Great Tips for Resumes, Interviews, and Cover Letters

Crown Ministries recently detailed several job hunting guidelines for successful resumes, interviews, and cover letters. Here are the key points they made for all three:

• Networking should get you to a point of someone at the company wanting your resume. The perfect resume is one that is expected.

• You need to show your results, give your track record for producing success. Harvest the things you’ve done and put them into the resume. List the accomplishments, achievements, results that are relevant to the employer.

• You must be able to present your career journey in a positive way in an interview. You must be comfortable telling it, even the difficult parts such as being fired. Acknowledge mistakes, as "speed bumps," and share what you learned from them. Use the STAR technique. Describe the: Situation you faced -- Task you had to perform -- Action you took, and -- the Results of your action.

• Contrary to the advice of many resume experts, the cover letter isn't important.

I must say that I agree with this advice 100%. A few notes on it:

• Networking is the one thing you can do to make your resume stand out from the pack. And these days, when there could be hundreds of resumes submitted for one position, standing out from the pack is well more than half the battle towards getting an interview.

• Yes! Your resume and interview must scream RESULTS!!!!! It's the best way to sell yourself to a potential employer. Show and tell them what you've accomplished. This will (again) set you apart from the pack. They will know that you can deliver results and that, after all, is what they are looking for in an employee.

• You certainly need a "story" around each of your accomplishments, and the STAR system looks like a good way of doing it. So write out your responses to basic interview questions, being sure to include your accomplishments, and then practice your answers so you deliver them smoothly and succinctly. If you need to, take some practice interviews to get "real world" experience.

• Yeah, I think the cover letter is mostly a waste as well. If you need one (which I think that's a debatable issue), just be sure it's short and sweet.

I didn't agree with everything the piece said (for instance I don't like an objective on a resume -- though a "summary statement" could be ok) and I'm not so sure about the 12 point font rule, but other than that, I'm tracking with them pretty closely.

Comments

[Ryan@Fincycle]

I disagree on the cover letter - especially if you don't have a contact at the company or if it is requested by the company. A friend of mine just helped another friend apply at his company and a cover letter was requested - when the applying friend didn't send in a cover letter it didn't look very good and she didn't get the job.

[Jamel Rose]

A well-written, carefully typed, error-free resume cover letter should immediately set the application apart from the average application you receive.

[J in FL]

Ryan,

Yes, I would say if a cover letter is "requested" or "required," of course, one should take the time to do it. But, if that's not the case...which has been true for a large part of my job search, then I wouldn't waste the time with one.

[texashaze]

As a hiring manager I typically get a stack of resumes from HR stripped of the email letter or cover letter. Cover letters are nice but the resume is what gets you the interview. The interview is what gets you the job.

[Apex]

"List the accomplishments, achievements, results that are relevant to the employer."

Bingo! Not how you saved the company $X by pointing out an inefficiency when you were a nurse. It's nice, but it's not why they are hiring you.