Resumes & Cover Letters
Seattle Pacific University
The Career Development Center
What is a Resume?
• An advertisement… your personal
billboard.
• A way to obtain an interview, not a job.
• A summary of your skills and
accomplishments selected specifically to
demonstrate your VALUE.
• Digested in 10-20 seconds.
What are Employers Looking
For?
• A Match!! A match with job qualifications,
experience, education, and skills.
• A Fit!! A fit within their organization.
Resume Writing Process
1.
Broad Inventory or “Job
Sketch.”
– Write down everything
you did in your job
(daily, weekly, monthly,
etc.)
– Relive your experience
– PAR: Problem
Action
Result
Resume Writing Process
2.
Identify Skills and
Unique Contributions
3.
Organize, Prioritize, and
Write
4.
Format
5. Proofread, Proofread,
Proofread!
Components of a Good Resume
Heading:
Name, Address, Phone #, Email
Objective:
Skills:
Short, Simple, and Specific
Hard and soft skills
Education:
Degree, Major/Emphasis
School, City & State, Date
GPA (optional)
Experience: Position, Company, Date, and Responsibilities
Interests/Activities/Honors/Awards/Leadership:
Objective
• Objectives are theme statements that will
help organize the rest of the resume.
• No pronouns or self-defining language.
• Formula:
Position + Department/Area + Industry + Skills
= Objective
Sample Objectives
• “To obtain a position as a financial manager
in the health care industry.”
• “Entry-level position in broadcast
journalism at a commercial television
station.”
• “To use computer science training in
software development for designing and
implementing operating systems.”
Skills/Qualifications
• Hard Skills:
– Computer Programs
– Computer Languages
– Foreign Languages
• Soft Skills:
–
–
–
–
Communication/Writing
Public Speaking
Organization
Problem Solving
Skills Statement Examples
• Skills Summary
– Fluent in Word, Excel,
Power Point, Front
page, and Publisher
– Experienced in C++,
Pascal, and html
– Able to process and
organize large volumes
of records
– Learn quickly, seek out
new responsibilities
• Qualifications
– Knowledge of
Microsoft Office
products.
– Fluent in Spanish and
extensive travel
throughout Spain and
South America.
– Patient listener with
excellent
communications skills
Education
• Full name of degree:
– Bachelor of Arts in
Political Science.
• Full name of School
• Location
• Date:
– Anticipated graduation
June 2001
• GPA
Education Example
• Bachelor of Arts in Business
Administration, Emphasis in Marketing
• Seattle Pacific University, Seattle WA,
Anticipated Graduation June 2001
• Major GPA: 3.6 Deans List 6 out of 7
quarters
• Related Coursework:_____,_____,_____
Experience
• Employers are looking for:
– Position/Title, Name of Company, Dates, and
explanation of your responsibilities.
• Numbers and percents show accomplishments.
• Use action verbs and details. Be specific.
• Formula:
Action Verb + Adjective + Quantify + Subject + Results
= Experience Description
Experience Examples
• “Motivated and
supervised eight sales
staff to best sales
volume in 25 store
district.”
• “Developed
procedures/orientation
manual for community
services division.”
Other Possible Headings
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Interests
Activities
Honors/Awards
Special Skills
Leadership
Volunteer Activities
Related Experience
Travel
Certifications
Style of Resume
•
•
•
•
Brief is best. One page.
Avoid personal pronouns.
Use action verbs.
Use bullet points for skills or job
descriptions.
• Clean, simple layout with few indented
margins.
• Use of space can denote confidence.
Organization/Layout
• Remember its an advertisement…sell
yourself with a few key points.
• Positioning on the page is important, what
comes first gets read first.
• Reverse chronological order.
• Use CAPITALS, Bold, Underline, and
Italicize to emphasize important features.
Final Product
• Use laser printing.
• Use resume paper –
recommend white or
off-white.
• Absolutely NO
errors!!
One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Develop multiple versions of your resume:
• Word processed document formatted for
“human eyes”
• Scannable
• ASCII Text-only
• HTML coded file
• Targeted for specific positions
Formatted vs. Electronic
• FORMATTED:
– Viewed by a human
being
– Written for quick
visual scanning
– Formatted to be
pleasing to the eye
• ELECTRONIC
– Loaded into a
computer database
– Written to be
searched
– Formatted for
complete and exact
transfer of data
Electronic Resume Tips
• Save or create your
resume as “text-only”
• Review your resume and
replace all unsupported
characters with their
ASCII equivalent
• Break the one-page rule.
1-3 pages is OK.
• Personal home pages with
resume link should be all
business.
Keywords are the Key
• Employers and recruiters
search resume databases
using keywords.
– Nouns and phrases that
highlight technical and
professional areas of
expertise
– Industry-specific jargon
– Projects, achievements
– Personality and attitude
• Check the detailed job
description.
Submitting Electronic Resumes
• Don’t send your resume as
an attachment!
• Always include an
appropriate subject line.
• When submitting a paper
resume that will be
scanned:
– Do not fold
– If faxing, use “fine” mode
Cover Letters
Purpose of the Cover Letter:
• Applying for specific known vacancies.
• Inquiring about possible openings.
• A business letter that professionally
introduces your resume.
• Explains the reason for sending your
resume and contains additional information
not found in the resume.
Preparing the Cover Letter
• Produced neatly on 8 ½ X 11” paper that
matches your resume.
• Completely free of spelling, grammar, and
punctuation errors.
• Customized for the specific position,
employer, and contact person.
• Three or four brief paragraphs.
What Makes a Cover Letter
Stand Out?
• Clear, concise, well written, and interesting.
• Helps the employer easily see the match
between their needs and your qualifications
and experience.
• Shows your knowledge of the organization
and its needs.
• An internal company reference.
What’s in a Cover Letter?
• First Paragraph:
Who you are, Why you are writing, What position you are
applying for, and How you learned of the opening.
• Second (Third) Paragraph(s):
Make the case for why you are a match for the position.
Point out related experience, specific skills, unique
qualifications that you know they need.
• Final Paragraph:
Closing and follow up. State your desire for an interview,
let them know how and when you can be reached. Unless
they say “No Calls,” let them know when you will be calling
to set up an appointment for an interview.