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COMM 202 T31 & T32Resumes & Cover Letters & Branding

Sarah Brennan

Agenda 1. Personal Branding

2. Resume Magic

3. Cover Letter Hook

4. Next Week

Course Outline

1Personal Branding

What is your brand?

What is your brand?

What is your brand?

If you had 30 seconds to describe yourself - personality, interests, skills - what would you say?

Write down 4-5 words that describe yourself best.

Permeate your brand throughout all your documents.

Your personal brand can change!

2Resume & Cover Letter

The Application

Process COVER EMAILIntroduce yourself

OR Follow Up

RESUME & COVER LETTERApplying

INTERVIEWGetting

FaceTime

MAKE IT RAIN

Secure the job

CANWANT

FIT

The Difference

Resumes

YOUCover Letter

EMPLOYER

Do you want the job? Are you passionate about this job, the company, the industry?

Would you get along with the people at this company? Does their culture align with your values and personality?

Can you do the job? Do you have the relevant skills and experience they're looking for?

CAN

WANT

FIT

First up… Resumes

Profile / Key Competencies

Education

Work / Volunteer Experience

PersonalForm

atting

Branding

Formatting

First Impression

Pick a colour scheme (if you don’t want black-and-white, which is also fine) and use white space wisely. Be concise with your resume page count.

Third Person

Always speak in third person and maintain a professional tone. No slang or personal pronouns (he/she, we/I).

Proofread

No grammar mistakes, typos, spelling errors - proofread then proofread again.

Be Consistent

Font size, font style, spacing, bullet points, alignment, punctuation, date & abbreviation format, hyphens vs dashes.

Header• Name (preferred name with

given name in brackets)

• Email

• Phone

• Address

• LinkedIn URL

• Social media handles(optional)

What You’ll Need in Your Header

ProfileWhat to Include• Your strengths

• Past experiences

• Interests

• Languages

• Technical skills

• * Required for the course but not all industries need a profile.

Key Questions• Does it match the job posting

(multiple references)?

• Does it provide a clear, convincing link to the rest of the resume aka is there proof?

What It Is• Summary of what to expect

in your resume in max 4 lines

Profile

EducationWhat It Is

• Summary of your schooling journey

What to Include• Degree (write it out fully) and

specialization

• GPA if necessary, indicate school scale

• Relevant courses (not a laundry list)

• Awards, scholarships (eg. Honour Roll)

• Exchange semester

• Expected date of completion

• Don’t include high school stuff unless you’re still in first year!

Key Questions• Does it match the

job description?

• Is there any ambiguity with the info provided?

Education

Work & Volunteer

Experience

What to Include• Accomplishment

statements as bullet points

• Brief descriptions of organization if necessary

• Reverse chronological order by end date

• Limit to one sentence (ideal length: two lines) and get rid of filler words

Key Questions• Are they achievement based?

• Do numbers quantify achievements when appropriate?

• Does language indicate familiarity with industry or company? Does it match the job description?

What It Is

• Collection of relevant experiences - the real meat

Accomplish (ment)

statements

SITUATION

TASK

ACTION

RESULT

LINK

Accomplish (ment)

statements

Flip the STARL stories for the RATS statement!

SITUATION

TASK

ACTION

RESULT

LINKSITUATION

TASK

ACTION

RESULT

Accomplish (ment)

statements

Decreased SavedMinimizedReduced

GeneratedEnhancedOptimizedEstablished

Words are powerful - choose wisely!

Quantitative vs qualitative resultsQUANT: How much? How many? Numbers and percentages

QUAL: Be descriptive - positive feedback, recognition, awards, promotion

Increased Attained Exceeded Surpassed

RESULT

Accomplish (ment)

Statements

RESULT

Are you using relevant skills?

Do your actions clearly demonstrate those relevant skills?

Do your results match up with your actions?

ACTION

Accomplish (ment)

Statements

RESULTACTION

Paint the context (who, where, how long).

Describe the challenge.

Be clear and concise with the level of detail.

TASK

Accomplish (ment)

StatementsResponsible for contacting corporate clients and organizing a tournament.

Duty-Based Statement Accomplishment StatementvsAchieved 85% client retention rate by establishing relationships with key corporate clients and providing a well organized, personally tailored tournament experience

Accomplish (ment)

Statements Achieved 85% client retention rate by establishing relationships with key corporate clients and providing a well organized, personally tailored tournament experience.

SITUATION

TASK

ACTION

RESULT

Accomplish (ment)

Statements Achieved 85% client retention rate by establishing relationships with key corporate clients and providing a well organized, personally tailored tournament experience.

SITUATION

TASK

ACTION

RESULT

Accomplish (ment)

Statements Achieved 85% client retention rate by establishing relationships with key corporate clients and providing a well organized, personally tailored tournament experience.

SITUATION

TASK

ACTION

RESULT

InterestsWhat It Is• A chance to showcase your

personality & stand out

What to Include• Side interests & hobbies

• Cool personal experiences

• Be fun, specific and stay appropriate

Key Questions• How do you want to be

remembered?

• Are you catering to your audience?

• Can you talk about each interest at length?

Interests

Branding Does this reflect your personal brand?

If the employer were to describe you based on your resume or cover letter, would they perceive you the way you want to be perceived?

Does this align with your employer’s brand?

Investment banks will look for different personal brands from advertising agencies. Are you tailoring the best and most applicable parts of yourself to the company?

3Cover Letter Hook

Opening

Skill Matrix

Closing

Formatting

Branding

Integration

The HookA Killer Opening• Includes a “hook”

• Genuine, personal, memorable

• Tailored to the employer

• Name drop where applicable

• Clear expression of the relevant skills/experiences

This is where you get to demonstrate WANT & FIT!

A Bad Opening• Can be applied to any

job, company or industry

• “Dear ____, I am applyingfor ____.”

The Hook

Action Items1. Bring 2 copies of Resume & Cover Letter Next Tutorial 2. Next Week Tutorial Location T31 — HA 334 T32 — HA 350 3. Register for TurnItIn T31 — 14613237 T32 — 14613315 Password: comm202crew

Action Items1. Bring 2 copies of Resume & Cover Letter Next Tutorial 2. Next Week Tutorial Location T31 — HA 334 T32 — HA 350 3. Register for TurnItIn T31 — 14613237 T32 — 14613315 Password: comm202crew

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