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16: Job Application Materials

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    89529
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    Chapter Objectives

    The purpose of this chapter is to:

    • Apply research techniques for job searching in your field of study
    • Design a résumé for a job application
    • Create a cover letter for a job application
    • Describe the process of interviewing for jobs
    • Apply networking skills by using various social media

    Introduction

    The job search process can be very intimidating. Many people struggle to find listings they are interested in, while others may be intimidated or overwhelmed by the application process. The diagram below explains the steps that occur during a job search. Many people think it starts with finding a job post, applying with your application, cover letter letter and résumé, and then going into the interview. However, there are many more steps involved in order to be successful in your job search.

    Job seeking is a multi-step process which should be completed in order to increase your likelihood of obtaining the desired position. Often, it looks like the following:

    Figure 1: The Six-Step Job Search Process—Step 2. (CC BY 2017; Amber Kinonen)

    Job Research

    The first step is to figure out what type of job you are looking for. Are you just coming out of college and looking for an entry level position? Are you an experienced technician in your field and you are looking for another job? Once you have determined what type of job you are looking for, you need to do some research on positions available in your field. There are many places you can look to find a job in your field of study. There are job search websites like Monster, Indeed, LinkedIn, etc... You can also look at company websites in their "career opportunities" section. It is also good to tell friends, family, and colleagues that you are looking for a job. They might know of opportunities that are available at their employer.

    Once you find the jobs you want to apply for, you will need to decipher the job description.

    Deciphering the Job Description

    Most job descriptions can be found on the employer’s website. Generally, a job description will contain important information about what the job entails, along with any technical or educational requirements the employer expects qualified applicants to hold. To start planning planning your application materials, identify each skill and qualification listed on the job posting. You can highlight on a physical printout of the posting, or copy down details into a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

    Résumés

    A résumé is a selective record of your background—your educational, military, work experience, your certifications, abilities, and so on. You send it, sometimes accompanied by an application and a cover letter, to potential employers when you are seeking job interviews.

    A résumé should be easily readable, effectively designed, and adapted to audience expectations. If you are taking a business writing course, your instructor may be okay with your making up a few details in your résumé to represent what you'll be when you graduate. However, if you're just starting your college education and have little work experience, try using the techniques and suggestions here to create a résumé that represents your current skills, abilities, and background. Developing a decent-looking résumé based on what you are now is a challenge that you have to deal with at some point—so why not now?

    Figure 2 below presents the seven benefits that a well-written résumé can do for you and your job search:

    Figure 2: The benefits of a well-written résumé. (CC BY 2017; Amber Kinonen)

    Résumé Design: An Overview

    Before personal computers, people used one résumé for varied kinds of employment searches. However, with less expensive desktop publishing and high-quality printing, people sometimes rewrite their résumés for every new job they go after. For example, a person who seeks employment both with a community college and with a software-development company would use two different résumés. The contents of the two might be roughly the same, but the organization, format, and emphasis would be quite different.

    You are probably aware of résumé-writing software: you feed your data into them and they churn out a prefab résumé. You probably also know about résumé-writing services that will create your résumé for you for a hundred dollars or so. If you are in a time bind or if you are extremely insecure about your writing or résumé-designing skills, these services might help. But often they take your information and put it into a computer database that then forces it into a prefab structure. They often use the same résumé-writing software just mentioned; they charge you about what the software costs. The problem is that these agencies simply cannot be that sensitive or perceptive about your background or your employment search. Nor are you likely to want to pay for their services every month or so when you are in the thick of a job search. Why not learn the skills and techniques of writing your own résumé here, save the money, and write better résumés anyway?

    There is no one right way to write a résumé. Every person's background, employment needs, and career objectives are different, thus necessitating unique résumé designs. Every aspect of your résumé must start with who you are, what your background is, what the potential employer is looking for, and what your employment goals are—not with from some prefab design. Therefore, use this chapter to design your own résumé, browse through the various formats, and play around with them until you find one that works for you.

    Sections in Résumés

    Résumés can be divided into three sections: the heading, the body, and the conclusion. Each of these sections has fairly common contents.

    Heading. The top third of the résumé is the heading. It contains your name, phone numbers, address, and other details such as your occupation, titles, and so on. Some résumé writers include the name of their profession, occupation, or field. In some examples, you'll see writers putting things like "CERTIFIED PHYSICAL THERAPIST" very prominently in the heading. Headings can also contain a professional summary or highlights. These two special subsections are described later.

    Body. In a one-page résumé, the body is the middle portion, taking up a half or more of the total space of the ésumé. In this section, you present the details of your work, education, and military experience. This information is arranged in reverse chronological order, where you start with your most recent experience and work backwards in time. In the body section, you also include your accomplishments, like publications, certifications, equipment you are familiar with, and so on. There are many ways to present this information:

    Conclusion. In the final third or quarter of the résumé, you can present other related information on your background. For example, you can list activities, professional associations, memberships, hobbies, and interests. At first, you might think that listing non-work and personal information would be totally irrelevant and inappropriate. Actually, it can come in handy—it personalizes you to potential employers and gives you something to chat about while you're waiting for the coffee machine or the elevator. For example, if you mention in your résumé that you raise goats, that gives the interviewer something to chat with you about during those moments of otherwise uncomfortable silence.

    Resume heading for editing copy.jpg
    Figure 3: Sample Résumé Heading with Professional Profile (CC BY 2021; Heather Katzoff)

    Résumé Types and Design

    To begin planning your résumé, decide which type of résumé you need. This decision is in part based on requirements that prospective employers may have, and in part based on what your background and employment needs are.

    Type of organization. Résumés can be defined according to how information on work and educational experience is handled. There are several basic, commonly used plans or designs you can consider using.

    Figure 4: Two basic organizational approaches to résumé design, functional and thematic. Note that the "hanging-head" format is used in the functional-design version. (CC BY 2017; David McMurrey)

    Type of information. Types of résumés can be defined according to the amount and kind of information they present:

    Layout and Detail Format in Résumés

    At some point in your résumé planning, you'll want to think schematically about the layout and design of the thing. General layout has to do with the design and location of the heading, the headings for the individual sections, and the orientation of the detailed text in relation to those headings. Detail formats are the way you choose to arrange and present the details of your education and work experience.

    Layout. Look at résumés in this book and in other sources strictly in terms of the style and placement of the headings, the shape of the text (the paragraphs) in the résumés, and the orientation of these two elements with each other. Some résumés have the headings centered; others are on the left margin. Notice that the actual text—the paragraphs—of résumés typically does not extend to the far left and the far right margins. Full-length lines are not considered as readable or scannable as the shorter ones you see illustrated in the examples in this book.

    Notice that many résumés use a "hanging-head" format. In this case, the heading starts on the far left margin while the text is indented another inch or so. This format makes the heading stand out more and the text more scannable. Notice also that in some of the text paragraphs of résumés, special typography is used to highlight the name of the organization or the job title.

    Detail formats. You have to make a fundamental decision about how you present the details of your work and education experience. Several examples of typical presentational techniques are shown below. The elements you work with include:

    There are many different ways to format this information. It all depends on what you want to emphasize and how much or how little information you have (whether you are struggling to fit it all on one page or struggling to make it fill one page). Several different detail formats are shown throughout this chapter, but the most important thing is to be consistent with whatever format you choose. For example, if you list your job title on one line and then the name of the company you worked for on the line below it, that should be the format you use for every entry you create.

    Special Sections in Résumés

    Here are some ideas for special résumé sections that emphasize your particular skills or qualifications.

    Highlights. In some résumés, you may notice a "Highlights" section that occurs just below the heading and just above the main experience and education sections. This is an increasingly popular section in résumés since résumé specialists believe that the eye makes first contact with a page somewhere one-fourth to one-third of the way down the page—not at the very top. If that is the case, then it makes sense to put your very "best stuff" at that point. Therefore, some people list their most important qualifications, their key skills, their key work experience in that space on the page. Actually, this section is useful more for people who have been in their careers for a while. It's a good way to create one common spot on the résumé to list those key qualifications about yourself that may be spread throughout the résumé. Otherwise, these key details about yourself are scattered across your various employment and educational experience—in fact, they may be buried by them.

    Professional profile. Also called a career summary, a professional profile is a section that can be found on some résumés just under the heading and briefly describes key qualifications, experiences, and goals as they relate to the specific job for which you're applying. Think about this section as your professional "headline": what is it about you as an individual that makes you uniquely qualified for this position? Try to answer that question in brief phrases that connect to the key responsibilities from the job description, written in the imperative voice (avoiding "I" statements as much as possible.) A professional profile section is similar to a highlights section, but shorter (usually between two and four sentences) and in paragraph rather than list form.

    Early-Career Résumés

    If you are at the beginning of your career, all the advice and examples to this point may seem fine and good, but what if you have very little experience? Careers must start somewhere—and so must résumés. You can use several strategies to fill out your résumé so that you appear to be the promising entry-level candidate that we all know you are.

    In this student résumé, there are several things the writer does well, but there are also areas of opportunity. Notice how much space that details about education take up. This makes sense since the student doesn't have much work experience yet. However, this résumé writer could have included even more: Descriptions of key courses and projects could have been provided under a heading such as "Essential Coursework." A professional profile would have given the student an opportunity to describe themselves in a unique and interesting way, a far more effective use of space than the objective statement they've included.

    Notice too that the résumé above includes plenty of co-op and part-time work. The bulleted-list format extends the length of the résumé so that it fills up the page. At the bottom of the résumé, the writer lists awards and organizations. These too could be amplified if necessary. Details as to what the award is about, why this writer received it, and what those organizations are—these are examples of good information that could be added, if necessary.

    Subtle changes in format can also help make your résumé fill a page. Top, bottom, left, and right margins can all be pushed down, up, and in from the standard 1.0 inch to 1.25 inches if needed. You can add an extra space between sections. To do so, don't just press Enter. Instead, use the paragraph-formatting feature of your software to put 6 or 9 points, for example, below the final element of each section. Line spacing is another subtle way to extend a résumé. If your software by default uses 13.6 points of line spacing for Times New Roman 12 point text, experiment with changing the line spacing to exactly 15.0 points.

    Résumé Checklist

    As you plan, write, and review your résumé, keep these points in mind:

    Figure 5: Sample Thematic Résumé. (CC BY 2017; Amber Kinonen)
    resume for editing.png
    Figure 6: Sample Functional Résumé 2. (CC BY 2017; Amber Kinonen)

    In many job applications, you attach an application or cover letter to your résumé. In actuality, the letter should come before the résumé.

    The role of the cover letter is to draw a clear connection between the job you are seeking and your qualifications listed in the résumé. To put it another way, the letter matches the requirements of the job with your qualifications, emphasizing how you are right for that job. The cover letter is not a lengthy summary of the résumé. Instead, it selectively mentions information in the résumé, elaborating on it as appropriate.

    Cover Letters: Their Purpose

    When writing a cover letter, remember that you probably have competition. Your audience is a professional who screens and hires job applicants—someone who may look through dozens or even hundreds of other applications on the day they receive yours. The immediate objective of your application/cover letter and accompanying résumé is to attract this person’s attention. Your ultimate goal is to obtain an interview.

    As you write your cover letter, be sure you complete three tasks: catch the reader’s attention favorably, convince the reader that you are a qualified candidate for the job, and request an interview. A cover letter should accomplish the following five things:

    To begin planning your letter, decide which type of cover letter you need. This decision is based both on employers' requirements and on what your background and employment needs are. In many ways, types of cover letters are like the types of résumés. The types of cover letters can be defined according to amount and kind of information:

    Preparation and practice are critical to every step of the job search process, and the cover letter is no different. Five actions can help make your cover letter compelling:

    Your cover letter should be engaging, informative, and show your command of the written word. It should flow easily from a reader’s perspective, making the connection between the opportunity and your ability to succeed if given the chance. The tone should be compelling. You should be excited about the opportunity and you should be confident of your ability to succeed (even if you truly lack the confidence).

    Cover Letter Template

    The application/cover letter template includes three main sections:

    The Introductory Paragraph. In the introductory paragraph, you introduce yourself to the hiring manager or recruiter. That first paragraph of the application letter is the most important; it sets everything up—the tone, focus, as well as your most important qualification. A typical problem in the introductory paragraph involves diving directly into work and educational experience. The paragraph should include three general items:

    These three items should be covered very quickly, the space of very short paragraph—no more than 3 to 4 lines of the standard business letter.

    Main Body Paragraphs. In the main parts of the application letter, you present your work experience, education, and training—whatever makes that connection between you and the job you are seeking. Remember that this is the most important job you have to do in this letter—to enable the reader see the match between your qualifications and the requirements for the job.

    There are two common ways to present this information:

    Another section worth considering for the main body of the application/cover letter is one in which you discuss your goals, objectives (the focus of your career) , what you are doing, or want to do professionally. A paragraph like this is particularly good for people just starting their careers, when there is not much to put in the letter. Of course, be careful about loading a paragraph like this with "sweet nothings." For example, "I am seeking a challenging, rewarding career with a dynamic upscale company where I will have ample room for professional and personal growth"—come on, give us a break! You might as well say, "I want to be happy, well-paid, and well-fed."

    One of the best ways to make a cover letter stand out is to work in details, examples, specifics about related aspects of your educational and employment background. Yes, if the résumé is attached, readers can see all that details there. However, a letter that is overly general and vague might generate so little interest that the reader might not even care to turn to the résumé.

    In the cover letter, you work in selective detail that makes your letter stand out, makes it memorable, and substantiates the claims you make about your skills and experience. Take a look at this example, which is rather lacking in specifics:

    Example

    As for my experience working with persons with developmental disabilities, I have worked and volunteered at various rehabilitation hospitals and agencies in Austin and Houston [which ones? Be specific to inject more detail into this letter]. I have received training [where? certificates?] in supervising patients and assisting with physical and social therapy [which specific therapies?]. Currently, I am volunteering at St. David's Hospital [doing what?] to continue my education in aiding persons with developmental disabilities [which specific disabilities?].

    Now take a look at the revision:

    Example

    I am passionate about working with persons with developmental disabilities, and have worked and volunteered at Cypress Creek Hospital in Houston and Capital Area Easter Seals/ Rehabilitation Center and Health South Rehabilitation Hospital in Austin. I have received CPR, First Aid, and Crisis Intervention certificates from Cypress Creek Hospital. Currently, I am volunteering at St. David's Hospital assisting with physical therapy to persons with developmental disabilities in the aquatics department.

    These edits take general information and make it more specific, developing a narrative around something that might just get a bullet point on the résumé. This makes the information much more engaging and memorable for the reader, which will help make you more memorable to the hiring manager..

    Closing Paragraph. In the last paragraph of the cover letter, you can indicate how the prospective employer can get in touch with you and when are the best times for an interview. This is the place to urge that prospective employer to contact you to arrange an interview.

    Remember that this is still a business letter, so make sure to have a professional salutation and closing. Put extra effort into identifying the name of the hiring manager, so that your letter can be appropriately addressed to the specific person who will be reviewing résumés. Employers do not make this an easy step for you, and you have to do your research. Helpful exercises include researching the company website, reading news releases, and even calling the company to ask. Laziness will hurt your job search effort if this special effort is not made. If, after doing all the preceding, you still do not know the name of the person to whom you are sending your information, by all means, address it using Dear Hiring Manager or Dear Recruiter.

    Figure 7: Example of a Cover Letter. (CC BY 2017; Amber Kinonen)

    Early-Career Cover Letters

    In the preceding, you've seen some impressive cover letters. But what if you don't have all that experience—how do you construct a respectable application/cover letter?

    In the example student application/cover letter below, notice that the writer describes his coursework and the applications that he used. His reference to a professional exposition shows an active interest in a particular technical area. Moreover, his visit with an employee of the company with which he seeks employment is a crafty form of name dropping.

    Early-career application/cover letter. Use the strategies suggested here to fill your letter with good specific information.

    Checklist for Application Cover Letters

    Networking

    A great way to meet people and market yourself is through networking. A long time ago, people would network at events in person. This was a great way to talk to someone give your "elevator speech" and get to know them. People would exchange business cards which could ultimately lead to job opportunities. Now in the digital age, people network a bit differently. There are still events you can attend; however, you can do most of your networking through social media. Many employers now have links to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. These are platforms that allow you to connect with people and post job opportunities.

    One important piece of advice: be careful of what you put on social media as employers may look at your social media to determine if you are a good fit for their organization. There is much debate if employers should be allowed to use these platforms to make employment decisions. Whether you agree with this practice or not, if your social media presence is available to an employer, it is something that can influence whether or not you get called in to an interview or get offered a job. Because of this, make sure to keep your public social media as neutral as possible, and avoid potentially damaging posts or pictures on your feed. On professional sites like LinkedIn, make sure your information current and up-to-date. If you have been hesitant to use social media for your personal life, exploring the opportunities that exist on professional platforms like LinkedIn might be a good place to start.

    Conclusion

    The job search process can feel overwhelming. Remember to start with researching what type of job you are looking for to start your career or move into a different journey. Once you have found some jobs that fit where you are in your career, take a look at the job description and note how your experiences fit what the employer is looking for in their position. You want to make sure your cover/application letter covers those points highlighted in the job description. Your résumé will either be functional or chronological. You will gear your résumé towards the job in which you are applying. You might have multiple versions of your résumé based on the types of jobs you are applying. Be creative and make your résumé and cover letter stand out. Employers have many job applications packages to review, so you want to make sure they look at it and pick you for an interview.

    All links live as of June 2021.

    This work "Job Application Materials" is a derivative of "Job Applications" by Lise-Pauline Barnett, “English 145 Technical & Report Writing” by Amber Kinonen, and "Business Correspondence and Resumes" by David McMurrey, and used under a CC BY license. "Job Application Materials" is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by Heather Katzoff.


    16: Job Application Materials is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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