Be Assertive & Quantitative

jrdavies's picture
Submitted by jrdavies on Mon, 02/02/2009 - 11:52
One of the main reasons for why I took this course was for the section on resume building. With graduation around the corner, I figured that it was time to get serious with my application materials, and these readings have really taught me a lot. One of my most common mistakes, according to “Skeptical Resume Reader Tells How He Really Thinks,” is the use of weak verbs. Up until now, my resumes have always included phrases like “participated in” or “assisted with,” and apparently this strategy does not appeal to employers. In my next resume, I plan to use stronger words to convey what I’ve actually done in my past job experiences. Some of my ideas include words like “coordinated,” “implemented,” and “analyzed.”

Another way to improve a resume is to quantify achievements, rather than use vague claims like “increased sales.” Since most of us have only worked as interns, I suppose that it’s safe to assume that many of us do not have astounding achievements yet, so it might take some effort to recall those small accomplishments from our job history. I’m really hoping for more opportunities during this work session, and we’re actually working on a warranty reduction project at Bosch that may save the company up to $10,000 every month. If it becomes successful, I will definitely be including it in my resume.

I was actually surprised by “A Glimpse and a Hook” because the author basically tells us to skip the professional objective and the cover letter. Nobody is going to read them anyway. I know that we still have to include them in this project, but I will be putting far more time and effort into highlighting my sections on education and work experience.

Finally, the “Resume and Cover Letter Guide: Drafting Descriptions” emphasizes the importance of being selective. Personally, I’ve been involved in several extracurricular activities throughout high school and college, probably enough to fill an entire page. However, while drafting my resume I’ll have to decide which ones will appeal to the employer and which ones should be left out. From what I’ve read, it sounds like each job, skill, award, activity, or experience should somehow be linked to the required qualifications of the potential job.

Quantifying intern experience

jtirrell's picture
Submitted by jtirrell on Tue, 02/03/2009 - 18:24.

You state:

I’m really hoping for more opportunities during this work session, and we’re actually working on a warranty reduction project at Bosch that may save the company up to $10,000 every month. If it becomes successful, I will definitely be including it in my resume.

Boom. You may not be able to quantify your own particular experience as an intern, such as "I saved the company $40,000 per annum by transferring our document flow from paper to digital," but you can mention that you were part of a team that did great things. I think I remember you mentioning something about working with a braking system on a contract that had been awarded to your company for the first time ever. That's something you can say.

Regarding the cover letter, Rands is a little harsh, but it's true that despite its name the cover letter usually isn't read until after the first cut, which is based on the resume. The cover letter is really too long to waste time on if the resume is in shoddy shape. As such, a good resume is usually what gets your cover letter read, and in your cover letter you can provide hooks that don't really fit into a resume. The cover letter's real job is then to get you an interview, and it's in the interview that you do the most work getting the actual job. (Not all of it, though, because usually other groups will have to see and approve the resume.)