<p>I know it’s been a LONG time, but I just finished my second to last semester of grad school and am starting my job search process. I have a good resume, but I’m horrible at cover letters for some reason. I have the first “real” job that I’m excited about and everything is good to go except my cover letter. Any tips/suggestions?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Also, a brief update:
-I just finished my last practicum, I completely rebuilt my school’s International New Student Orientation and it’s being implemented in January!
-I also did a literature review for the practicum and may be getting published if my supervisor thinks it’s good enough.
-I go home to California for the holidays on Wednesday good weather and In-N-Out and real Mexican food!!!
-I’ve finally learned to drive in the snow. Kinda.
-I’m starting research for my capstone project (which we do in lieu of a thesis) and decided on the topic of justification of/attitudes toward sexual assault on college campuses.</p>
<p>most colleges have their career services stuff online. Indiana’s is linked below, but you can google and search for a bunch more. However, what you need to decide is whether you are seeking an academic/government job, or a job in private industry. The cover letter styles will be different, as will your resume/cv.</p>
<p>I have a basic guide from ISU’s career center, but most of what I’m having trouble with is the fact that most (all) of their stuff is geared towards undergrads rather than grad students.</p>
<p>I’m looking for jobs at Universities (public or private) mainly within Residential Life/Housing.</p>
<p>Teriwtt–time flies, doesn’t it? We’re done in May!! The first young woman in our cohort just got a job and is finishing our program as a distance ed student. The game, if you will, is afoot. (I’m also the youngest in my cohort, if that makes you feel better.)</p>
<p>I used to have a template that Umich gave me, if you google cover letter templates you can probably combine a few into something you like. I usually do three small paragraphs (usually ends up being like half a page if that), the first paragraph is basically introducing myself, a three word description of my qualifications, and my objective-- what position i am applying for, i usually mention my passion for underwriting, blahblah. Then my second paragraph I usually go through some of the skills, duties, or qualities listed as required in the job posting and describe how my particular background and skills make me uniquely qualified for those tasks. Then I wrap up with a thanks for taking the time to review my resume, i look forward to speaking with you further, blah blah. This is more or less what the template from Umich told me to do. I hate cover letters but it seems to get the job done.</p>
<p>I’ve been experimenting recently with using the advice from AskAManager, which is very much against templates. I’ve tried to make my cover letters confident, speaking very directly to the job description, and less formal than they used to be. I was experimenting a little, but I’ve gotten very quick calls for interviews since I’ve been doing them this way, so I’ll probably keep this style. If you go her website, I don’t actually love some of the examples she’s posted, but I tried to take some advice from them and make it mine.</p>
<p>Good grief child, you can’t be finishing grad school. I feel like saying “I knew you when you were just this tall”.
Congratulations and keep us posted on your great future!</p>
<p>Eireann, thanks for the tip! I’ll check it out.</p>
<p>Zoosermom and dragonmom, it definitely flew by! I’m very excited to see where I end up next…hopefully somewhere on the west coast or closer to home. Here’s hoping!</p>
good weather and In-N-Out and real Mexican food!!!
We’re done in May!! The first young woman in our cohort just got a job and is finishing our program as a distance ed student. The game, if you will, is afoot. (I’m also the youngest in my cohort, if that makes you feel better.)</p>