Tailoring Your Resume...Cover Letter...Interview!
Don’t underestimate the importance of demonstrating to an employer how YOU meet their qualifications for a particular job! Employers want to see that you have the ability to communicate what you have to offer to their organization utilizing specific, concrete examples of past and present behavior – in your resume, cover letter, and especially on the interview!
Prove YOU can do the job!
This document is designed to see if YOU have what the organization is looking for in a candidate! This exercise will allow you to focus on how you match the job qualifications being sought by the organization.
COLUMN 1: List the qualifications the organization is seeking in a candidate by reviewing the job advertisement. If you do not have this information, research the job utilizing career information resources on our website (www.selu.edu/career) including SIGI 3, the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), O*Net, and What Can I Do With This Major? – all resources are located under the “Career Exploration & Assessment” link under the “Career Counseling” menu under the “Students & Alumni” section of our homepage.
COLUMN 2: List specific examples from your background showing that you have the qualifications being sought. Examples can be taken from your work experiences, involvement in student organizations, working on team projects in courses, volunteer experiences, etc.
SAMPLE JOB TAILORING EXERCISE
JOB TITLE: MANAGEMENT TRAINEE
| COLUMN 1 QUALIFICATIONS ORGANIZATION IS SEEKING IN JOB CANDIDATE |
COLUMN 2 MY QUALIFICATIONS |
| Bachelor’s degree in Business-related field | Bachelor of Arts, Management Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA Graduation Date: May 2007 GPA: 3.6 |
| Customer service experience | Acquired over five years of customer service experience through various positions including Server, Sales Associate, and Cashier. Received “Customer Service Award” from one employer. |
| Marketing-related experience | Designed several promotional fliers marketing upcoming events for Southeastern’s chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA). Developed a new brochure for AMA to recruit new members. |
| Strong work ethic and highly self-motivated | Worked two jobs simultaneously while also attending college, and have been employed at one job for over four years. |
| Excellent organizational skills and strong ability to meet deadlines | Maintain a day planner – and check frequently during the day – that outlines tasks/activities to complete by certain deadlines. |
| Leadership experience | As Sales Associate, supervised and trained new associates on store operations and customer service. |
| Outstanding communication/interpersonal skills with strong focus on teamwork | All jobs held thus far and educational experience via class group projects have required excellent communication/interpersonal skills. For a class project, worked as a team in completing a management accounting simulation. Class team took a fictitious company and budgeted sales, labor, marketing, and materials for three months. |
WHY I WANT THIS JOB!!!
Write a concise paragraph on WHY you want this job to clarify and organize your thoughts! It’s very important for the employer to hear why you want to work for them – both in written correspondence and on the interview!
SAMPLE PARAGRAPH
In researching XYZ Corporation, I have discovered that you pride yourself on quality, commitment, trust, and respect in both sales and service. Additionally, I am impressed with your strong commitment and dedication to quality customer service and ensuring the return visit of each customer. The annual report illustrates that the growth of your company will increase by 35% over the next three years – I want to be a positive part of that growth by applying my education, experience, and enthusiasm.
Click here for a printable, blank version of this exercise to try it for yourself!