Lindsay Vanek had always found writing a cover letter to be sort of “intimidating.”
But after attending the Oct. 20 “Land the Job” event at Austin Hall’s Stirek Auditorium, the Oregon State marketing student feels a lot more comfortable about that part of the employment search process.
Presenter Gala Jackson told Vanek and the other students in attendance to use their cover letter as a means of elaborating on the information in their resume – to go into detail about their background and qualifications so the letter builds on the resume rather than repeats what’s already there.
“You don’t just want to copy and paste,” Vanek said. “That shows you haven’t put in the time and effort.”
Vanek also noted that Jackson shared techniques for making a resume appear as rich and complete as possible, which is especially important for college students and new graduates who may feel as if they don’t have much to put on a resume. Volunteer service counts, for example, as do class projects in line with what a job would entail.
Jackson describes herself as a “millennial career expert and career coach” and travels the country as the national spokesman for the Land the Job campaign, sponsored by Neenah Paper, Inc. The sponsor provides “resume starter kits” featuring Southworth by Neenah products to all students attending a Land the Job workshop.
Rene Reitsma, professor of business information systems, was on hand for the OSU workshop as well.
“I think it was a useful event,” he said. “Good attendance, and an hour-long opportunity for students to reflect on how they present themselves on resumes and job fairs.” in 1972; he’s updated it annually ever since.