1. Cover Letter and Resume Writing
Workshop
MARGARET BELLO-DIGAMON, MEED-ICT
Resource Speaker

2. RATIONALE
 Hiring
qualified people remains the biggest
issue faced by different government and private
industries today.
mismatch – what does this really mean?
The students lack the required competencies
needed for them to get hired.
 Job

3. RECRUITMENT PROCESS

4. Job application


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When you apply for a job, you’ll generally
be asked to send in your CV/résumé,
together with a letter or email of
application.
A CV (short for curriculum vitae) or
résumé is a brief account of your
previous employment, education, and
qualifications.
Employers often receive hundreds of
applications for a job, so it’s very
important to make sure that your
CV/résumé and job application letter
create the right impression and present
your personal information in a focused,

5. How important is an
application?
… employers use application
information to select who will
get an interview.
… do not under estimate the importance of
the application.

6. Where will
your
application end
up?
The NO
file

7. Where will
your
application
end up?
The MAYBE file
The NO
file

8. Where will
your
application
end up?
The YES file
The MAYBE file
The NO
file

9. Remember…
your application is a type
of interview…
… make a good
impression!

10. Effective Applications
Finding out about jobs
 Application Forms
 Cover Letters
 Preparing CVs
 Online Applications
 Useful sources of information


11. Finding out about Jobs
Company
Notice of Vacancy
DOLE: Jobs section
Noticeboards
Jobs/Careers Fair
 Newspapers
and periodicals
 Business reports
 Own contacts

13. Before Applying

Research the Company
◦ Company literature, websites, directories
◦ Analyze job descriptions

Research Yourself
◦ Review experience and career interests
◦ What is relevant to this particular job
◦ What evidence will I provide

Research Careers
◦ Check out similar or related jobs
◦ Prospects Planner/website

14. Employer’s Perspective

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


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Find out about the candidate
What contribution can she make?
Why is she interested in this
job/company?
Does she understand what the job
entails?
Does she have the relevant
qualifications?
Does she have the right mix of skills?
Is it worth my time interviewing her?

15. Questions to ask yourself
What sort of person is the organization
looking for?
 What knowledge, experience, skills
are required to fill this role?
 What past experience do I have that
demonstrate these competencies?
 Provide evidence to match the key
competencies


16. You only get
one chance to
make a first
impression…
Since employers are
looking for the best
person to fill the job…
…always be confident and prepared.
…making a good first impression to potential
employers is essential to securing employment.

17. The Cover Letter

18. Cover Letter
◦ Purpose of Cover Letter
 Augments resume.
 Do not repeat/restate items from
resume.
 Give the big picture, summary of your
talents and skills.
 “If you don’t toot your own horn,
nobody will.”
 Maintain a sense of pride

19. Cover Letter
Vital Ingredients of Cover Letter
• Gratitude for the opportunity.
• A significant accomplishment.
• Your interest in becoming a
part of the organization

20. Cover Letters


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One page - business letter format
Send to a named person
Letter supports CV
Tailor it to company and job
Highlight skills and experience
Structure it well
◦
◦
◦
◦
Introduce yourself, specify vacancy
Why are you interested in the company/job?
Why should they consider you? (relevant skills)
What next? – availability for interview

24. Cover Letter Writing
Activity

25. The Resume/CV

26. The Resume Decision Tree

27. The Resume
 Purpose
of Resume
◦ Your Ambassador to the Professional
World
 Who
◦
◦
◦
◦
Looks at Resumes?
Human Resources
IT Manager
Department Manager
Owner of company

28. The Resume

Resume Basics
◦ Length: Brevity is Key – 1 page
◦ Bulleted lists – no paragraphs
1.Skills
2.Experience
3.Education and Awards

Do not put initials for certifications
after your name.

29. The Resume

Resume Guidelines
◦ No special groups or unrelated
awards
◦ Be honest!
◦ Job Objective (optional)
◦ Neat, looks professional
◦ Error free
◦ Experience – can omit unrelated jobs
◦ See sample resumes on.

31. Tips for preparing CV
Restrict it to 2 pages, no fancy cover
 Customize CV to reflect job requirements
 Start with the most recent/relevant information
 Allocate space in accordance with the importance
of the information
 Emphasize the most relevant details
 Use action words
 Use headings and bullet points
 Highlight skills and responsibilities
 Make it look good – plain font
 Check spelling and grammar
 Send it with a decent cover letter


32. Reasons for Rejection of CV
Too much/too little information
 Irrelevant Information
 Poor presentation
 Spelling mistakes
 Not targeted to position
 No personality or enthusiasm


34. Standard Contents

Personal Details
◦ Name, Address, Tel No, Email address

Education
◦ Start with most recent
◦ Dates, Name of college, Course Title,Thesis title, Core
subjects, results (if impressive)
◦ Provide details of research projects

Work Experience
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Start with most recent or relevant
Separate relevant and other experience
Provide job title and name of organization
Highlight responsibilities and achievements
Include unpaid work

35. Standard CVs (cont)

Competencies
◦ Identify key competencies required for position
◦ Provide relevant evidence from previous experience

Skills Profile
◦ Computing – be specific, name packages
◦ Languages – what level
◦ Driving Licence

Interests
◦ Provide evidence of balanced individual
◦ Focus on achievements

Referees
◦ Normally 2 referees required: one academic, one work
◦ Seek permission in advance and provide information

36. Helpful hints
Use action verbs: achieved, created,
managed, produced, demonstrated,
supervised, trained, investigated, coordinated, monitored, reported, etc
 Adjectives- to describe yourself:
adaptable, analytical, determined,
logical, resourceful, precise,
supportive, etc


37. The Resume Styles
 Chronological – presents information in
chronological (oldest first to most recent) or
reverse chronological order (most recent
listed first and then going backwards in time)
your job-related volunteer and work
experience.
 Functional – groups your skills and
experiences together based on job-related
functional areas regardless of when they
occurred.
 Accomplishment – emphasizes your
accomplishment and what you have done
well that relates to the needs of the employer

40. Accomplishment Style Resume
 When
writing an accomplishment style
resume it is often challenging to figure out
what to write about.
 This exercise will help you identify what you
have done in the past that you may want to
share with employers (while obtaining a
degree or in the period following).
 The key is to identify tangible evidence in
your history that allows you are a qualified,
effective worker who is able to utilize
particular skills to produce results.

41. Accomplishment style (cont.)

Complete as many of the following sentence
fragments as you can. Quantify your
examples using time, percentages, of
increase or decrease, as much as possible.
From these examples you will be able to
create stories to tell employers.

One relevant project I completed while obtaining my
degree was:
One time that I went beyond what was asked of me
was:
One time I solved a problem was when:
One good thing my previous instructor said about me
in performance review was:
One time I received a compliment or award for:
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42. Sentence
Completion Activity

43. Online Applications
◦ Increasingly popular with large
employers
◦ Fast and efficient – scan for key
words
◦ Preselection - can incorporate
aptitude & personality tests
◦ Self-assessment - match to different
jobs

46. Tips for Emailing CVs for Online
Application
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Check with company first in case of viruses
Use common software, Microsoft Word.
To retain format of CV, send as attached file
Also include CV in body of email
If cutting and pasting, check font size
Check impact by sending copy to yourself
To be doubly sure, also forward hard copy

47. Resume Writing
Activity

48. Conclusion
You have opportunities.
 Careers always exist because they are long
term.
 You must understand the role of technology,
understand and speak in business terms, and
provide solutions that are focused on that
understanding.
 “Confidence is terrific, overconfidence is
terrible”.


49. References:
The IT Career Builder’s Toolkit
by Matthew Moran
Five Star Staffing & Accounting
Recruiters