One of the most crucial and intimidating aspects of looking for a summer internship, job or any other professional opportunity is presenting yourself via and on paper. It can be intimidating since no well-written resume or personal statement or cover letter can convey one’s complex experience of life and how these experience were received by the individual. However, today’s systemic understanding is such that each and every one of us is part of the capital: Human Capital. And now it has become our duty to sell/ present ourselves.
I think many of us are used or at least somewhat comfortable with resume due to its familiarity. But, cover letter or professional personal statement is otherworldly. It is not quite like the narrative freedom I had when I was writing my personal statement during college application process. Nevertheless, this workshop confirmed it is indeed a narrative about you and your compatibility with the position, only with length and style restrictions. Unlike, college application essay the purpose of a cover letter is not to get you the job, rather get you an interview. So, it will not be read in depth or analyzed in detail, definitely looked in a quick glance to offer an interview or not. That understanding is necessary, to be concise, clear and to the point to express your compatibility. No, need to list all your talents, skills and experience in a cover letter, since it is accompanied by a resume. Dr. Cynthia and Shiv gave us ideas of how to keep an all comprehensive running resume, which could be sued to customize the resume according to the job opportunity and cover letter accompanying it. This workshop was something I really needed, and very helpful for me as I am writing cover letters for summer opportunities.