33. Example Metropolitan Community College Omaha, Nebraska Pursuing an Associates in Applied Science Degree: Office Skills Technology January 2010-present • GPA 3.23 • Anticipated Graduation: May 2013

34. Training/Skills • Other relevant skills and training • Computer skills • Language proficiency • Certifications • Licenses, etc.

35. Tips! • No personal information • Gender, race, religious affiliation, family information • Provide a statement that references are available upon request • Highlight your strengths and minimize your limitations • Review your resume: • Circle strengths • Discuss with group

36. Resume Writing Tips • Write your own resume • Make it error free • Make it look good • Be brief and relevant • Be positive • Be specific • Use action verbs and short phrases • Be honest • Edit and edit and edit again

37. Tailor the resume for the reader… • Consider how much space you have on your resume • Read job ads closely • Select your most relevant experiences • List in reverse chronological order or in order of importance

38. Using fonts • Size: • Use 10 or 12 font • avoid more than 2 different font sizes • Two major kinds: • Serif (Times New Roman and Courier) • Sans Serif (Arial and Helvetica) • Use bold type sparingly

39. Resume Presentation • Quality paper – off-white, cream, gray, white • Paper weight – high quality,100% cotton fiber • Producing – word processor • ERROR FREE!!!

40. Sarah A. Smith 123 South Wood Street Omaha, NE 68103 (402) 555 – 1234 smith@server.net Objective To obtain cashier position with ABC Corporation. Education Metropolitan Community College Omaha, Nebraska Pursuing an Associates in Applied Science Degree: Office Skills Technology January 2005-present • Anticipated Graduation: May 2006 • GPA 3.23 Experience Cashier May 2002 to present Super Target Omaha, NE • Balance drawer at beginning and end of shift • Enter charges for all items; total items; subtract discount • Take payments; issue receipts; count change • Deliver outstanding customer service • Employee of the Month: August 2002, January 2003 Skills Completed 4 years of Spanish in high school PAGE 127-134

41. Cover Letters Anytime a resume is sent, it must be accompanied by a cover letter.

42. What is a cover letter? • An opportunity to personalize your resume and target your skills • A good cover letter will sell your qualifications • Standard business letter • Takes the reader into consideration • It should be tailored to the reader

43. Components of a Cover Letter: • Heading (same on resume) • Date • Name/Address of Company • Dear Mr. Ms./Appropriate title (do not use, “To Whom It May Concern”) • Avoid Miss or Mrs. • Body • Closing • Signature

44. Body of Letter: • 1st paragraph- • Greeting • Begin by stating the reason for the letter • Identify the position for which you are applying • Tell how you learned about the position • Any previous contact

45. 2nd - this is why I want to work for you • Do research on the organization • Keep it • Short • Simple • Sincere • Why are you interested in position, organization, or services provided • Communicate your research

46. 3rd– Take the job ad and tell them what you have to offer- how you meet their requirements • Highlight your strongest qualifications and relate them DIRECTLY to the needs of the position • Be specific

47. I am an accurate person • So what? • In my two years of experience as a student secretary, none of the letters, memorandums, and reports I typed were ever returned with a typographical error marked.

48. PRACTICE! • Highlight a statement about your qualifications • Share with group • Re-write to make it more specific

49. 4th- closing • Desire for interview • Thanks • Include contact information • When you will follow-up • Close with “Sincerely” , type name and sign in blue ink

50. Cover Letter Presentation: • Ask someone to proofread your letter for spelling, grammar, and content • State a time when you will follow up • Sign the letter in blue ink (original) • Structure letter to reflect your individuality • Keep sentences short and to the point • No more than one page • Use resume paper