Resume & Cover Letter Writing for an Internship

414.288.7423 career.services@marquette.edu www.marquette.edu/csc Holthusen Hall, 1st floor

Know yourself: Know your skills

Basic Information Your name as you want to be referred to professionally (Jon Baker, Jonathon Baker, Jon E. Baker). Current address and phone number with area code (where you can be reached now!). Permanent address and phone number with area code (if you will be in different locations during your search, an address of someone who will always know how to reach you. This could be a family address). If you use e-mail, include your address. Objective A clear objective is critical to resume development because it helps focus and select information. Although you may wish to make your objective broad, do not make it so broad that it says nothing. If you are pursuing employment in a couple different fields, simply create different objectives for each field. Your career objective should answer this question, What do I want to do? Is it for graduate school, a part-time job, an internship, a professional position after graduation, a scholarship? Make sure your objective makes this clear. Some sample objectives are: 1. Internship position to explore career options in the health field 2. Summer job in the field of physical therapy 3. Editorial or research assistant in a public affairs organization 4. Acceptance to College Student Personnel Administration graduate program 5. Position teaching science or social studies at the secondary school level 6. Research position in biochemical laboratory Educational Background (for each degree-conferring institution) Institution City, State Graduation date Degree or certification obtained Major/Minor/ emphasis area Any areas of Concentration GPA (if proud of it) Additonal certficiation or licensure Relevant coursework Specialized instruction

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Relevant Coursework Because you have little career-related experience, you are selling yourself on your qualities and educational knowledge. You will want to highlight those courses related to the internship you are seeking. Experience This part of your resume may include several sections such as work experience, volunteer experience (internships, community service, student teaching), campus leadership, and any area in which you may have significant experience, such as publications/ presentations or knowledge. You may divide this between Career Related Experience and Other Work Experience. Briefly describe for each position: 1. Job title, dates, organization name, location 2. List your responsibilities for each postion using a variety of ACTION WORDS to describe situations and achievements 3. Unless necessary, avoid little words in description such as a, an, the. 4. Include scope of responsibility such as: Trained eight student workers 5. Concretely outline any outstanding results such as: Developed new computerized customer

listing using MS Access software to improve output by ten percent

Honors/Activities/Leadership/Special Skills Front load these with those most important or most pertinent to your objective (career goal). You may want to use specific headings such as professional organizations, computer skills, and leadership positions. Include any honors, scholarships or recognition awards that you have received. If you were actively involved in any clubs, teams or committees while in college, those may be included also. The key to this section is keeping it brief. If you feel you need more detail, use the guidelines for Experience and make it a complete section. Interests The trend is to keep away from any extraneous information that does not clearly connect to your career goal. However, if you are applying for a position in which you have experience through a hobby or leisure activity, you may want to consider adding it to your resume. For example, if you are applying for a forest ranger position and you enjoy hiking in the wilderness, include it by stating: Skilled in all-terrain hiking, camping and navigating. What you need to ask yourself is, Will this information help the potential employer learn more about how well I can do the job? If your answer is yes, then be sure to include the information. Polishing It Up After you get all your information down on paper, go through and decide which experiences are directly related to your objective, which are definitely not related, and which are questionable. The questionable information can be used only if there is room. Otherwise stick with the directly related experiences.

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Cover Letters The key to a successful internship search is to communicate with the person who has the ability to hire or admit. Therefore, your cover letter is extremely important. Effective cover letters convey a sense of purpose, project enthusiasm for the position or program, and demonstrate your knowledge of the employer or graduate programs goals and needs. Many times individuals will spend hours writing a perfect resume and very little time writing a quality cover letter. Remember that your cover letter not only accompanies your resume, it is usually on top of your resume when the envelope is opened. A positive first impression requires that your cover letter be neat and concise, containing no errors in spelling or grammar. Each cover letter should be customized to fit the position for which you are applying. You will want to customize your cover letter depending on its purpose. Some reasons for sending a cover letter may be: A result of a direct search A response to an advertisement A follow up on a contact made through networking No matter what your reason for sending a cover letter, be sure it contains the following information: Return address with the date Name, title, organization, and address of the person you are writing First Paragraph State purpose of letter Catch attention Indicate your interest in the position or company Flatter your audience by using company/ program information found through research Second Paragraph Explain how your background makes you a qualified candidate Give an example, talk about a specific project, accomplishment, or service Highlight information found in the resume Third Paragraph Refer the reader to your enclosures (resume, reference, examples of work) Final Paragraph Indicate your intentions for follow-up Repeat a number where you may be reached Closing Salutation Signature

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Sample Resume BUSINESS INTERNSHIP

Caryn E. Johnson
1134 N. 13th St. Milwaukee, WI 53442 (414) 289-4857 (School) OBJECTIVE EDUCATION Seeking a summer internship in the marketing field. MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY, Milwaukee, WI Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration Specialization: Marketing Graduation Date: May, 20xx G.P.A. 3.0/4.0 Related Courses Marketing Research Consumer Behavior Promotional Strategy Sales Management 3295 N. Harvey Street West Allen, CT 43958 (898) 985-6857 (Home)

Class Project Prepared promotional materials for one university department. Included designing logo, brochure, database for mailing and follow-up survey. Computer Skills Macintosh and IBM operating systems plus Windows, Microsoft Office EXPERIENCE Summer 20xx J.C. PENNY CO., Milwaukee, WI Customer Service Representative Processed customers returns and exchanges Handled telephone inquiries and complaints. Due to excellent phone skills with customers, promoted to handle customer complaints in house. CENTURY INN RESTAURANT, Milwaukee, WI Waiter Assistant Manager Promoted to Assistant Manager after six months Trained new waitresses and busboys Acted as cocktail hostess when needed Ran tapes and tallies when manager not there Business Marketing Association, Treas. Hall Council Floor Representative Volunteer Coordinator Special Olympics Marquette Scholarship (3 years)Sample Resume

Part-time Summers xx-present

AWARDS/ ACTIVITIES

Internship

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Marquette University

Sample Resume

Internship

Gracie Goodwin
PO Box 1881 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI 53201 414-288-7423 grace.goodwin@marquette.edu

Objective Education

A summer research internship in the field of biology Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology Minor: English Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI MS Office, Adobe Pagemaker on IBM and Macintosh Principles of Biology, Ecology- Evolution, Microbiology, and Subtropical Ecology Cell fractionation by differential centrifugation, RNA analysis extraction and fractionation, membrane isolation, Lipid extraction techniques Summer Research Intern, Marshfield Clinic, Marshfield, WI Summer 2003 Learned advanced research techniques under the supervision of a research scientist Contributed to special projects in the laboratory Student Worker and Hall Secretary, Office of Residence Life, Milwaukee, WI August 2002-May 2003 Provided information to current and incoming students, parents and visitors to Milwaukee about Marquette Residence Halls Acted as a liaison between administrators and those with questions about halls Assisted with office tasks, including data entry and mailings Created bulletin board displays providing information to students living in the halls Cashier, Sodex/Marriot Food Services, Milwaukee, WI October 2001 to December 2001 Handled cash transactions Interacted with customers in a fast paced environment Completed specific tasks within set deadlines Maintained clean working area May 2002 GPA: 3.2/4.0

Computer Skills Relevant Classes

Lab Skills

Career Related Experience

Other Work Experience Honors and Activities

Server, Hardees Restaurant, Des Moines, IA, August 2000- May 2001 Cabin Counselor, Cool Camp for Kids, Zion, WY, Summers 1998-2000 Deans List, Presidential Scholarship, Arts and Entertainment Committee, Intramural field hockey

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Sample Cover Letter GENERAL INTERNSHIP Gracie Goodwin

PO Box 1881 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI 53201 414-288-7423 grace.goodwin@marquette.edu

February 6, 20XX Jonathon Saunders Abbott Laboratories 1212 33rd Street, Suite #1 Abbott Park, IL 61111 Dear Mr. Saunders: I am writing in reference to the Lab Tech Internship position listed recently in the Marquette University Career Services Center. This position appeals to me because of my strong interest in a pharmaceutical laboratory in addition to using the knowledge Ive gained through my science classes in college. I am currently a sophomore at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI working on my bachelor of science degree in biology. Some strengths of mine include being a self-motivated hard worker. As a biology student, I am often required to work independently on my own laboratory projects requiring me to be accurate and consistent as I work. In addition, I am able to successfully maintain a good grade point average while working part-time to earn money for my college tuition and also remaining involved as a campus leader. These skills, combined with my educational background in biology, make me an ideal candidate for this internship position. Enclosed please find a current copy of my resume. If you should have any questions regarding how my skills fit with your organization, please give me a call at 414-288-3577. I may also be reached by E-mail at grace.goodwin@marquette.edu. Thank you for considering me for this position. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Sincerely,

Grace J. Goodwin enclosures

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Marquette University

Action Words
Use these Action Words to describe situations and achievements. Use a mix of the words as to avoid repetitiveness. accentuated accomplished achieved adhered to administered adopted advanced applied apprehended assimilated assisted assumed attained authorized built carried out caused charted checked collaborated combined commanded commissioned conducted constructed continued contributed controlled cooperated coordinated created delegated demonstrated derived designated designed developed devised directed discharged dispatched displayed earned effected emphasized employed empowered enforced engineered established exceeded excelled exercised exerted exhibited expedited featured formed fulfilled generated handled helped implemented indicated invested made maintained managed mapped mastered merited mobilized modeled negotiated obtained operated organized originated outlined oversaw participated performed performed persisted planned pointed out Pooled practiced prepared prevailed produced programmed progressed projected promoted prompted proposed pursued qualified regulated remained represented resisted resolved restored resumed revealed revived schemed secured seized shared showed specialized sponsored stressed succeeded supervised supported surpassed sustained synchronized synthesized transacted understood undertook used utilized ventured verified withstood

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