Employers scan resumes and cover letters very briefly, said Joyce Keller, Career Counseling and Internships associate director. To catch an employer’s attention, these documents need to be well-organized and customized to the employer’s specific job opening needs.

Purpose of a Resume and Cover letter:

From the applicant’s perspective, the purpose of the resume is to provide a summary of all the qualifications a person has for a particular job opening, said Assistant Management Professor Mahesh Subramony. However, from the employer’s perspective, the resume is a tool used to “weed out” applicants for a job interview.

“Candidates should be aware that resumes and cover letters are not intended to generate job offers,” Keller said. “The goal of these job search documents is to generate interview requests from employers. The goal of the interview process is to obtain a job offer.”

Tailoring a resume to the specific hiring needs of the employer avoids the problem of the “common resume” and increases the odds of landing an interview, Subramony said.

By reading the job description very carefully, students can create resumes and cover letters that stand out, Keller said.

“If students can research the employer and the employer’s needs and use this information to tailor their cover letters for each organization, it will help set their letters apart from those of other candidates,” Keller said.

Key information to include:

Keller said it is important to include specific “quantifiable” data about accomplishments in both resumes and cover letters. Employers expect current students or recent graduates to list their college degrees near the tops of their resumes, Keller said. Degree information should include the name of the university, where it is located, the year the degree was (or will be) received, the type of degree, and the major and any minors. If students are applying to job or internship ads online, an “objective” portion to the resume can be helpful to employers, who use automated systems to scan resumes and search for keywords that match the positions they are trying to fill, Keller said.

In some cases, the objective portion can be omitted, but then it is important to have a “fantastic” cover letter, Subramony said.

What not to include:

Not all information is relevant to include in the resume, Keller said.

“We typically recommend that graduating seniors omit information about high school activities and accomplishments from their job search documents,” Keller said.

However, students who are halfway through college and are applying for internships can include information from their high school experiences, if it is relevant to the internship or job, Keller said.

As far as work experience, it is important to avoid showing gaps in jobs because an employer might interpret those gaps negatively, Bishop said.

Students should not include “references available upon request” in their resume or cover letter because employers assume that job applicant have these references readily available, Keller said.

Length and Editing:

Typically, one-page resumes and cover letters are recommended for entry-level candidates without extensive professional experience, Keller said.

If entry-level candidates submit resumes or cover letters over one page, this can convey the applicant may have an “ego” or is exaggerating who they are. This can “turn-off” the potential employer, Bishop said.

Resumes and cover letters riddled with errors communicates to an employer that the applicant is not detail-oriented, Bishop said.

“We get so invested in our work that we overlook our mistakes,” Bishop said. “The worst thing in the world is to be put in the discard pile for the wrong reasons.”

Keller said it is essential for cover letters and resumes to be carefully edited and proofread because these documents demonstrate writing skills and attention to detail.

Follow-up:

Unless the application instructions prohibit follow-up phone calls or emails, it is recommended that applicants follow up with employers, Keller said. However, always be polite and respectful of the employer’s time, Bishop said.

“Although you may not receive an acknowledgment of your email or voicemail message, the fact that you followed up lets the employer know that you are genuinely interested in the position,” Keller said.