Welcome to Alamo In Session with
Northwest Vista College
I'm professor Bravo and I teach english
today we're going to discuss
writing for your career and ways to
elevate your resume
and cover letter to the next level. So
many of my students
actually tell me that they're not
worried about drafting their resumes and
cover letters because these days there are so many
free samples and online templates available.
And while it is true that there are a variety of
online resources that will show you step by step
how to draft a resume and cover letter
in my opinion the most important work
happens before you draft a single line.
this video is going to examine that critical
pre-writing stage
and the initial work that must be done
to draft a resume and cover letter that
will stand out among the other applicants.
The key is customization.
Take a look at my coat for instance.
If I were heading to a job interview I
certainly would want to look
professional and i would dress to impress
but for this ensemble to work it has to fit
and this is the same concept that we
should apply to our resumes
and cover letters. We should not take a
one-size-fits-all approach
and draft general documents that we mass
produce and send to a variety of employers.
Rather, we want to tailor our technical
documents to fit that specific audience
just as we would want to tailor this
oversized coat. Let's ditch the one-size-fits-all
approach and let's tackle some quick tips for customization
The first step is to research your
prospective employer.
You need to take some time to organize your ideas
and to research the organization or
company to which you are applying.
Go to their website and click on the about us site
review the history of this company,
"when and why were they established?"
Review their mission statement.
You want to know what this organization
is about and see if your values align with theirs.
Most importantly you want to ensure that
this is a workplace
you actually want to join. Do you see
yourself fitting in with that
environment and making a contribution?
During this background check
we're going to move on to step two which
is to write down
strong keywords that you plan to use in
your own resume
and cover letter.
As you were researching that company
think about the keywords or values that
are emphasized. For instance if I were an applicant
interested in a position
at Northwest Vista College I would
review the college's
values and touchstones as I'm scrolling
through those pages I notice that the terms creativity and
collaboration surface several times so I will be sure
to use those keywords when I describe my own
skills within my resume and cover letter.
This type of customization will make my document
stand out because I am not just applying
a general list of skills rather
I am now speaking the language of my
prospective employer.
The third step is to review the job
announcement carefully
and to make a list of how you meet
each criteria a job announcement will
describe the position in detail
and the necessary qualifications. Here is
an example of a job announcement for a
registered nurse. Notice how the top lists all of the
duties you are expected to perform
and the bottom describes the necessary
qualifications including education licenses and
previous work experience. Next to each bulletin point i'm going to
type quick notes that
illustrate how my previous education and
or work experience
has provided me with the skills to
complete that responsibility. So for this first bulleted point that
reads perform health assessments
I'm going to make a note for myself to
discuss the related coursework I completed
and the role-playing activity I did in that class
that showed me how to interact
professionally with patients
while maintaining empathy. I also want to
discuss
my own experience with actual patients
to show that I'm familiar with the
process and with the medical equipment used
during those assessments. And i'm going
to continue this same process
for the remaining bulleted points.
The final step is to take those detailed notes and
use them to draft your resume and cover letter.
And yes at this point you can use
a sample or online template to help you
organize your points
but now our ideas will be tailored
specifically to that job announcement
and this is where we get to what i call
the show and tell aspect
the resume does the telling it simply
tells your readers that you're qualified
by providing quick bulleted points
the cover letter however is the show
this is where you expand upon those points
and provide concrete examples and
anecdotal evidence
for instance if I provided a quick
bulleted point in my resume
that states how I managed clients and
conducted home visits
then in my cover letter I have a chance
to expand on that point so in the cover
letter I can provide specifics such as the
number of clients I manage
what we accomplished during those visits
and what type of assessments I completed it's one thing to tell your readers that
you are qualified and that you have worked with clients or
patients but it is quite another
to show them that you are truly
the show is what makes your cover letter unique
it is also what makes this document
believable and compelling. I realize that this seems
like a lot of extra work to complete before
we even start drafting and that many of us were just
trying to crank out a quick resume to meet
important deadlines however it is
imperative that we do not
skip that critical pre-writing stage
because it will only make drafting so
much easier and productive. Now if you are interested
in learning more about the drafting stage
and about the logistics of a resume or cover letter
please visit alamo.edu and look into our
technical writing course.
That course offers detailed instruction
on writing for your career
and will show you that writing those
types of technical documents
like resumes and cover letters does not
have to be so tedious
rather you can save all of that hard work
for the new position that you hopefully
will acquire
thank you for watching Alamo In Session
with Northwest Vista College
I hope you enjoyed this segment and I
hope you will join us for future classes.
