10 Sep Putting together your resume and cover letter can be challenging!

1. Putting together your resume and cover letter can be challenging!   Please read the following articles from the Monster.com career site.   Cover Letter Article by Monster  and Resume Article by Monster. 
2. Please complete the resume/cover letter writing assignment.  To do this, prepare your actual resume and write a cover letter, (application letter,) for a real job that you find online using any job search engine such as Indeed, Jobs.Com, Jobdango, or the like. Please choose a job that you might apply for once you finish your college education, whether it’s a certificate, AA degree, bachelors, masters, etc. For this assignment:

I want to become a branch manager at any banks.

I am currently a Lead Teller at KeyBank.

https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/cover-letter-mistakes-0417

https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/10-words-ruin-resume

Discussion:
 

Putting together your resume and cover letter can be challenging!   Please read the following articles from the Monster.com career site.   Cover Letter Article by Monster  and Resume Article by Monster  After reading the articles, please post a message that answers the following questions:

Here are the websites for both articles:

https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/cover-letter-mistakes-0417

https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/10-words-ruin-resume

• What do you think is the most important advice given in both the cover letter and resume articles?  Why?
• Did you disagree with any of the advice given?  Why?
• What advice can you give to other students about building resumes and/or cover letters?

Please respond to each of the classmates answers:

1. Both of the articles cover lots of good common sense tips for resume and cover letter writing, I see that one of the most important points from those is from the one on cover letters, and it’s the second point, on having a weak opening. Some advice I was given early on in my job hunting process, was that the top third of the page for either your resume or cover letter is the most important chunk, since many employers will give up reading past the first third of any resume or letter. Whoever is going through applications needs to be grabbed right away, not with buzzwords, but with a confident opening objective and a genuine summary of your accomplishments, before going into more details lower on the page. 

On the note of accomplishments, make sure you detail them along with the results of your work, instead of just saying what your responsibilities were at your previous workplaces. Everyone is given responsibilities, someone worth hiring has something to show for it. Another important point from the cover letter article said that you shouldn’t just repeat your resume word for word, so your letter is a good place to go into detail about some of your greatest accomplishments or at least ones that can apply to the job at hand. Your resume should be broader than your cover letter, but still shouldn’t be too long.

2. I believe that both articles cover all the basics for good resume and cover letter writing. To me, the most important point from the resume writing article was the point about not using jargon and recycled buzzwords. As someone who’s had to review resumes, I know I will lose interest if I see this type of wording repeated throughout the resume. I think that just as the words you say during an interview matter, the wording on your resume matters too. The resume is a reflection of you as a future employee, so it needs to be clear, honest and free of empty cliches.

While I agree that a good cover letter makes a great first impression, I disagree that this isn’t a part of the job application process you want to skip. In today’s digitalized world, most online job application engines do not allow for a cover letter to be included with the resume. When I’ve received resumes in person, most times they do not have a cover letter either. I think this requirement must vary on the industry or job type. What I have received after an interview is a handwritten thank you note or an email, which does make a good lasting impression too.