Prewriting for the Resume and Cover Letter
12/22/2004

Chances are, you won't just sit down and dash off your resume and cover letter.  Instead, it will be the product of careful planning and research.  Not only will you find out all you can about the prospective employer and the position you seek, but you will also do an inventory of yourself to determine how you best match the employer's needs, and what exactly it is you have to offer.

Following are some questions you may use to do a thorough inventory of what you have to offer.

Education

What degrees do you hold, and where and when did you receive them?  For the purposes of this inventory you should go all the way back to high school.  You just might unearth something unusual and helpful.

What courses did you take?  (list courses by their catalog description--i.e. Business Writing rather than English 2002).  What major projects did you undertake?

What certifications do you have?  (pilot's license, American Red Cross CPR certification, realtor's license, etc.)  Who gave them to you, and when did you receive them?

What organizations did you belong to in school, and what extracurricular activities did you participate in?  What role did you take in these organizations?  Did you take any leadership roles?

What was your gpa in school?  Major gpa?  Overall gpa?

Employment

List every job you've ever had, no matter if it seems relevant to the position you seek.  When did you hold that job, and where were you employed?  What was your official title (you may want to check The Dictionary of Job Titles for a more accurate and professional description of the work performed.)  What were your responsibilities?  When listing the responsibilities, enumerate productivity (i.e. how much money were you responsible for, how many employees did you manage, how many hundreds of dollars of inventory did you take care of).

Honors and Activities

What activities are you involved in, inside and outside of school?  Do you belong to any clubs, or a congregation or political party? And what sorts of things do you do in these activities that relates to the position you seek?  Are you the treasurer of your soccer club, and also seeking an accounting position?  Did you manage the wardrobe for the opera society and are you also looking for a managerial position?  One thing you should note:  you may choose to list your religious or political affiliation on your resume, but you may want to include these things in your prewriting so you can explore their relevance (or lack thereof) to the position you seek.

What honors have you received? Were you on the Dean's List?  Did you receive a scholarship?  Did you receive any awards?

Other Things That Demonstrate Your Work Ethic

How much of your education have you paid for? If you've paid for over 50% of your education, or over 50% of some part of your education, it's worth mentioning in your resume and cover letter.  Did you pay for 75% of your educational expenses through continuous employment?  Did you pay for 100% of your living expenses in college?  Did you pay for 100% of your education through scholarships?  (Remember, you got those scholarships because of your work ethic.  No one dragged you out from under the bed and forced them on you.)  This sort of information demonstrates to a potential employer that you aren't someone who just sits around, but someone who is responsible, and sometimes this information can cause an employer to overlook a weak gpa (but probably not overlook an absolutely terrible gpa).

Personal Information

In general, you don't put personal information in employment communications.  Employers are prohibited by law to ask job candidates if they're married, what their religion is, state of their health, etc. and you would be ill advised to include such information in a resume as it may make the reader uncomfortable.  However, some personal information can be helpful.  Are family members employed in the same sort of profession you'd like to be a part of?  If so, you might want to mention this information on your resume.  For example, if your mother is an engineer and you're looking for an engineering position, mentioning this to a prospective employer demonstrates that you've been exposed to this profession.