{"id":1504,"date":"2016-09-06T21:05:14","date_gmt":"2016-09-06T21:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-collegesuccess\/?post_type=chapter&p=1504"},"modified":"2017-03-17T19:38:16","modified_gmt":"2017-03-17T19:38:16","slug":"text-purpose-of-resumes-and-cover-letters","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-buffalo-wmopen-collegesuccess\/chapter\/text-purpose-of-resumes-and-cover-letters\/","title":{"raw":"Text: Purpose of R\u00e9sum\u00e9s and Cover Letters","rendered":"Text: Purpose of R\u00e9sum\u00e9s and Cover Letters"},"content":{"raw":"A r\u00e9sum\u00e9 is a \u201cselfie\u201d for business purposes. It is a written picture of who you are\u2014it's a marketing tool, a selling tool, and a promotion of you as an ideal candidate for any job you may be interested in.\r\n\r\nThe word r\u00e9sum\u00e9<\/em> comes from the French word r\u00e9sum\u00e9<\/em>, which means \"a summary.\" Leonardo da Vinci is credited with writing one of the first known r\u00e9sum\u00e9s, although it was more of a letter that outlined\u00a0his credentials for a potential employer, Ludovico Sforza. The r\u00e9sum\u00e9 got da Vinci the job, though, and Sforza became a longtime patron of da Vinci and later commissioned him to paint The Last Supper<\/em>. You can see the letter and read the translation at Ladders Career Advice<\/a>.\r\n\r\nR\u00e9sum\u00e9s and cover letters work together to represent you in the brightest light to prospective employers. With a well-composed r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and cover letter, you stand out\u2014which may get you an interview and then a good shot at landing\u00a0a job.\r\n\r\nIn this section\u00a0we discuss\u00a0r\u00e9sum\u00e9s and cover letters as key components of your career development tool kit. We explore some of the many ways you can design and develop them for the greatest impact in your job search.\r\n

Your R\u00e9sum\u00e9: Purpose and Contents<\/h2>\r\nYour r\u00e9sum\u00e9 is an inventory of your education, work experience, job-related skills, accomplishments, volunteer history, internships, residencies, and\/or more. It's a professional autobiography in outline form to give the person who reads it a quick, general idea of who you are. With a better idea of who your are, prospective employers can see how well you might contribute to their workplace.\r\n\r\nAs a college student or recent graduate, though, you may be unsure about what to put in your r\u00e9sum\u00e9, especially if you don\u2019t have much employment history. Still, employers don't expect recent grads to have significant work experience. And even with little work experience, you may still have a host of worthy accomplishments to include. It\u2019s all in how you present yourself.\r\n\r\nThe following video is an animated look at why r\u00e9sum\u00e9s are so important. You can read a transcript of the video here<\/a>.\r\n\r\n