TRANSCRIPT: Writing Effective Resumes & Cover Letters

Speaker: George Hoey

Writing Effective Resumes & Cover Letters

Hi, I'm George Hoey, and I'm a recently-retired Career Development Advisor after 18 years in the Career Center on a major college campus.

I also directed academic support programs with student athletes for 21 years.

Prior to that, I played in the National Football League for six years.

So, I've seen a lot of résumés and reviewed a lot of résumés, written a lot of résumés, and that's where we're going to start today.

What Is An Effective Resume

Today, we're going to cover what it means to write an effective résumé and cover letter.

And the question often comes up is what is an effective résumé.

I think the keyword there is "effective.” An effective résumé is one that clearly represents you, your talents, skills, and experiences.

It's also one that gets you an interview.

That's not to say that it's not effective if you don't get the interview, but we're going to take steps that are going to help you put together an effective one so that all probability is that you will get the interview.

Getting Started

Thinking about the whole prospect of putting together an effective résumé, we can start at the base or foundational point, that is one of knowing yourself and knowing what you want.

So, research is very important when it comes to this point.

You research the industries.

You research the companies.

You research the positions for which you're applying or that you may be interested in.

One of the other things that you can do is conduct informational interviews to gather additional insight into the organization, also the jobs that are out there and available for you.

You can also schedule an appointment with the career center for a résumé critique so that you can get additional feedback on the résumé that you're looking to submit, that's going to represent you.

Who Employers Want

The next area I want to cover has to do with employers and to talk about who employers want.

I'll start with success

Employers definitely want successful people.

Success is not always measured by a grade point average or a rank in class.

Even though that's important, they like to see you as high as possible with your grade point and your class rank, but you could also be a successful person if you've helped make a difference within an organization and if you've been a leader.

If you've done a lot of things that have transitioned one organization from a low esteem to a high esteem, that's also considered a success.

So, yes, successful people are who employers want.

Just as they want successful people, they also want good people, people who have high integrity, who have great moral standing.

They like to know that if someone's going to come into the organization and they can represent themselves well, you can represent the company well.

So, successful people, good people are who employers want.

In addition, employers want honest people.

Honesty can go back just to the creation of this document and not just being a person who's applying for a position and going to be honest on the job or in the workplace but in terms of putting together factual information on your résumé.

There have been cases where individuals have falsified information on their résumés and, once discovered, their positions have been immediately terminated.

That's a risk no one wants to take.

That's also a misrepresentation of honesty.

So, employers do want and do prefer to have honest people working with them and for them.

Social media.

Check the appropriateness of your social media posts so that, no matter what platform you're on, be sure that you check it for appropriateness.

And if the employer should, by chance, take a look at it, that they won't be embarrassed or won't feel as if they can't consider you any further as a candidate for a position with their organization.

Length Of Resume

When it comes to résumé writing, oftentimes the question arises about the length of a résumé.

You hear the typical expression "A résumé should only be one page.” Is that right or is it wrong?

Generally, there is no right or wrong, but, for the most part, one-page résumés are ones that you use when responding to an advertised position.

I say that because when your position is advertised, there are a lot of résumés coming in that an organization has to review.

They don't typically want to take time going through two and three pages on a résumé when most of them are one page and they're succinct, and they're crisp and to the point.

That's one that serves a purpose of the employer.

The second type of résumé, of course, could be a multi-page résumé.

For multi-page résumés, that typically is one where you have the option of providing a lot of information that you feel is going to be valuable to an employer or an organization and get you the opportunity that you're seeking with them.

Format

Let's take a look now at formatting résumés.

One piece that's very important and it may seem somewhat obscure is the frame around the résumé-writing or the text itself.

You should leave a one-inch border around the content or the text of the résumé itself for balance.

Oftentimes, résumés will be put together and try to condense a lot of information, and just taking the margins too far out.

So, remember to leave at least a one-inch border all the way around for the balance and appeal of the résumé itself.

You can then begin to put the contact information.

Contact information starts with your name.

It should be centered and it should be in bold.

When it comes to the types of contact, you should list as many ways as possible that it is to contact you or connect with you.

If, in fact, you've created your own website, you may want to put that as another way that a company and organization can gain some additional insight about you.

So, list that as well under contact information.

The next feature tends to be the objective statement.

The question oftentimes comes up, well, do I need one if I'm going to submit a cover letter, yes or no?

An objective statement would go along with a résumé if, in fact, you're not going to be able to submit a cover letter.

I'll get into that aspect when I speak about cover letters.

So, I would say, for your résumé, you can put an objective statement.

It should be very short and very clear, what you want, where you want it, and when you want to start the work.

Headings for the résumé itself, there are various types, but you can always let the research that you do and the job description that you're applying for guide you as to what kinds of headings you might want to utilize on your résumé.

When you think about an organization that's advertising a position, believe that they're very intentional about the language that they're using, the action verbs that they're using, and the descriptive language that they're using.

So, when you're putting together your headings for your résumé, use the same type of language, use the same headings and the keywords that the employer is using or the organization is using.

You want to put your headings in bold print.

Next, we talk about the use of bullets.

Bullet points, I think, are effective because most of your résumé is contained in some text or print.

Bullets are not text or print; they are something different and unique that will catch the eye when someone is reviewing your résumé.

So, I would say make a good use of bullet points and don't get carried away and use a lot of bullets.

It's almost like a résumé.

If you have a one, you have a two, use that many only within the context of putting together an effective message about what it is you're looking to accomplish.

Bullet points are accompanied by action verbs.

Employers are accustomed to looking at just keywords on a résumé.

Action verbs are those keywords that they will look for most often.

If you have a bullet point, use an effective action verb immediately following that bullet point, and then put the context.

The context that I'm referring to now is qualifying or quantifying information using numbers.

You can use an action verb, but there needs to be an outcome.

And employers want to know that if 100 people are applying for this position and they're using the same action verbs, and only two or three will give me qualifying information about the outcomes with numbers, those are the ones that are going to be of interest to me.

Typically, you'll see or hear the question asked, "'References available upon request,' should I put that at the bottom of my résumé?

I've seen a lot of my friends do it and they don't tell me whether it's effective or not.” Well, typically, when an employer is advertising a position, they're in charge of the process.

They know whether or not they'll want or need references to consider you for a position.

I would say, at this point, leave it to the employer to inform you whether they want references or not, but you don't have to use space on your résumé to put references or "References available upon request.” That's just taking up space that could be used for something else.

Again, you're going to have templates available to you that will give you a list of action verbs and also sample résumés that you'll be able to take advantage of after you've already completed this workshop.

The one area I want to just dive a little deeper into has to do with scanning résumés.

Employers oftentimes, especially with larger organizations, will have sometimes hundreds of résumé coming in.

What they'll do oftentimes is to have an automated system for scanning résumés, looking for keywords that really match language that they're using in the job description and also language that's familiar to those working in the company or the organization.

So, if, in fact, you know you're going to use action verbs, again, from the list of resources, be sure that you don't just pile them up on your résumé but you're going to use appropriate ones so that if, in fact, your résumé is being scanned, it will pick up the action verbs that are most appropriate for that position for which you're applying.

Practical Applications

Now that we've talked about some of the strategies for developing a great résumé and how that might look, we're going to now talk about some of the practical applications of a résumé and résumé-writing.

Three things I want to cover: one, research; two, different categories that you may consider including on your résumé; and the third point is going to be fine-tuning your résumé.

Let's go back to research.

What do you want to research?

You want to research at least a couple of items.

One, the position itself, so that you know exactly what it entails, you know the duties and responsibilities, you know the skills that are required to do that; and that's going to be important to highlight on your résumé.

If you're looking to put together a generic type of résumé, you may want to look at the industry or the occupation and create a résumé that's going to reflect the skills necessary to perform duties well in that industry.

Sample Resumes

Now we'll take a look at two different résumés.

What I want you to do is just put on your critic's hat and think of differences that you see in the résumés.

Write down three different things that you see in the résumés in front of you.

Now let me tell you what I see as differences between the two résumés.

If you look at the one on the left, it's a great, visually-pleasing résumé.

If you look at the headings, they're in bold, they're in caps, there's good use of white space, and any heading that you want to see or you want the employer to see, whether it's the objective, education, leadership, experience, or computer skills, it just sort of pops from the page.

On the other hand, if you look at its sort of competitor as it were, you see a summary, education, experience, professional development, computer skills, but there isn't a good use of white space.

I really have to search for that information.

So, again, what you want the reviewer of your résumé to have is clarity.

You can utilize this information that's on the résumé that's on the left where there is a good use of white space.

The second thing that you notice on the résumés, or I noticed anyway, is just a difference between the objective or summary statement.

And the objective statement is to the point.

It says "Seeking a position in the field of marketing.” The summary statement, on the other hand, still has a lot of text.

Remember what I said before, if your résumé is one of maybe 100 or 200, all of that information may not be read.

So it's going to be a good idea just keep it clean, to keep the text simple, and to make it brief.

Cover Letters

Now we'll talk about cover letters.

Cover letters, again, whether they're appropriate or not depending on where you're applying, if the organization tends to read cover letters.

I've had employers tell me over the years that cover letters can essentially relate to the eyes to the soul of the person who's applying.

On the flip side, I've also talked with employers in major corporations where they're receiving hundreds of résumés for a posted position who have told me, "I don't read cover letters.

I don't have time.

I just look at their résumé.

I look for certain features on the résumé and I go from there.

We just have too many.” I would say if you're going to err, err on the side of providing a cover letter and give some insight to you that may not otherwise be covered in your résumé itself.

The final point is the closing statement that you want to make within your cover letter.

Again, this is a part of a cover letter that's going to be concise, it's going to be brief, but the point that you want to make in your closing statement is that you appreciate the opportunity to apply for this position and that you're really looking forward to joining the team and being able to make a contribution to the endeavors of that organization.

Follow Up

One of the last things to consider in putting together a résumé and cover letter is the follow-up.

You may indicate that you will follow up with the organization in seven to ten days if you've not been given that information as a part of the interviewing process or if there is no information provided otherwise.

You may just take the lead to say that, "Eight to ten days, I'll give you a call or I'll contact you to find out what my status is at that point.”

Closing

In closing, I'd, first of all, like to say thank you for allowing me this opportunity to provide this workshop for you.

Hopefully there's information that you find useful that you can use going forward in your career process.

Oftentimes I hear the comments that, "Oh, my goodness, writing a résumé and cover letter is an ominous process.

It just takes so much and I have to leave so much stuff out.” Well, here's hoping that it doesn't become an ominous process for you because, if you think about it, we've all gone through it.

Whether it's a professional, whether it's someone at your career center, whether it's parents, friends, relatives, a lot of folks are out there to serve as resources for you.

Take advantage of them.

Have them put a set of eyes on your résumé, your cover letter, and answer the question, "Does that sound like me?” And when you get the answer "It absolutely does," then I think you can feel comfortable going forward.

So, good luck to each and every one of you.