How to write your resume and cover letter

Bring extra copies of your application materials to give to those interviewing you. For all your materials, make sure to start with a fresh document instead of a template because templates can be challenging to edit once more content is added. Use standard, professional fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri. Make sure the font theme matches across all your documents.

Before submitting your materials, save each as a PDF with your full name and the material type in the title of the PDF so employers can more easily track them (e.g., Resume_Last Name, First Name). Converting your files to a PDF will ensure that your formatting stays the way you intended it. Ask someone to proofread your materials before you submit them.

A resume is a brief summary of your education, skills, and experiences that employers will read to understand how you may be able to fulfill job responsibilities. It should include:

• Contact information: Provide employers with your primary phone number, professional email, and LinkedIn profile if you have one.  
• Education: Include your degree type and major, your school and its location, your anticipated graduation month and year, your degree concentration and minor (if applicable), and your GPA (optional). You can leave off your high school information now that you’re in college.  
• Experience: Highlight any work experiences you have, including employment, volunteer work, and internships. Organize them from most to least recent. Include the title of your role, the company or organization you worked for, the time frame that you worked, and two to five specific action statements per experience. These action statements should communicate what you did, who you did it for, how you did it, and why it was important. Put experiences that have ended in past tense and those still happening in present tense. If an experience hasn’t ended, list “Present” in place of the end month and year.

In addition to these mandatory sections, you may elect to include these optional sections:

• Skills: Highlight any technical, language, or professional skills you have.  
• Trainings and certifications: Only include this section if you have completed trainings or earned certifications or licenses related to the role. 
• Organizations and involvement: Highlight involvement not included in your experience section that showcases skills and interests related to the job. You may include student, community, or professional organizations in this section, as well as volunteer groups and honor societies.  
• Honors and awards: If including honors and awards, note who presented the award and when.  

Tailor your resume to exemplify which duties, responsibilities, and qualifications you have related to the ones listed in the job description. Keep the resume itself to one or two pages long.

The Office of Student Employment offers resume reviews to undergraduate students seeking part-time employment. The career services office in your school can help if you're applying for full-time jobs or internships.

A cover letter describes your particular interest and qualifications for a job. It's a way to introduce yourself to a potential employer and showcase your communication skills. Before beginning your cover letter, research the company or office to understand their goals and structure. Review the job description to identify job duties that align with your previous experiences. Consider your own values, interests, and skills and how they influence your interest in the position. 

Your cover letter should include a heading with your name and contact information, the date you’re submitting the letter, and the address of the employer. You can find the address by searching the internet or viewing the employer’s profile in Handshake. After the heading, include a greeting to the employer or search committee. 

Your introduction paragraph should explain concisely why you’re writing, to what position you’re applying, and why you’re interested in the organization or role. Include information on how you learned about the position. 

Your body paragraphs should showcase your particular skills and fit for the position. Talk about what you’ve done that would help you succeed in the desired role, including relevant courses you've taken and specific experiences that link to skills required in the position.

Wrap up your letter with a short closing. Be sure to restate your interest and thank the employer for spending time looking at your materials.

Here are other tips for your cover letter: 

• Keep your letter to one page in length, using no smaller than one-half inch margins. Do so by keeping paragraphs between three and five sentences long. 
• Use either 11- or 12-point font sizes throughout. 
• Create an outline before writing your letter. This will help you organize your thoughts and create a clear and concise cover letter. 
• Work to highlight specific experiences and skills you have rather than just restating your resume. Never feel the need to apologize for skills you have not gained yet. 
• Include specific words and phrases from the job description. 
• Ask someone to proofread your cover letter. 

The career services office in your school can review your cover letter and give you advice on how best to tailor it for a job posting.