Resource Page for Your Senior Project
This is your destination page if you are looking for handouts from class or information and tips for creating come of the documents you will need to include on your webpage.
Resume Tips & Samples
The following advice comes from Cornell Career Services:
To help you develop your resume's content and writing style for maximum effectiveness, it is important to understand that employers use resumes to:
Third, write accomplishment-oriented statements introduced by action verbs. Convey through direct language that you are active and produce results, while targeting your achievements and skills to employers' needs.
To help you develop your resume's content and writing style for maximum effectiveness, it is important to understand that employers use resumes to:
- Screen applicants and determine whom to interview. Employers scan a resume quickly—in under 30 seconds—for evidence that a candidate will be of value to their organization. Your resume should be results-oriented and tailored to the employer's needs.
- Develop interview questions. Statements on your resume often serve as the basis for interviews.
- Judge an applicant's communication skills.
- Remind them of a candidate's qualifications when hiring decisions are made. Employers want to know how your experiences have prepared you for the job. Understanding the specific job or career field requirements will allow you to highlight your related experience and personal attributes, distinguishing yourself from other candidates.
- Initiative and self-motivation
- High energy level
- Ability to communicate effectively
- Leadership potential
- Strong interpersonal skills
- Critical thinking and reasoning abilities
- Ability to multi-task
- Willingness to assume responsibility
- Capacity to work as team player
- Skill in dealing with stress
- Persistence
- Academic background
- Summer jobs
- Internships
- Extracurricular activities
- Volunteer work
Third, write accomplishment-oriented statements introduced by action verbs. Convey through direct language that you are active and produce results, while targeting your achievements and skills to employers' needs.
How to Write a Resume When You Have Little or No Experience
The following advice for job seekers without prior experience comes from Pongoresume.com's job seeker blog:
How do you market yourself effectively with your resume when you don’t have related job experience?
The answer: Focus on transferable skills and volunteer work. Also, it would be a good idea to drop in a recommendation or two from people who can vouch for qualities such as your work ethic, demeanor, or your ability to work as part of a team.
Here are potential sources for all three areas, targeted at each of the hypothetical job seekers above:
How do you market yourself effectively with your resume when you don’t have related job experience?
The answer: Focus on transferable skills and volunteer work. Also, it would be a good idea to drop in a recommendation or two from people who can vouch for qualities such as your work ethic, demeanor, or your ability to work as part of a team.
Here are potential sources for all three areas, targeted at each of the hypothetical job seekers above:
- Transferable Skills: Anything learned from odd jobs such as babysitting or mowing lawns; computer skills; leadership and teamwork skills from participating in sports, band, etc.; household management and organization (e.g., childcare, food service, housekeeping, budgeting, health monitoring, transportation, schedule management, travel arrangements, event planning, tutoring; relevant skills from previous jobs, even if they go back many years
- Volunteer Work: Charity or community work involving related skills; extracurricular school activities
- Recommendations: Teachers, coaches, guidance counselors, administrators, neighbors, customers from babysitting or lawn-mowing jobs
- As you write your resume, always keep in mind that it’s a personal marketing tool and you must use it to put yourself in the best possible position to land an interview. Don't be modest! Show each prospective employer that you understand their needs and how you are equipped to fulfill them. Help them see the benefits they'll gain from hiring you. That’s very important in today’s economy, and even more so for the candidate who lacks direct experience.
Templates & Samples
Click here to link to ReadWriteThink.org's interactive resume generator. On this site, you can plug in your information to create your own resume.
To read Alison's blog regarding when it's appropriate to use an "out-of-the-box", creative resume like hers pictured to the left, click here.
Cover Letters: Purpose & How To Write Them
cover_letter.pptx | |
File Size: | 1882 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Cornell Career Services has the following to say regarding the purpose of cover letters:
Cover letters are an important component of your job-search materials to convey your value to employers.
You’ll use them to:
Cover letters are an important component of your job-search materials to convey your value to employers.
You’ll use them to:
- Introduce yourself to prospective employers and motivate them to read your resume.
- State your career interests and highlight your strengths in relation to job responsibilities and/or organizations.
- Demonstrate your writing skills, professionalism, and courtesy.
- Reveal your personality and enthusiasm for the position, organization, and field.
Click on this link to access a UC Davis handout that describes how to craft and lay out your cover letter.
Click on this link to access ReadWriteThink's online cover letter generator.
Click on the "targeting cover letter" file below to download the handout with "before" and "after" letters from class.
Click on this link to access ReadWriteThink's online cover letter generator.
Click on the "targeting cover letter" file below to download the handout with "before" and "after" letters from class.
targeting_cover_letter.docx | |
File Size: | 107 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Comparing Cover Letters
Read the two sample cover letters below. Which gives you a better sense of the prospective employee? If you were the hiring manager and you had to choose ONE of these candidates to bring in for an interview, which would you choose and why?
Remember that an effective cover letter gives the reader (the hiring manager) a snapshot of who you are and what you would bring to the job and to the company--your skills and your personality should shine through positively.
Read the two sample cover letters below. Which gives you a better sense of the prospective employee? If you were the hiring manager and you had to choose ONE of these candidates to bring in for an interview, which would you choose and why?
Remember that an effective cover letter gives the reader (the hiring manager) a snapshot of who you are and what you would bring to the job and to the company--your skills and your personality should shine through positively.
Floral Designer Cover Letter Sample
Lily Gotham
3018 Silver Spur Avenue
Gillette, WY 63534
February 11, 2013
Mr. Davis James
Manager HR
Nirvana Events
8375 Broadway Street
Gillette, WY 65533
Dear Mr. James:
Flowers have been the essence of my professional life for as long as I remember, and working with them has been a passion. When I saw your advertisement for the open position of a Floral Designer at Nirvana Events, I couldn’t believe my good luck! As a highly creative individual with extensive experience in floral arrangements, I am positive that I will be a good addition to your events management company.
As you will note from the enclosed resume, I have a demonstrated ability to order flowers from wholesalers to ensure a sufficient supply to meet clients’ needs. Additionally, I am able to establish the type of arrangement desired and recommend flowers and greenery that will fulfill the clients' wishes. I always consider the client’s budget and tastes when making recommendations.
Furthermore, I have had considerable experience in managing flower arrangements for different types of occasions. Because I understand that each event comes with its own set of aesthetic and budgetary requirements, I have learned to manage arrangements to suit not only the wishes of the client but also the demands of the venue and the event. My previous work experience, designing floral concepts for corporate subscribers, has given me extensive know-how of working with lengths and varieties of flowers.
My resume will provide you with further insights into the kind of floral design projects that I have done. I will call you at the end of the week to ask for an interview date so that we may discuss my ideas further. You may contact me at (202) 555-5555 should the need arise.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
(Signature)
Lily Gotham
Lily Gotham
3018 Silver Spur Avenue
Gillette, WY 63534
February 11, 2013
Mr. Davis James
Manager HR
Nirvana Events
8375 Broadway Street
Gillette, WY 65533
Dear Mr. James:
Flowers have been the essence of my professional life for as long as I remember, and working with them has been a passion. When I saw your advertisement for the open position of a Floral Designer at Nirvana Events, I couldn’t believe my good luck! As a highly creative individual with extensive experience in floral arrangements, I am positive that I will be a good addition to your events management company.
As you will note from the enclosed resume, I have a demonstrated ability to order flowers from wholesalers to ensure a sufficient supply to meet clients’ needs. Additionally, I am able to establish the type of arrangement desired and recommend flowers and greenery that will fulfill the clients' wishes. I always consider the client’s budget and tastes when making recommendations.
Furthermore, I have had considerable experience in managing flower arrangements for different types of occasions. Because I understand that each event comes with its own set of aesthetic and budgetary requirements, I have learned to manage arrangements to suit not only the wishes of the client but also the demands of the venue and the event. My previous work experience, designing floral concepts for corporate subscribers, has given me extensive know-how of working with lengths and varieties of flowers.
My resume will provide you with further insights into the kind of floral design projects that I have done. I will call you at the end of the week to ask for an interview date so that we may discuss my ideas further. You may contact me at (202) 555-5555 should the need arise.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
(Signature)
Lily Gotham
Writing a Letter of Recommendation
Monster.com provides the following sample letter of recommendation, and Wikihow offers the following two letters:
[Date]
Re: Recommendation for Sharon Westman
Dear Hiring Manager:
I was initially impressed with Sharon Westman's enthusiasm, communication skills and professional demeanor when I hired her four years ago as a customer service rep within JRW Inc.'s call center. During the two years Sharon reported to me (I have since moved on to a different department), she consistently demonstrated all of these qualities and more, and I heartily endorse her for any customer service position.
Sharon is reliable, dedicated and eternally upbeat. Her ability to calm angry or frustrated customers is unparalleled, and it is because of her excellence in this area that I repeatedly asked her to mentor new employees in the call center. Sharon multitasks effectively and is able to handle a high-volume workload. She consistently met or surpassed all weekly call center metrics (including customer satisfaction, call volume and response time), and her daily written reports were accurate and thorough.
Of particular value to me as a former call center manager was Sharon's team player mind-set, enthusiastic embrace of change, ability to work with minimal supervision and unwavering commitment to exceeding customer expectations. I regularly received unsolicited praise from customers commending Sharon's outstanding level of service, professionalism and follow-through.
Organized and diligent, Sharon quickly learned technology systems and software that were unfamiliar to her when she first started with JRW, and she also attended optional professional-development seminars offered through the company. She is pursuing an associate's degree in business through evening classes at ABC Community College.
Sharon is a hardworking, top-performing customer service professional. She has my highest recommendation, and I am happy to furnish more details if you would like additional information.
Sincerely,
Carla Pederson
Field Service Manager (former Call Center Manager)
JRW Inc.
(555) 555-5555
[Date]
Re: Recommendation for Sharon Westman
Dear Hiring Manager:
I was initially impressed with Sharon Westman's enthusiasm, communication skills and professional demeanor when I hired her four years ago as a customer service rep within JRW Inc.'s call center. During the two years Sharon reported to me (I have since moved on to a different department), she consistently demonstrated all of these qualities and more, and I heartily endorse her for any customer service position.
Sharon is reliable, dedicated and eternally upbeat. Her ability to calm angry or frustrated customers is unparalleled, and it is because of her excellence in this area that I repeatedly asked her to mentor new employees in the call center. Sharon multitasks effectively and is able to handle a high-volume workload. She consistently met or surpassed all weekly call center metrics (including customer satisfaction, call volume and response time), and her daily written reports were accurate and thorough.
Of particular value to me as a former call center manager was Sharon's team player mind-set, enthusiastic embrace of change, ability to work with minimal supervision and unwavering commitment to exceeding customer expectations. I regularly received unsolicited praise from customers commending Sharon's outstanding level of service, professionalism and follow-through.
Organized and diligent, Sharon quickly learned technology systems and software that were unfamiliar to her when she first started with JRW, and she also attended optional professional-development seminars offered through the company. She is pursuing an associate's degree in business through evening classes at ABC Community College.
Sharon is a hardworking, top-performing customer service professional. She has my highest recommendation, and I am happy to furnish more details if you would like additional information.
Sincerely,
Carla Pederson
Field Service Manager (former Call Center Manager)
JRW Inc.
(555) 555-5555
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