1. Who Are You on Paper? Jill Clouse j-clouse@kellogg.northwestern.edu Bob Langewisch r-langewisch@kellogg.northwestern.edu 5 - March - 2010 PTMBA-CDS Building Powerful Resumes and Cover Letters Did you remember to bring 2 printed copies of your resume?

2. PTMBA-CDS Career Management Process Self- Assessment Exploring Opportunities Developing Job Search Strategy Honing Skills/ Materials Interviewing Evaluating & Deciding Working

3. 6 Steps to a powerful resume Cover letters CDS Review Next steps, recap, & Q&A PTMBA-CDS Agenda

4. Understanding of the purpose of a resume How to create impact statements that focus your resume on meeting the employer’s needs How to create a personalized cover letter that makes a strong first impression and effectively introduces your resume. PTMBA-CDS Today’s Takeaways

5. PTMBA-CDS Pre-work: Create a legacy document Create a document that lists everything you have ever done in your entire life. Review it, feel proud of it and all you’ve accomplished. Put it somewhere nobody else can see it, but you know where to find it. Then start a new document called a resume.

6. PTMBA-CDS Step 1: Identify how your skills and experiences match the employer’s needs for that job.

7. PTMBA-CDS Build the Bridge Skills and Experiences Required for the Job Your Relevant Experiences to Highlight

8. PTMBA-CDS Use your previous work GOALS Plan APlan BPlan C Explore FunctionIndustryCultureOther Factors Self Assessment SkillsInterestsWork environment Personal Circumstances Resume(s)

9. PTMBA-CDS Step 2: Create impact statements. Strong Lead Action Verb (Tied to Skills) What You DidResults Led a cross functional team… to develop and launch 3 new products… increasing sales by 17%

10. Choose your function from the functional skills page (in handouts), circle it, tear it off and hand it and one copy of your resume to a partner. Review the resume and underline any skills/experiences that match those for the chosen function. Note skills/experiences that are missing from the resume. Discuss your findings with each other. PTMBA-CDS Exercise

11. PTMBA-CDS Step 3: Show results. vs.

12. PTMBA-CDS Broaden your definition of “results” Increased (sales, profits, margins, value) Decreased (costs, inefficiencies, errors) Quantify Designed and implemented new volunteer model in Tanzania, expanding volunteer base by 30% Define Size (team, budget, business) Number Impacted (people, businesses) Scope Managed $82M divestiture of division with over $30M in revenue and 100 employees Presented to (senior management, client) Delivered (on time, early, under budget) Implemented recommendation A Company first Adopted across business units Qualify Presented final recommendation to CFO, recommendation ultimately implemented by client

13. PTMBA-CDS Distinguish yourself with personal results Accelerated promotions Rated in Top 10% of class Led a special project, first ever Chosen to do something GPA, GMAT, Academic Honors Scholarships Leadership roles, put in perspective

14. Give your 2 nd resume to a different person. Circle any “results” you see. Put a ? next to any point that does NOT include a result or purpose. Share feedback with each other PTMBA-CDS Exercise

15. PTMBA-CDS Step 4: Remove jargon and company/industry-specific info. Participated in the redesigning process of B2B i- Solutions strategy, shifting its core business to refocus (Voip & CRM) while leveraging savings through synergies with out companies of the JDTC holding.

16. PTMBA-CDS Step 5: Show you want them. FunctionIndustryCultureLocation “One thing that I'm amazed at is that several students do not list ‘Marketing’ as a major, nor do they list it first on their resumes. Here they are dropping resumes for a Marketing internship and coming from Kellogg (best marketing school in the country) and they don't list Marketing as an intended major!” -- Kellogg ’03 Alum at a CPG Company

17. PTMBA-CDS Step 6: Get someone else to review it.

18. PTMBA-CDS A Note About Format Accomplishments/ Results Action/Result Statements A paragraph that outlines various job responsibilities. It usually reads more like a job description and rarely uses bullet points. Often several lines and sentences long. Accomplishment 1 Accomplishment 2 Accomplishment 3 I did action A resulting in X. I did action B resulting in Y I did action C for the purpose of Z I achieved personal accomplishment 123 I achieved personal accomplishment 789.

19. PTMBA-CDS Cover Letters Yes, they are read by employers and do factor into the decision… to read your resume and/or to interview you. Do NOT use a generic template. Top 5 mistakes: 1.Sending the wrong cover letter 2.Not changing the firm’s name 3.Typos – Spelling, grammatical errors 4.Not personalizing their skills to the specific role 5.Not saying why they fit with/want the company

20. Get in groups of 4-5 and review the cover letters in your handouts. Identify 2 students that you want to invite for an interview based on their cover letter. Choose a group spokesperson and be prepared to explain why you chose those two and why not the others. PTMBA-CDS Exercises

21. PTMBA-CDS Leverage Your Pitch Informational Interviewing Other Networking Activities Cover Letters Interviews

22. PTMBA-CDS Cover letter should answer 2 questions: Why You? Why the Firm/Industry?

23. PTMBA-CDS Cover Letter Do’s and Don’ts DO’s DON’Ts Be specific Demonstrate knowledge of firm Show why you fit Refer to a specific conversation Show a passion for industry Flattery Name all people you talked to Say what the firm will do for YOU

24. PTMBA-CDS Cover Letter Content Structure Header, Date, Salutation (contact in job posting) 1.Who I am, why I’m writing 2.How I’m qualified 3.Why I’m interested in your industry and firm 4.Next steps Closing

25. PTMBA-CDS Use white space Do not right justify Not too long Bullets are OK E-mail OK sometimes No pictures/personal info Cover Letter Format

26. PTMBA-CDS Career Development Series InstructionPractice Who Are You and What Are Your Goals? - Jan 29 Who Needs a Plan? YOU! - Feb 26Speed Networking – May 7 Business Etiquette – Apr 17 Who Are You on Paper? – Mar 5Resume Review – May 21 Who Are You in Person? - Apr 9Interview Practicum – June 4

27. PTMBA-CDS Wrap –Up / Action Items Review your self-assessment exercises to reacquaint yourself with your skills/experiences. Review your research to get familiar with what THEY need and how you can meet that need. Create/revise your resume using impact statements tailored to your function/industry Be prepared to create a new customized cover letter each time you need to send one. Review and practice your pitch as it will help with interviewing and Speed Networking.

28. PTMBA-CDS