YSN CareerSOS: How Do I Make My Resume & Cover Letter Stand Out?
by YSN - Your Success NetworkJune 25th, 2009
Hi!
My name is Melanie and I am a freshman business major communication minor at Texas A&M University. I really need your help! I want to get an awesome internship this summer, but I don’t have the exact experience to get the ones I want. How do I make my resume and cover letter stand out above everyone else? I’m highly motivated, enthusiastic, dedicated, and thrive in a high-pace, high-energy environment and want so badly to be able to get an awesome internship this summer.
If there is and advice or suggestions you could give me I would truly appreciate it! Thank you so much for all of your time!
Sincerely,
Melanie S
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Tags: Cover letter, cover letter examples, resume help, Your Success Network, YSN.com, YSN_CareerSOS
July 1st, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Hi Melanie!
Thanks so much for writing in. I’m so proud of you for taking the internship initiative as a freshman in college. You are starting young and should be very proud of yourself.
My first piece of advice for you is to look at what you’ve done in the past. Even if your jobs are not relevant to the career you’d like, it’s alright. You need to show that you’ve dealt with responsibility and commitment to something in the past. That could be a previous job in college or high school, a babysitting job, or volunteering you may have done with your family. If you were part of any clubs or groups in high school, those would be great to list on your resume. Also, make a section on your resume for your skills. Include any social networking tools or web programs that you are familiar with. If you are taking any business classes in school, this would be great to list as well.
Use your cover letter to really stand out. Keep it tight and to-the-point but really use this as a tool to sell yuour excitement and passion for the companies you apply for. Go out of your way to do your homework and research each company website to find their mission statement, recent news, and clients. Use this information in your cover letter to show how much you’ve already learned about the company.
Use your passion and energy and make sure to stay focused. If you work hard at this and apply to tons of great opportunities, something will fall into place. Good luck !
Best,
YSN Contributer: Lauren Berger “The Intern Queen”