You might think that if you have a good resume, you don't need a cover letter. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your cover letter supplements your resume. It focuses attention on your achievements and gets a prospective employer interested in you. Cover letters are especially important to new graduates. Through the cover letter, you can persuade an employer ...

A good resume is vital. It's your calling card to a prospective employer - one that lays out your qualifications and hopefully gets you a job interview. Remember, most employers will spend less than five minutes reviewing your resume. Follow these guidelines to make sure your resume gets you noticed. Be sure to include these basics: Contact information: Full name, phone ...

Your cover letter is the first thing employers see when they open your materials. Avoid these 10 mistakes, and make your first impression a good and lasting one. Mistake #1: Don't Overuse "I" Your cover letter is not your autobiography. The focus should be on how you meet an employer's needs, not on your life story. Avoid the perception of being ...

I review a lot of resumes, and they often land in my mailbox with the exact same titles: resume.doc or resume.pdf. Can you say boring? Try these alternatives to stand out as an interesting candidate: 1. Your Name Resume.doc — This minimum level of personalization ensures your resume will remain attached to your application. 2. Your Name Resume December 2010.doc — ...

When you're in college, creating a resume may not seem like a top priority. Indeed, this task doesn't appear on many students’ radar screens until their final semester. How important is it for college students to have a resume? "Vital!" says Lorie Lebert, CEO of career management firm Resumes for Results and contributor to numerous resume books, including Best Resumes for ...

Question: How can I make my academic and extracurricular responsibilities look more professional? Answer: Be specific in your accomplishments. Use numbers whenever possible. If you were an employer looking at a college student's resume, which of the following entries would impress you more? "Wrote news releases" "Wrote 25 news releases in a three-week period under daily deadlines" Clearly the second statement ...

Healthcare has undergone significant changes in the past 20 years, and healthcare organizations are increasingly sensitive to cost control and productivity. Funding sources for both public and private healthcare orgzanizations have cut back reimbursement and allowable expenses. Your resume must reflect an understanding of these changes. It must show evidence of skills, experience, a commitment to quality, and an ability to ...

When you're a college student or recent grad and trying to write a resume, especially your first one, you'll face questions you typically won't find addressed in the current blizzard of resume books. That doesn't mean your questions aren't valid; it simply means the resume experts often overlook them, because they generally target mid-career audiences. Over the last five years as ...

There is no right way to organize your resume. Different formats create different effects - and a different picture of you! Determine which format (Chronological, Functional or Combination) will put you in the best light. Chronological Resume In the chronological resume, job history is organized sequentially, with the most recent job listed first. Job titles and employers are emphasized and duties ...

If you were an employer looking at a resume, which of the following entries would impress you more? Wrote news releases. Wrote 25 news releases in a three-week period under daily deadlines. Clearly the second statement carries more weight. Why? Because it uses numbers to quantify the writer's accomplishment, giving it a context that helps the interviewer understand the degree of ...

Before you mail, fax or e-mail your resume and cover letter, make sure your materials have that professional polish. Easy Errors DON'T forget to include your contact information: Name, e-mail, address and phone number. DON'T include your interests on your resume, unless they're relevant to the job you're seeking. Also, personal information, such as date of birth, height and weight, ...

Whether it be your leadership skills, your ability to work with people or your creative talents, you need to use the right language to convey your credentials. Use active words like these to give your resume a powerful punch: Accelerated Accomplished Achieved Adapted Advised Administered Analyzed Approved Arranged Assembled Budgeted Built Calculated Completed Conceived Conducted Coordinated Created Delegated Delivered Demonstrated ...

Your cover letter is the first thing employers see when they open your materials. Avoid these 10 mistakes, and make your first impression a good and lasting one. Mistake #1: Don't Overuse "I" Your cover letter is not your autobiography. The focus should be on how you meet an employer's needs, not on your life story. Avoid the perception of being ...

Make sure your resume is top-notch by avoiding the top 10 resume blunders: 1. Too Focused on Job Duties Your resume should not be a boring listing of job duties and responsibilities. Go beyond showing what was required and demonstrate how you made a difference at each company, providing specific examples. When developing your achievements, ask yourself: * How did you ...

Imagine you're an employer and you have two resumes in front of you. One is filled wall-to-wall with text and uses four different fonts. It's also peppered with dozens of bolded, italicized and underlined words and phrases. The second resume is much more visually pleasing. It, too, offers a lot of information, but you can quickly scan the document because it ...

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to find a sample resume that matches your background, copy it to your word-processing program, make minor changes and be done with the arduous task of creating a dazzling resume? While that would be ideal, you can shortchange yourself and sabotage your job search if you base your resume on a sample document. The ...

With increasing numbers of job seekers competing for the most desirable technical jobs, your resume needs to be better than the rest to get noticed. Technical Summary Effective technical resumes clearly show the candidate's technical skills -- a hiring manager shouldn't have to go fishing for this information. An excellent way to include technical knowledge is to add a Technical Summary ...

Q: I want to apply for a job online, should I send my resume in an attachment? I want to show off the bold fonts and bullets. What do you think? A: You are right and wrong at the same time. Resumes DO look better when they get sent as attachments, but increasingly employers are asking applicants not to send their ...

When I am responding to a job posting and a contact name is not given, is it OK to address the letter "To Whom It May Concern"? Or is there a better way to handle this? Answer: "To Whom it May Concern" is a bit outdated, as is "Dear Sir/Madam." You might want to go with "Dear Hiring Manager" when you ...

Before you apply for your dream job, check out these tips that will make your cover letter stand out. Tip #1: Keep it brief. Your letter should not go over one page. Use short paragraphs and bullet points whenever possible. Avoid flowery or excessive words when fewer words will get your point across equally well. Tip #2: Be assertive and proactive. ...