Resume and Cover Letter Tips

Welcome To the World of Personal Income! It’s a beautiful place where you no longer have to ask your parents for an allowance. How do you get there exactly? You need a job, and not just any job. You need a job or an internship that gets you excited and gives you the experience and challenges you to move forward. A lot goes into landing that job, most importantly making a strong impression with your resume and cover letter. Great ones really just bring it back to the basics. Below you’ll find McDonald’s straight forward tips to leaving an unparalleled impression. Breaking Down Your Resume

Contact Info: All you need is your name, address, home and cell phone numbers with area codes, and an appropriate email address.

o Sometimes it’s smart to create a clean professional e-mail address, such as firstname.lastname on one of the many free e-mail sites

o Also, consider including Facebook and Twitter handles and blog URLs – only if they’re professional. 

Objective Statement: If you didn’t include or clearly articulate your objective in a cover letter, consider having a short one to two sentence objective statement. Keep it brief and relevant.

Experience: This is the most important part. Give a brief but detailed work history, descending from the most recent. Relevance is key here – use your bullets to simply detail your efforts and how they made a difference on the job.

o If you haven’t ever held a job, highlight relevant volunteer experiences and school leadership responsibilities.

o Show you understand business. Tie your actions to improved business operations or results.

o Tell the story. Don’t list a job description – tell us what you did and how your unique efforts brought value to your employer.

Education: List all basic information about your education including: institution name and location, date (or the expected date) of graduation, course of study and GPA. Only go as far back as high school.

Activities/Honors/Special Skills: Don’t be shy here – but be relevant. List activities, awards and skills that easily reflect relevant job skills or qualities such as leadership, organization, teamwork and commitment.

Computer Skills: It’s 2010. Most everyone is somewhat proficient in computers, Microsoft Office and the Internet. List computer skills that set you apart, such as design programs or software development.

References: On a separate page, compile a list of the three to four people who you know think the world of you and can speak to your work experience. State that their information will be provided upon request. Be sure to contact each reference for permission and send each a copy of your resume so they’re up to date on your achievements.

© 2010 McDonald’s 

Paper Presentation Several times students ask about the length and look of resumes. While there’s no hard and fast rule, most students should keep resumes to a single page. As for creativity, lots of color usage – or imagery – is not really necessary. Use underline, bolding, bullets and italics to differentiate content. And keep typefaces at a legible level in standard typefaces. Resume: Check. So what's next? Now, you need to write a cover letter to supplement your resume.  It’s time for you to introduce yourself and show your personality! Choose your words carefully and be sure to customize each cover letter you write for each job opportunity. Make them say, “Wow!” not, “Whoa…” Your cover letter should leave your potential employer excited to meet you. You want to catch their eye without being too over the top. Here’s how to separate yourself from the pack as the best candidate for the job.

Make It Easy To Read. Keep the format simple and clean. Keep your fonts basic and the standard 12 pt. Most of all, keep it short and to the point – about three paragraphs at the most.

“Elevate” Your Chances. You’ve heard of an elevator speech right? The short, concise sell you could make about yourself to a friend or boss riding up the elevator. That essentially should be the bulk of your cover letter – a concise statement of why you’re most qualified and interested in the job.

Get Personal. Unless you're told otherwise, always send a hardcopy of your cover letter and resume in the mail. Use the company’s website to find out who will be receiving your information and address it to them. Most companies, however, allow you to submit materials electronically. E-mail them as PDF files or Word documents and confirm their receipt.

A Picture's Worth… Nothing as far as your cover letter is concerned. Even if it's just your school photo, it has no place in with your cover letter or resume.

Ready to Hit Send? You’ve written both elements and you’re ready to get them out the door. Don’t press send or drop them in the mailbox yet! Resumes and cover letters need more than your set of eyes. Have at least three other people (preferably more) read over your resume and cover letter. Sadly, a typo could be the deciding factor between two candidates of equal qualification. And let’s face it. You don’t want to miss out on that dream job because you meant “their” instead of “there,” right? For more information, check out www.aboutmcdonalds.com/students.