Before you can land an interview, you need to have an outstanding resume and cover letter. Writing these two things can be tough, but if you take your time and put some thought into it, you'll get your foot in the door for an interview, which can eventually lead to that all-important job.

Resumes
Larissa Campbell is a former student services specialist in Fanshawe's Career Services department. She said the key thing to remember is that your resume must be specific and targeted to the job you're applying for. “The employers always know when you're using a resume that's generic, and they want someone who's really taken the time to think about how they're a good match for that specific position. It really needs to highlight your skills and include some results or accomplishments that demonstrate those skills. And then it should be easy to read and clear for the employer to see how you're a good match for the job.”

Campbell said the easiest way to tailor a resume for a specific job is to start with the job posting. “Go through that posting line by line to make sure that you're covering everything they're asking for. If you don't have a job posting, then do some research into that company and position and make sure that the skills and the experience you're talking about is relevant for that type of job.”

When you're going through the process of tailoring a resume for a specific job, you may want to skip the fancy fonts. “It depends on the type of job you're applying for; graphics and colours are more appropriate for a graphic artist position or an arts-related position, but if it's a job in an accounting firm, then that's not really appropriate,” said Campbell. “There's not really a right or wrong, but you want to make sure you're standing out for the right reasons that the employer is interested in.”

Campbell also said that “any personal details like your age, your marital status, your citizenship, any of those things are not appropriate for a resume. Anything that you put on there should be related to work, education or volunteering.”

Cover Letters
Once you've got your resume typed up, the cover letter comes next. According to Campbell, a cover letter is your introduction to the employer. It should include why you're a good match for the company and why you should be considered for the job.

There are a lot of different ways to write your cover letter, according to Campbell. “It has to be your own style. You want to be highlighting your most important qualifications or your key skills that the employer is going to be interested in to invite you in for an interview.”

Though it may repeat a little bit of what's listed on your resume, “it shouldn't just be a summary of everything on your resume. You want to pull out the most important things that you want to draw attention to. Pick your key accomplishments or your most important skills to catch their attention,” she added.

As for whether you should include your cover letter as a separate attachment or do you type it up in the body of the email with just the resume attached, Campbell said to do what you prefer. “I don't really think there is a right or wrong when it comes to that. If you are going to attach it, you still want to put something in the body of the email, so like a smaller version of your cover letter or something like that. Of course, if they say specifically in the job posting that they want everything attached, then follow those instructions,” said Campbell.

If you need any help with your resume or cover letter, visit Career Services in D1063. For more resume writing tips, go to tinyurl.com/44resumetips14.