Do you have pointers for good cover letters and resumes...

[cynatnite]

What catches your attention? Aside from bad spelling, what turns you off of a resume?

Aside from slipping a fifty in my resume, what's a good way to stand out from the rest?

[rbnyc]

1. Short and personal.

I just had to review loads of cover letters and resumes for a position in my organization. I appreciated letters that were customized for the position. Generic letters were a major turn off. I also appreciate letters that were concise. I wanted them to tell me something I couldn't see in the resume, but I wanted them to tell me quickly.

I also wanted the cover letters to tell me things that I specifically asked for, like salary requirements. I asked for that in the position announcement, and didn't appreciate it when people didn't follow instructions.

Also, summery or objective lines in resumes were not very meaningful to me and worked against the candidate when they were too generic - or if it was headed as an objective, but was actually a summary.

I appreciated resumes that detailed achievements rather than skills and responsibilities.

Also, if people left out months when stating how long they were with each organization, 2001 - 2003 for example, I assumed the worst. I assumed that meant December 2001 - January 2003 and they were trying to make what was just over a year look like two years.

One more thing - if you report on your resume achievements related to revenue - percentages are meaningless, as in I increased revenue by 20%. I need to know how much.

Good luck.

[tabbycat31]

2. I hired people last cycle

And I've seen it all when it comes to resumes. The worst one I got was from a guy who used the word 'stuff' liberally. When he was describing his volunteer campaign experience (I work on campaigns) he said "phone banking and other fun stuff."

He also worked at JC Penney and his description for what he did was 'helping customers find stuff' and that resume quickly became infamous in our office. I did not call him for the interview, even though he applied no fewer than 5 times.

ETA keep it to one page if possible. And if things are not relevant to the position, you can leave them off.

[jeff47]

3. Except when you shouldn't keep it to one page

If you're applying for a job in a technical field, do not keep it to one page. Use as much space as necessary to cover all the details of what you have done. Because in a technical environment, there's a massive difference in the small nuances.

For example, if you "created a database-backed web site", I'd need to know which DB, did you use SQL directly, did you use stored procedures, what languages and tools did you use when making the web front end, what server software was being used, and a ton of other details.

[tabbycat31]

4. I guess that would depend on the field

I work on political campaigns, and the norm there is to keep your resume to one page if you have less than 10 years of experience. The oldest staffer I hired was 26 (the youngest 20) and given their ages, they all have less than 10 years of experience.

[jeff47]

5. Yep, that was exactly what I was trying to get across

One-page resumes were the standard for a very long time, and are still the advice handed out to most people. And it works extremely well as long as a brief sentence or two can give the prospective manager most of the information they need.

But in many technical fields, especially software development, it's not possible for a sentence or two to adequately describe the experience. There are many ways of accomplishing the same one-sentence goal that are completely incompatible.

[durbin]

7. Tailor each cover letter to the specific job and employer

Research the employer and the job requirements as much as possible before you write each cover letter.

Do a bit more "detective work" about the job than simply reading the job listing. The best way to do this is to talk to someone who works there, or used to work there, but this is not always possible. Employers like people who care about a job opening enough to do some research before applying for it.

Keep the cover letter to less than one page, succinct, precise, eager and light-hearted but not too humorous.

Don't over-sell yourself; be honest. If you're weak in one skill area, that's okay, just phrase it as "wanting to continue to develop my..." or some phrase like that. No lies about skills semi-skills or past experience. If you're weak in more than two skill or experience areas, this job is not for you, don't waste your valuable time writing a cover letter, move on to the next job. You don't have to say in the cover letter that you have skills and experience in each and every area the job requires, but mention your best and what you see is the most crucial skills/experience you have that fit the job. One or two paragraphs to describe those skills is all you need. More than that, you're boasting, or even sounding desperate. If you're reasonably qualified, but your resume is in another area of experience, be clear how you have the critical skills for the job, and where that prior experience is in your resume.

If you're young and/or just out of school or college, you probably don't have ALL the skills the job requires, don't pretend you do. Emphasize ambition, desire, deep interest, motivation; say how this is what you WANT to do, and/or what you want to learn to do more professionally. Some employers like to train "clean slates" in the way they want the job to be done.

Make yourself available, home and cell phone if you have both, precise mailing address as well as email address. If you're not within commuting distance to the job, mention in the cover letter your willingness to relocate, or that you have family in X town, close by; however you're going to be on the job the first day they want you.

Never be the first one to mention dollars to a potential employer, unless they specifically require it to be in the cover letter, in which case, be honest, and humble, accept an entry level wage if it's an entry level job. Most employers only require you mention salary requirements if there is a wide range of salaries for that job skill-set in that profession, and where they are looking for at least 5-10 years of directly-related professional experience.

Be brief, be honest, be direct. You have one or two minutes of a reader's time. Allow them to use it well to screen you into their pool of likely candidates.

Oh, and one more thing: Have someone read over the cover letter and resume and job description before you email it off, whenever possible. Another set of eyes spots spelling errors, grammar errors, and mismatches between what you say and what the job opening announcement says. It might make the process longer, but saves time and gets more results in the end, since your presentation has already made solid sense to someone before it is sent to the employer.