Resumes and Cover Letters By: Barbara Mackessy For

Business letters & Resume Both are required when making a first impression to potential employers before they ever meet you. Both are to be professional in quality

Letter of Introduction A business letter Introduce yourself Why you are writing this letter? Interest areas Career expectations Explain how you could be of a benefit

Cover Letter Use business letter format A cover letter is a short one page letter that goes on top of your Resume. To Introduce yourself Prospective position you are applying for Highlight a couple of items from your resume to give the employer a positive impression about what you can do.  Research the open position, and highlight some points from your resume that would make you a good match for that position. Address the cover letter directly to a person, not to whom it may concern In the cover letter state that you are interested in the ____ position and that you will contact them in the near future. Proof read and correct your cover letter and then have someone else double check your cover letter before sending it with your resume. The purpose of the cover letter is to introduce yourself and your skills to entice a prospective employer to read your resume.

Resume A Resume is a summary of your life that is sent to a prospective employer prior to you getting an interview. A well formatted Resume will make the difference in a prospective employer desiring to interview you or not.

Your Resume * Start by making a rough draft of your life, education, work experiences, extra curricular activities, skills and abilities. * Now cross off all of the times that were not really important or that you don’t think a prospective employers would need to know about you. * Revise your list by putting the remaining items in chronological order. This is the basis for your Resume.

Resume Compact summary of your life Your information (address, email etc.) Your education Your experiences Your skills Your extra curricular activities Your references

Your resume Your resume could determine … --if the company wants to meet you at all --if you will be contacted --if you will be interviewed --if you will be hired   In today's competitive market, a well-designed resume will give you an advantage.

Remember that your resume is the first impression of yourself to a prospective employer.

Chronological order is used more often Chronological order is used more often * Create an easy to followed format  * List most recent educational and work experience first  * Put starting/ending dates/years, place of employment, title, and duties with your work experiences

Use Resume words such as: accomplished, achieved, acted, analyzed, assembled, assisted, built, calculated, classified, compiled, conducted, contributed, constructed, coordinated, created, designed, developed, diagnosed, delivered, directed, displayed, distributed, evaluated, examined, expanded, expedited, founded, guided, identified, increased, improved, initiated, issued, installed, instructed, invented, investigated, maintained, managed, mediated, monitored, operated, organized, originated, oversaw, performed, planned, prepared, presented, processed, produced, prompted, proposed. provided, recorded, recruited, represented, restored, researched, scheduled, served, strengthened, solved, supervised, tested trained, updated (Give students the Words to Use on a Resume Handout)

* List names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of references (on the same quality paper and font as the resume).  * You should use "references available upon request" only when you need to protect the list of references from falling into the wrong hands. 

Be honest on your resume. Be confident Be honest on your resume!  Be confident! Now develop and construct your own cover letter and Resume.