This past Thursday I attended a cover letter workshop held by GRF Shiv and Cynthia Hill. In this workshop, we discussed the various ways that you can strategically mold your resume to a specific position, as well as the function of your cover letter to provide context to your resume.

I am currently in the process of searching and applying for summer internships/research programs. Since it’s often very difficult to distinguish yourself as a candidate for positions where you are competing with hundreds of other applicants, the importance of your resume and cover letter cannot be understated. With this in mind, I had attended the workshop in hopes of learning how to use these materials to my advantage.

My biggest concern is always what is relevant to put on my resume, as well as what to include in my cover letter without being overly discursive. In response to these questions, Dr. Hill instructed that “spinning” your experiences to fit the description for the position you are seeking is a key strategy for the creation of a resume. She also discussed how the context you provide in your cover letter could allow you to further expand on your experiences in a way which suits the job you are trying to get.

Overall I found this workshop very helpful in providing an understanding for the function and composition of a cover letter, and it would be great if more workshops like this were offered in the future.