1. How to Write the Perfect Resume and Cover Letter
Tina Covington
Altura Credit Union
VP, Sales and Business Development
I’m pleased to join you today from Altura Credit Union. [INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND EXPLAIN WHAT YOU DO]
You’ve all heard the phrase, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” During the job-search process, nothing is more true. With intense competition for each opening, you have only one shot to show hiring managers that you’re the right person for the position.
And there’s no better way to do so than to submit a well-crafted resume and cover letter. These documents are your first opportunity to make your case for why you should be hired and can lead directly to an employment interview.
It may seem simple enough to put together one of these documents: List your work experience and your skills, and you’re done, right? Not quite. There’s an art to resume and cover letter writing, and today I’m going to show you the secrets behind it.

2. What is a Resume?
A resume is a personal summary of your professional history and
qualifications.
It includes information about:
Your career goals
Education
Work experience
Activities
Honors
Any special skills you might have.
Many Students may ask why do you need a resume??
Marketing Tool
To obtain and interview, not a job
This is a way for you to let the employer know that you have the requirements and skills for the job.

3. Resume-hidden messages
Neat
Well-Organized
Error Free
Professional Appearance
Neat
Well-Organized
Attention to Detail
Careful & Competent
Resume
You

4. Key Components Heading Objective Education Skills Experience
References- in resume or as an addendum

5. Additional Components
Personal Skills and Assets
Honors, awards and activities
Community service
Foreign language proficiency
Computer skills & applications
Volunteer experiences
Prospective Colleges & Universities (if applicable)

6. Formatting & Appearance
Make your name stand out with a bold, larger font size
Use standard fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Courier
Type Size: Point
White, beige, or light gray quality bond paper
Use a laser printer for best finish
Limit entry level resume to one typed page

7. Heading
Includes contact information:
Top of the page
Name: large and bold- so it stands out!
Address: street, town, state & zip code
Telephone number(s): with professional message
address: professional looking is not appropriate) check on a daily basis

8. Sample Headings
Jane Altura 1 Meadow Way Corona, Ca (951) ______________________________________________________________________ Sammy Altura Current Address Permanent Address 325 Maple St 55 Sycamore Drive Corona, Ca Corona, Ca (951) (951) Chris Altura 83 Prospect Road  Corona, Ca  (951) 

9. Objective What is an objective?
A one sentence summary of position desired.
Short
Specific
Tailored to the position
What does an objective do?
Clarifies the purpose of your resume
Presents a clear statement of your goals

10. Sample Objectives Part-time position at spa or salon
Receptionist at a veterinarian’s office
Customer service representative at a call center
Hostess at a upscale restaurant
A part-time job or summer internship at a communications firm
Part-time retail sales position in a clothing store

11. Resume Sample of Objective
Chris Altura
83 Prospect Road  Corona, Ca 92877
(951)
_____________________________________________
OBJECTIVE
Part time position as a clerk in a dental office

12. Personal Skills and Assets
A couple of sentences or bullets that describe what you are like as a person and how you do things, including personality traits, attitudes, work habits, etc.
This is a useful section, especially if you do not have much work experience.
Think of the skills you use in school that employers want!!!
Punctuality, Time Management, Teamwork

13. Sample Personal Skills and Assets
Hard Working Friendly
Team Player Dependable
Articulate Punctual Motivated Outgoing
Quick Learner Enthusiastic
Goal Oriented Self-Starter
Honest Flexible
Outgoing Confident
Responsible Reliable
Willing to Learn
Able to multitask
Effective at time management
Works well with people
Try it now! List three of your personal qualities

14. Sample Personal Skills and Assets Section
______________________________________________
SKILLS SUMMARY
Detail oriented and well organized
Excellent verbal and written communication
Strong customer service focus
Outgoing with a positive attitude
Professional demeanor

15. Education Name and location of the school
Major, minor and area of concentration
Graduation or anticipated graduation date
GPA – if 3.2 or higher
Relevant Coursework- See next slide for more information

16. CHRIS ALTURA 83 Prospect Road  Corona, Ca 92877
(951) 
_____________________________________________
OBJECTIVE
Part time position as a clerk in a dental office
SKILLS SUMMARY
Detail oriented and well organized
Excellent verbal and written communication
Strong customer service focus
Outgoing with a positive attitude
Professional demeanor

17. Education- Relevant Courses
List relevant courses that:
Help you stand out from the crowd
Have provided you with specific skills or knowledge
Spanish (4 semesters)
Computer Science
Marketing
Economics
Do not include courses that are part of a required curriculum- Ex. English
Include courses that are at an advanced level if they are relevant to the position- eg. Biology, Calculus

18. Samples of Education Section
Corona High School
Corona, Ca
Aug 2015–present
Graduating May 2017
GPA 3.0
Relevant Courses: Business Systems Technology; Marketing
Received an award for being a best student
________________________________________________________________________________
Norco High School
High school student
Norco, Ca
Graduate 2017
Composite Act score of 15
GPA of 3.1
Relevant Courses: Biology, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Calculus

19. CHRIS ALTURA OBJECTIVE
83 Prospect Road  Corona, Ca 92877
(951) 
___________________________________________________________
OBJECTIVE
Part time position as a clerk in a dental office
SKILLS SUMMARY
Detail oriented and well organized
Excellent verbal and written communication
Strong customer service focus
Outgoing with a positive attitude
Professional demeanor
EDUCATION
Corona High School
Corona, Ca
Aug 2015–present
Graduating May 2017
GPA 3.0
Relevant Courses: Business Systems Technology,
Marketing, Biology
Received an award for being a best student

20. Experience Remember – Experience can be:
Paid part-time/full-time positions
Babysitting, Coaching, Pet Sitting
Internships
Volunteer work/ Community Service
Boys Scouts, Church Volunteer, Community Volunteer
Club/campus group involvement
FBLA, ASB, Spanish Club
Summer Jobs

21. Translating Skills to Experience
Life experiences and skills can be translated into real- world job skills.
Think about this in advance and use your life experience skills to develop experience statements.
Use POWER WORDS

22. Samples Do you watch younger siblings or babysit?
Do you do volunteer work in your community?
Do you behave in a way which sets a good example for younger people and friends?
Do you like to play team sports?
Do friends know they can confide in you and their secrets will be kept confidential?
You are responsible with good management skills.
You are conscientious with a strong sense of community.
You have good leadership skills and exhibit good judgment.
You are a team player and you work well with others.
You are reliable and have good listening skills.

23. Sample Experience Section
WORK EXPERIENCE
20016-present Round Table Pizza Corona,CA
Waitress
Provided excellent guest service
Dealt with complaints
Took orders and served guests in timely manner
Handled cash
______________________________________________________________________
Norco Accounting
Norco, Ca
Receptionist, Summer 2016
Provided friendly, professional customer service, greeting and directing customers & visitors, answering multi-line phone,message taking

24. Specialized Skills Include skills that make you unique, such as:
computer skills
foreign language skills.
Be specific in describing your special skills:
name computer programs you know
how long you studied a foreign language.

25. Sample Skills Section COMPUTER SKILLS
Experienced with Macintosh, Windows XP, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Publisher
LANGUAGES
Bilingual Spanish and English

26. 83 Prospect Road  Corona, Ca 92877
CHRIS ALTURA
83 Prospect Road  Corona, Ca 92877
(951) 
_________________________________________________________________________________________
OBJECTIVE
Part time position as a clerk in a dental office
PERSONAL SKILLS AND ASSETS
I am a hard working person who is willing to learn more. An individual who is responsible, motivated, educated and punctual. A friendly person who enjoys helping others.
EDUCATION
Corona High School
Corona, Ca
Aug 2015–present
Graduating May 2017
GPA 3.0
Relevant Courses: Business Systems Technology,
Marketing, Biology
Received an award for being a best student
WORK EXPERIENCE
Norco Accounting
Norco, Ca
Receptionist, Summer 2016
Provided friendly, professional customer service, greeting and directing customers & visitors, answering multi-line phone,message taking
COMPUTER SKILLS
Experienced with Macintosh, Windows XP, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Publisher
LANGUAGES : Bilingual Spanish and English

27. References
Choose references that are knowledgeable about your skills, abilities, and work ethics. Former employers, teachers, and counselors would be good references, your friends and relatives would not.
Always obtain permission from references in advance and provide them with current resume
Available upon request option – DO NOT put them on your resume, they are a separate document
Available upon request option: Ok to list : Listing references is not always necessary. Depends on position and if requested by employer. Having references information does not hurt resume.

28. Sample References REFERENCES
Kristin Wilkin, English Teacher, Corona High School,
Bob Jones, FBLA Advisor, Corona High school, ______________________________________________
Kristin Wilkin Bob Jones
English Teacher FBLA Advisor
Corona High School Corona High school

29. Additional Items you can list
Honors & Awards
Order by dates
Reverse chronological
Rank order by importance to the career objective
_____________________________________________________
Professional Affiliations & Activities
Order by date
Do not say Member of …
Emphasize your leadership roles
Spell out the organization’s name:
Do not use abbreviations or acronyms

30. Writing Your Resume Avoid “I” Keep sentences short
Write in plain English
Use bullet points as appropriate
Start of each line with an action verb
Present tense if currently employed
Past tense if no longer employed
Vary your choice of verbs
Tailor skills and experiences to the position for which you are applying
Be concise while providing enough detail
You don’t need impeccable English skills to create a resume, but you do need a good command of the language and the ability to clearly communicate your thoughts. In addition, keep in mind that resumes are business documents with their own set of rules -- some of them contrary to what you may be used to. They are:
Avoid “I.” The pronoun “I” has no place in a resume; everyone knows you are the subject.
Keep sentences short. Resumes require crisp statements which do not necessarily have to be complete sentences. Feel free to leave out common articles like “a,” “an” and “the.”
Write in plain English. Keep things simple. Don’t try to impress potential employers with long words; these can often bog down your sentences and obfuscate your point.
Use bullet points as appropriate. Bulleted information is easier to read and tends to stand out more than a solid block of text. Just be sure to keep the items brief.

31. Keywords Reflect specific aspects of your background: Job titles
Departments
Organizations
The more you have, the better
Know which ones to use by:
Looking at classified ads
Looking at resume of recently hired person
One thing to remember as you compile your resume is that it’s increasingly common for companies to use computer programs to help screen resumes. These applications scan documents for key words -- and based on the number found -- send the applications to the next round of review (usually, the hiring manager) or filter them from the system.
Keywords are nouns that reflect specific aspects of a candidate’s experience and professional background. Job titles, departments and organizations can all be key words. For example, a firm looking for an executive assistant may look for key words like “CAP,” “CPS,” “IAAP” and so on.
In general, the more keywords your resume contains, the better. But remember to only include them if they accurately reflect your background.
So how do you know what keywords a company seeks?
Start by looking at the classified ad you responded to and see what terms are used there.
Another good tactic: If you know someone who recently landed a job in your field, ask to take a peek at his or her resume. Chances are it contained the right key words.

32. Resume Dos Use action verbs Use short, concise sentences
Use #, %, $ amounts
Keep resume easy to read
Keep resume about one page

33. Resume Don’ts Do not use the pronouns such as I, me, my, etc.
Do not clutter your resume with nonessential information
Do not make any misrepresentations
Reason for leaving
Do not include personal information
SSN, age, sex, height, weight, marital status, photograph, etc.

34. Common Resume Pitfalls
Cute and clever language
Typos/poor grammar
Misrepresentation
Vagueness
Overkill
Overpersonalizing
Here are some other things to avoid:
Cute and clever language. Hiring managers won’t be amused by puns and jokes. Play it straight and focus on your skills and experience. After all, you wouldn’t wear a clown costume to a job interview just to stand out, right?
Typos/poor grammar. According to an OfficeTeam survey, 84 percent of executives said it takes just one or two typographical errors in a resume to remove a candidate from consideration for a job opening. Before you send it out, read your resume out loud, from top to bottom, and pass it by a friend or family member to ensure everything is perfect.
Misrepresentation. Never lie on your resume or embellish the truth. Doing so can cost you the job and even lead to legal recourse.
Vagueness. Include enough detail to describe your experience and grab the hiring manager’s attention. Listing only a job title and an ambiguous description of contributions isn’t fair and won’t pique a company’s interest.
Overkill. On the other hand, don’t over do it by using a ton of adjectives or business phrases. Write your resume so the hiring manager can quickly and easily understand what you bring to the table.
Overpersonalizing. Do not include personal information beyond the basics in the heading. In other words, leave out your favorite color and the name of your dog.

35. Example – A “Bad” Resume!
Example of a “Bad” Resume.
We wouldn’t even look at this resume, but when he called, the recruiter, said he presented himself well.

36. Example – A “Good”Resume
Example of a “Good” Resume.
Clean and Concise.

37. Review – A “Great” Resume will:
Never be longer than a single page
Have no misspellings
Be grammatically correct
Have "tenses" that match
State your Objective
Use action words
Quantify
State dates of employment as MM/DD/YYYY
Have correct information
And
And….Never lie or embellish.
Double check……for mistakes, typos and inappropriate information that often appear on these job-search materials.

38. E Friendly Resumes Electronic resumes are becoming more acceptable
Don't send your carefully formatted resume via e mail - it may "jumble" in the process
Format resume as an Efriendly document – Links below.
Make sure before you send your “Resume” via , it’s formatted correctly.
There are several websites that will explain “How to format an Electronic Resume”, but we listed a few.

39. A resume does get you an interview. Proofread! Proofread! Proofread
Remember
Always submit a cover letter with your resume
A resume does not get you a job…
A resume does get you an interview.
And, putting time and consideration into your resume is one of the best ways to prepare for your interviews!
Proofread! Proofread! Proofread

40. You only get one chance to make a first impression; make it count
You only get one chance to make a first impression; make it count. Good Luck!!!
Contact Information:
Tina Covington
Your resume and cover letter may be just two components of your overall general job-search toolkit, but they are two of the most critical in helping you land the job you seek.
The purpose of a great resume is to entice a prospective employer into calling you in for an interview. The purpose of a great cover letter is to persuade that employer into reading your resume.
The tips you learned today will help you craft a resume and cover letter that stand out from the crowd and immediately grab a hiring manager’s attention. The end result hopefully will be an interview and, ultimately, a new job offer.
Good Luck and Thank you!!!!