Last Thursday I attended the Rose House Cover Letter Seminar. I was really glad that Rose was having an event to discuss job and internship applications as I feel particularly clueless in that area. Cynthia and Shiv started by reviewing the kinds of things one would want to put on a resume. They also recommended that we keep a “master resume” containing all the things we have accomplished so as to make it easier to pare down the list to fit a particular job, while also not forgetting anything that may be relevant.

They pointed out that in job listings employer typically make it very clear what the want in a potential candidate. And in the case that a listing is less than transparent, it may be a good idea to call and inquire, without leaving your name, or to email from an alternative address. Once you know what the employer wants, you should tailor your resume to be as close to their listing as possible. Ideally, you want you and the job to be as close of a match as possible. In the event that you don’t have the exact qualification they are looking for, you can spin one of your skills or experiences to fit the qualification. For example, if you need to know a computer language but you know several foreign languages, you could spin it and say that you have the skills to learn said computer language quickly. The cover letter is the perfect place to tie things in on your resume to the qualification they are searching for.

One of the most striking thing that  Cynthia and Shiv mentioned is that employers, while reviewing large numbers of resumes just want to be done as soon as possible. The closer you can be to what they are looking for and the more concise you can be, the better.