The Cover Letter

Cover Letters – Why Bother?

• Do it properly or don’t do it at all!

• Let’s us know that you are interested in the job

AND our Company!

• A chance to sell yourself & match job requirements

• An opportunity to show that you have done your

research

• A chance to highlight non academic or work

experience skills

What Are We Looking For?

• Not too short or too long• Evidence that you have researched the role and

the company• Specific areas of interest• Summary of relevant work experience• Personal attributes you can bring to the role• Well formatted & presented• Would you hire you?

Real Life Letters

Dear sir/madam,I wish to apply for The Graduate Trainee Program as advertised in web. I am graduating in July 2007, from the University X with a Master degree in X. Through out my studies I had enhanced my formal education and communication skills by working such jobs as sales assistant and bar tending. I had enclosed my resume to provide you with an over view of my experience and training.I wish to build on my achievements and take on a graduate engineer position in your organization. I would be very pleased to discuss my application further with you at your convenience. Thank you for your time and consideration.Sincerely,

Dear Mr Barnfield,The purpose of this letter is to express my interest in gaining a position in SKM’s

graduate program in 2008. I am a mechanical engineering student in my final year of study at X University. I expect to graduate at the end of 2007 with first class honours, as my current course weighted average is xxxx.

I am interested in employment at SKM due to the wide range of experience that a large consulting firm offers and variation of work available in SKM’s areas such as buildings, industry, water, environment and power. I am attracted to technical expertise that can be gained at SKM with innovative and diverse work involving the latest technology. The graduate program is enticing as it offers experience in a wide range of areas and interaction with people of different experience from different disciplines. A particular area of interest of mine is in noise and vibration. I am keen to extend my technical skill in design projects while gaining hands on experience in large projects.

I am a dedicated and enthusiastic worker, believing that success comes from hard work. I am well suited to SKM’s values as I enjoy working on complex, challenging projects as I have demonstrated in my continued high standards at university, I have excellent interpersonal and team working skills, and I am very professional with my work. I have excelled academically at university, receiving commendation from the examiners board and membership of the Vice Chancellor’s List for being in the top one percent of university students. My innovative and imaginative thinking allows me to apply my knowledge to solve a wide variety if problems.

My excellent interpersonal and communication skills will enable me to excel in a large company such as SKM. I have developed these skills through my studies of Speech and Drama and I have an Associate Diploma in Drama and Performance and teach performance, speech and presentation skills. I have also been able to use these skills to gain employment at X University, teaching five classes of second year students in Machine Dynamics.

I gained experience in consulting engineering through vacation work over the summer of 2006/2007 at xxxxxx where I performed a variety of work and communicated with clients both in person, and via email.

I believe that my enthusiasm, commitment and work ethic combined with my interpersonal and communication skills will make me a valued employee.

Thank you for considering my application and I hope will receive an opportunity to attend an interview to further prove my suitability for your organization. I have attached to this letter a resume and my current academic record.

Sincerely,

The Graduate Resume

Why have a Resume??

Vital unique document about you

Demonstrates your Work History, Academic

Performance and Extra Curricular activities

Personalise your application – tell us something

about you.

Highlight your goals and ambitions, your Objective.

Central point of contact for critical information.

THE RESUME

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

ALL work experience – regardless of relevance.

Provides - “real life experience”

Well formatted – PC skills.

Vacation work

Statement of Intention – Objective & Professional

Interest.

Critical Content – (Contact numbers, email

address)

COMMON QUESTIONS

How long should my Resume be?

What If I don’t have any vacation work or relevant

work experience?

Should my resume be different for every application?

How many of my academic results should I include?

Schooling history??

References

Should it be different for a Vacation application?

REMEMBER

• First Professional CV – not “War and Peace”.

But longer than 1 page.

• Purpose is to contribute to your application.

• Don’t include photographs (unless you are a

graphics student).

• Do have someone proof read it.!!!!!

• Have fun!!! – Its about you

The Application Form

The Application Form

If you’re providing an outstanding cover letter & CV, what’s the point of an application form??

Gathering ‘vital statistics’ for all applicants in a

uniform format

Snapshot review of Graduate Applicants – degree,

discipline, thesis project information

Highlights some of your personal and professional

interests, key strengths and potential weaknesses.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

How you found out about us.

Who you may know already in our business – informal

references can be invaluable!

Your Academic performance to date

What you are most interested in – your favourite subject,

your final year project, your personal interests

How you express yourself – written communication skills.

Insight into your personality, discipline orientation and

potential work preferences

HOW TO MAKE US SIT UP & TAKE NOTICE

Well-worded, concise overviews of the following:

- Synopsis of your final year project / thesis

topic (why you chose the topic, what you hope to

achieve / learn & why, how the project is progressing)

- Your favourite uni subject to date – honesty is

important, but be cautious of too much candour…

- Your extracurricular interests – to give us an

idea of your social obligations, community

involvement, personality profile

WHERE DO I FIND RESOURCES TO HELP?

Don’t re-invent the wheel – seek advice!!

Careers Centre

Online (Seek, MyCareer, CareerOne, Web)

Graduate Societies, Grad Fairs, Vac Work.

Word templates

Employers.

Other Grads

For more info on SKM and our Graduate & Vacation Programs...

• Log on to: http://www.skmconsulting.com/careers/studentInfo.htm

• Or contact our Recruitment Team on 08 9268 4117