Tutorial 4: Resumes, Cover Letters and Personal Branding (T27 & T34)

COMM 202Tutorial 4: Resumes & Personal

Branding

Minyoung HwangT27 & T34

Today’s Agenda

Check-Ins1

Personal Branding2

Resumes & Hooks3

What’s Next4

Turn to your neighbour!

Reading Week!

You Should: Update Docs With Peer Review Feedback

Course Outline

Week 6 Week 7 Week 8

Tutorial: Resume & Cover Letter

Due: Skills Matrix Final Submission (6 Successes,2 Failures)

Tutorial: Resume & Cover Letter Peer Review

Due: 2 Copies of Resume Draft, Cover Letter Draft and Job Posting

What is your brand?

Describe These Brands

Describe Yourself

If you had 30 seconds to describe yourself - personality, interests, skills - what would you

say?

Write down 4-5 words that describe yourself best.

You Shape Your Own Brand

Permeate your brand throughout all your documents.

Your personal brand can change!

LET’S TALK RESUMES &

COVER LETTERS.

The Application Process

Cover Email

1Resume &

Cover Letter

2

Interview

3

Make It Rain

4

What’s the Difference?

Resumesare aboutYOU

Cover lettersare about theEMPLOYER

CanWant

Fit

Can-Want-Fit

Can Can you do the job? Do you have the relevant skills and experience they’re looking for?

Want Do you want the job? Are you passionate about this job, the company, the industry?

Fit Would you get along with the people at this company? Does their culture align with your values and personality?

First up, resumes!

Profile / Key Competencies

The Breakdown

Education

Work / Volunteer Experience

Personal

Formatting

Branding

Formatting

Be Consistent

Font size, font style, spacing, bullet points, alignment, punctuation, date & abbreviation format, hyphens vs dashes.

First Impression

Pick a colour scheme(if you don’t want black-and-white, which is also fine) and use white space wisely. Be concise with your resume page count.

Third Person

Always speak in third person and maintain a professional tone. No slang or personal pronouns (he, she, we, I).

Proofread

No grammar mistakes, typos, spelling errors - proofread then proofread again.

FormattingWhat You’ll Need in Your Header❏ Name (preferred

name with given name in brackets)

❏ Email❏ Phone❏ Address❏ LinkedIn URL❏ Social media

handles(optional)

Profile / Key CompetenciesWhat It Is❖ Summary of what to

expect in your resume in max 4 lines

What to Include❖ Your strengths❖ Past experiences❖ Interests❖ Languages❖ Technical skills

* Required for the course but not all industries need a profile.

Key Questions❖ Does it match the job

posting (multiple references)?

❖ Does it provide a clear, convincing link to the rest of the resume aka is there proof?

Profile / Key Competencies

EducationWhat It Is❖ Summary of your

schooling journey

What to Include❖ Degree (write it out fully) and

specialization❖ GPA if necessary, indicate school

scale❖ Relevant courses (not a laundry

list)❖ Awards, scholarships (eg. Honour

Roll)❖ Exchange semester❖ Expected date of completion❖ Don’t include high school stuff

unless you’re still in first year!

Key Questions❖ Does it match the job

description?❖ Is there any ambiguity

with the info provided?

Education

Work / Volunteer ExperienceWhat It Is❖ Collection of relevant

experiences - the real meat

What to Include❖ Accomplishment statements

as bullet points❖ Brief descriptions of

organization if necessary❖ Reverse chronological order by

end date❖ Limit to one sentence (ideal

length: two lines) and get rid of filler words

Key Questions❖ Are they achievement

based?❖ Do numbers quantify

achievements when appropriate?

❖ Does language indicate familiarity with industry or company? Does it match the job description?

Accomplishment Statements

SITUATION

TASK

ACTION

RESULT

LINKSITUATI

ON

TASK

ACTION

RESULT

Flip the STARL stories for the RATS statement!

Accomplishment Statements

SITUATION

TASK

ACTION

RESULTIncreasedAttainedExceededSurpassed

DecreasedSavedMinimizedReduced

GeneratedEnhancedOptimizedEstablished

Words are powerful - choose wisely!

Quantitative vs qualitative resultsQuant: How much? How many? Numbers and percentages

Qual: Be descriptive - positive feedback, recognition, awards, promotion

Accomplishment Statements

SITUATION

TASK

ACTION

RESULT Are you using relevant skills?

Do your actions clearly demonstrate those relevant skills?

Do your results match up with your actions?

Accomplishment Statements

SITUATION

TASK

ACTION

RESULT Paint the context (who, where, how long).

Describe the challenge.

Be clear and concise with the level of detail.

Accomplishment Statements

Duty-Based Statement Accomplishment Statementvs

Responsible for contacting corporate clients and organizing a tournament.

Achieved 85% client retention rate by establishing relationships with key corporate clients and providing a well organized, personally tailored tournament experience

Accomplishment Statements

Achieved 85% client retention rate by establishing relationships with key corporate clients and providing a well organized, personally tailored tournament experience.

SITUATION

TASK

ACTION

RESULT

Accomplishment Statements

Achieved 85% client retention rate by establishing relationships with key corporate clients and providing a well organized, personally tailored tournament experience.

SITUATION

TASK

ACTION

RESULT

Accomplishment Statements

Achieved 85% client retention rate by establishing relationships with key corporate clients and providing a well organized, personally tailored tournament experience.

SITUATION

TASK

ACTION

RESULT

InterestsWhat It Is❖ A chance to showcase

your personality & stand out

What to Include❖ Side interests & hobbies❖ Cool personal experiences❖ Be fun, specific and stay

appropriateKey Questions❖ How do you want to be

remembered?❖ Are you catering to your

audience?❖ Can you talk about each

interest at length?

Interests

Branding

Does this reflect yourpersonal brand?

If the employer were to describe you based on your resume or cover letter, would they perceive you the way you want to be perceived?

Does this align with your employer’s brand?

Investment banks will look for different personal brands from advertising agencies. Are you tailoring the best and most applicable parts of yourself to the company?

LET’S TALKHOOKS.

The BreakdownOpening

Skills Matching

Closing

Formatting

Branding

Integration

OpeningA Bad Opening❖ Can be applied to any

job, company or industry❖ “Dear ____, I am applying

for ____.”

A Killer Opening❖ Includes a “hook”❖ Genuine, personal, memorable❖ Tailored to the employer❖ Name drop where applicable❖ Clear expression of the

relevant skills/experiences

This is where you get to demonstrate WANT & FIT!

Opening

Opening

Imagine Day Orientation Day Leader Applications

Due tonight

What’s Happening Around Campus

UBC HRMC ClubHR Leaders Conference

Feb 4th

YWiB finLEADFinance for Women

ConferenceFeb 9th

UBC Supply Chain Club +CUS Sustainability = PepsiCo Case Comp

Apply by Feb 11

What’s Coming UpBring 2 copies of resume draft, cover letter draft & job posting to next tutorial for peer review

1

Register on Turnitin before next tutorialT27 Class ID: 14541948T34 Class ID: 14541953Password: bubbles

2

Check out office hours!3

“BE STUBBORN ABOUT YOURGOALS BUT BE FLEXIBLE ABOUT HOW YOU GET THERE.”