If you’re in your last years of college or a new graduate, first up on your priority list will be getting a full time job. There are many tactics to use for marketing your employment skills but sending out cover letters and resumes are the most basic of them. And it has proven that it still works.
A cover letter is the letter that accompanies your resume. The objective of a cover letter is to market you to your potential employer and convince them that your skills, experience, and attitude is right for the job. The cover letter is not about you, but about how you can meet the needs of the company you are applying to.
For a recent graduate, cover letter sample is available on many sites on the internet. However, a new graduate must understand the reality of the application process. Companies receive dozens and dozens of resumes from interested applicants. It is highly probable that they do not pay as much attention to the cover letter. The resume is the most important document and if employers are impressed with your credentials, they will go back to the cover letter to learn about how you present and communicate yourself.
Because the Internet also provides an efficient and effective way of applying for a job, other applicants also apply through email. In this case, your email to your potential employer is your cover letter. The same principles as the printed cover letter apply. Show the company that you did your homework and that you know about them.
If you are a person who is searching a job online, then how long is it that you have been doing this? If you are in to it, are you receiving any replies at all? Are these replies you are receiving helping you? These are a few questions arising in each and everyone’s minds at some point of time in their lives. Now when you are not receiving proper replies you wonder why it is so. In such a case, it would be very much essential to know where we are making a mistake.
How the resume affects:
In most of the cases, when you do not get replies from the companies that you are applying for, it is the resume that has to be blamed in most of the cases.
It is important to make a resume that can powerfully show the companies that you are capable of doing the job. The words in the resume must be out in a powerful way such that they depict you perfectly. It should be highly targeted on what you have done and what you are capable of doing.
There are a number of benefits of doing this, which include:
- Easy entry in to the interviews, which means the process, becomes less complicated.
- You will keep receiving interview calls very often than the rest.
- Career highlights or your achievements must be well highlighted, so that the interviewer becomes interested in them.
How You, As A Fresh Graduate, Can Make A Good Resume
If you’re a fresh graduate, resume writing may be a new voyage for you. Just like any other activity after college, everything will be new to you. Well, we know how you feel. Instead of you spacing out at the sight of a blank document in your computer or laptop screen, here are some resume writing tips for you to employ.
Bear this in mind: resumes are your weapon to win the battle against unemployment. It’s as good as your weapon during a duel. You have to make sure that it’s strengthened or else, you’ll be faced with the ultimate consequence/rejection.
However, many newbie applicants forget that in creating a resume, they need not spend too much time filling it with content. Employers know that fresh graduates don’t have that much experience, in the sense that they cannot create a chronological record of their achievements not many can. So, if you’re finding it hard to make your curriculum vitae, then here are some helpful tips that can help you produce your document:
Tip # 1: Employers Want To Know…
What can I write on my resume? This is a question asked most of the time by applicants. There’s always a misconception that they need to fill as much content as possible to resume when they’re looking for a job.
As mentioned before, employers know that fresh graduates don’t have that much experience. They won’t measure you through your achievements. They don’t want to hear what you’ve done in college (unless you’ve really participated in a seminar or activity that’s related to the job description) but they want to see what you can do for them. So, if you’re going to start writing your CV, enummerate your skills and abilities.
Tip # 2: Don’t Overdo It
Although you have tons of skills and talents, you should still filter the content. As said before, there’s this stereotype with resumes that states that the more you put, the better. Well, this is definitely not the case. You should stick to the job description and get ready to edit your personal document depending on the work you’re applying for.
For example, when you’re applying for a HR training job, you shouldn’t place skills such as ‘has skills in marketing in sales’. That doesn’t really connect, does it?
Tip # 3: Skills that Matter
Although there are certain requirements for a certain job, there are certain abilities that are universal. Some employers like to see if you’re literate in Microsoft Office or programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Flash Player, then that’s a great plus for you right there. These are considered universal because they can be used in any job.
Tip # 4: Grammar, Vocabulary and all those Format Stuff
Watch out for these. Although you’re a beginner, some employers find typos or grammar lapses unacceptable. At the same time, be careful with your picture and your email address. Make sure it’s professional looking or else the company you’re aiming for may not take you seriously. So, be extra careful!
No Experience Resume & First Job Resume Tips for Young Job-Seekers
Lack of Experience Is Not Unsurpassable for Writing Your First C.V
Despite the fact that many employers prefer to hire workers with experience and demonstrated ability in jobs related to those they have available, young people who present themselves effectively can be considered over those candidates with better credentials.
If you are a young person looking for the first job, you need to know that the competition for jobs is fierce right now, so your no experience C.V has to have enough punch to beat the competition and get you interviewed.
Don’t be intimidated by phrases like “3-6 years experience required” in want ads, and express a willingness to accept difficult or less desirable conditions as one way to break into a field and gain experience.
You need to present your youth as an advantage rather that a disadvantage. For example, statements like “willing to work weekends and evenings” or “able to travel or relocate” might appeal to an employer and may open up some possibilities over more experienced workers.
Writing Your No Experience Resume
When writing a no experience C.V and cover letter, put yourself in the mind-set of the employer. Ask not what the employer can do for you but what you can do for the employer.
There’s a temptation when writing the first job C.V, especially among university students, to tell employers what they are looking for in a job (the resume objective).
Employers want to know what you can do for them, how you will benefit their companies, how you will impact their bottom lines. While they’re not totally senseless to your career hopes and dreams, your Young people, including students and recent graduates, often believe they will have difficulty in getting the jobs they want since employers will often hire someone with more experience. This can happen even for entry level jobs.
Although it is partially true, it is also true that when you are in this stage, you are selling yourself on promising rather than past events. Nobody will expect to find in an entry level C.V years of job-relevant experience, and unless such claims are supported by convincing evidence, you run the risk of employers dismissing you as a liar.
Then, a good entry level resume should focus more than others on C.V layout, grammar, attention to detail, highlight the young state of mind and those useful skills that a young people can be gained by getting involved in other activities different to a proper professional work experience.
Aspirations are not their primary concerns.
Finding All Your Skills for Your First Job Resumes
When writing your student/ first job resume,take as much time as you need to make a detailed and thorough account of all your professional activities to date, even those you may consider unimportant. These activities may include:
- part-time jobs while you were studying,
- events from your college years,
- such as short-term projects,
- periods of in-service training,
- research projects in which you have participated,
- term papers or documents you have prepared,
- presentations made at seminars, workshops, or other meetings.
You should identify skills you acquired by your participation in these experiences and label those skills according to the skills headings used in want ads and job descriptions; in other words, you have to translate your duties into the headings of the corresponding jargon on your student C.V.
Using the Right No Experience Resume Wording
Translate those duties into skill headings
Skill Headings are words used in want ads and job descriptions to define specific abilities or talents that employers look for. It is vital that you use the employers own ingo” if you want your C.V to be immediately noticed.
Entry Level Resume Writing Tips
Entry level job seekers should also consider expressing a willingness to accept difficult or less desirable conditions as one way to break into a field and gain experience. For example, “willing to work weekends and evenings” or “able to travel or relocate” may open up some possibilities that might appeal to an employer.
Besides, the reader of your entry-level C.V must quickly know through your resume profile, that you are young, well-qualified, full of enthusiasm, and capable of easily integrating with a team. Use phrases like:
- “hardworking”
- “extremely reliable, considerate, and organized”,
- ”learn new things quickly”
- “well developed skills in…,”
- “skilled at evaluating options and generating solutions”,
- “comfortable working with all personality types”.
Good job Rhona Arinaitwe, this is very essential post to help writing a
cv and I think every body will get help from this. We want more.thanks a lot