Writing a Great Résumé and Cover Letter

There’s no getting around it: if you want to catch the interest of an employer, you need to have a great résumé and cover letter that are written with a specific field in mind.

Remember the 3 key aspects to a strong résumé:

1.       Effective evidence. Most of the impact of your résumé comes from the content you choose to include. Be sure to comb through your experience to highlight your transferable skills!  To come up with a great list of key words related to any field you’re considering, go to O*Net and click on “find information.”  O*Net will help you to identify what you’ve already done that relates to your future goals.

2.       A clear, well-organized format.  We read English from top to bottom, and from left to right, so it is a good idea to put the most important information toward the top, and to line up your (strong action) verbs on the left following a bullet. Choose an organizational style, and stick with it. For examples of formatting and for tips on layout, download a PDF of our Résumé Guide.

3.       Typographical flawlessness.  The simple fact is that employers trash (or shred) résumés with typos.  

Now, adapt your focus for your cover letter:

A cover letter serves as your introduction, accompanying your résumé any time you are not hand-delivering it.  The purpose of the cover letter is to point out key themes about your background that make you qualified for the position.  Writing them is straightforward if you follow these steps:

1.       Read carefully through the job opening, searching for key phrases and skills the employer is targeting,

2.       Review the list of key words that you’ve developed for your résumé, looking for those that are related to each other.

3.       Select 3 – 4 main ideas that you want to convey about yourself and write a sentence about each. For example, if you are applying for a job in event planning that requires “great organizational skills, and an ability to work with the public,” if you have strengths in these areas, they could be two of your themes to describe.   You can find detailed explanations and examples of each aspect of an effective cover letter in our Cover Letter Guide.

Good luck! And remember, the Career Center is open throughout the summer, and our services are free to alumni, including résumé and cover letter critiques.

Margaret Krantz