词汇大师(Wordmaster)--Resume and Cover Letter

Broadcast on COAST TO COAST: June 3, 2004

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble and this week on Wordmaster, advice on getting a job.

RS: It's a question several listeners have asked us, so we turned to a human resources consultant¹ for answers.

AA: Sharon Armstrong runs a company that helps people find jobs. She says the first step is to draft a short resume -- no more than two pages.

ARMSTRONG: "It should be customized to the company or position you're going for. By that I mean it should use the lingo² of the industry. It should be clear and targeted, easy to read, on good bond paper, and it should be perfect. There should be no spelling and no grammar mistakes. So you should use spell check and then have two or three friends at a minimum review it before you send it out."

RS: "You say 'customized.' How do you know that language, the language of the company?"

ARMSTRONG: "If it isn't your industry, you talk to people, you do informational interviews, you read their reports, you get your hands on everything that you can that would give you any type of information that will lead you to a good cover letter and resume."

RS: "How do you structure a resume? What sections are necessary in a resume?"

ARMSTRONG: "I think the first thing that I'm seeing in a lot of good resumes, the very first area that you would have, is called a qualifications summary, where you identify three or four important skills that you have that will be appealing to the new employer."

AA: "Give us an example."

ARMSTRONG: "I actually wrote one. Let's say someone is going for a project manager job. The summary up at the very top would read: 'Project manager skilled at coordinating³ complex information management projects; proven ability to develop and maintain client relationships; proficient⁴ at negotiating vendor⁵ contacts; particularly adept⁶ at analyzing⁷ information for patterns and trends and summarizing complex issues concisely⁸; can-do attitude.'

"So in the first couple of seconds an employer is going to read the top of that and then they're going to know whether they should continue to read. So you want to grab them right away with something strong."

RS: "What other sections should follow?"

ARMSTRONG: "Right after the qualifications summary, I would do work experience, unless you just recently completed a degree, in which case you want to probably highlight your education. But I would do the experience, then the education, then skills -- either computer skills or interpersonal skills -- and then a tag line at the bottom about references, just to kind of close it and end it."

AA: "Should you include references, or do you just put the standard 'references upon request.'"

ARMSTRONG: "I would put the standard, quite honestly, because again this is the resume first going out, you don't know even if there's interest."

AA: "Let's talk a little bit about a cover letter."

ARMSTRONG: "Should be no more than one page, it should be addressed to a specific person. It shouldn't be a 'to whom it may concern.' So you should have title for the person and the correct spelling of their name -- people are very sensitive about that -- and the company name correctly spelled as well. In the cover letter you should come right to the point, identify the position that you're interested it, how you heard about it."

AA: "Now what are some things to avoid?"

ARMSTRONG: "Ones that go on and on, two or three pages -- avoid that. Ones that reiterate⁹ what's in the resume."

AA: "Do you begin with 'greetings' -- what works?"

ARMSTRONG: "I think you go right to the point: 'Dear Mister Smith, I recently heard of your opening,' and then you go on. In fact, I did bring a sample one for you: 'I'm applying for the Web developer position that was advertised in the local paper this week. The position seems to fit very well with my education, experience and career interests. Your position requires skills in various types of programming and software used in Web development. My academic program in computer studies emphasized ... '

"And then you go on to indicate exactly what is targeted, not only in your academic program but also in your work experience. 'My enclosed resume provides more details on my qualifications. My background and career goals seem to match your job requirements well. I'm confidant that I can perform the job effectively.'

"And then (add) a little assertiveness¹⁰ at the end. Telling me they're going to give me a call, asking me specifically or an interview, telling me in clear terms how to reach them and when to reach them, either by e-mail or by phone, and good times to reach them. And I would also customize it by doing some research about the company, so that each letter cannot be just a cookie-cutter approach. It has to be a specific letter to that specific company. People rarely do that, and it makes such a difference."

AA: "And the language to use -- plain, simple English?"

ARMSTRONG: "That's a good point, Avi, because people will write it in a very stilted¹¹ way that they would never talk. It's so odd, you know, 'attached please find my ... ' You say 'enclosed is my resume.' Or just something that is a normal way that you would talk."

RS: Sharon Armstrong is a consultant in Washington. She calls her business Human Resources 911. Nine-one-one is the telephone number Americans call in an emergency. Next week Ms. Armstrong will walk us through a job interview.

AA: You'll find today's program, plus our archives, on the Web at voanews.com/wordmaster. And our e-mail address is。。。。。。。。。。。With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti.

[Rebroadcast from 2002]

 

1 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

2 lingo   

n.语言不知所云，外国话，隐语

参考例句：

• If you live abroad it helps to know the local lingo.住在国外，学一点当地的语言自有好处。
• Don't use all that technical lingo try and explain in plain English.别尽用那种专门术语，用普通的词语解释吧。

3 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

4 proficient   

adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家

参考例句：

• She is proficient at swimming.她精通游泳。
• I think I'm quite proficient in both written and spoken English.我认为我在英语读写方面相当熟练。

5 vendor   

n.卖主；小贩

参考例句：

• She looked at the vendor who cheated her the other day with distaste.她厌恶地望着那个前几天曾经欺骗过她的小贩。
• He must inform the vendor immediately.他必须立即通知卖方。

6 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

7 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

8 concisely   

adv.简明地

参考例句：

• These equations are written more concisely as a single columnmatrix equation. 这些方程以单列矩阵方程表示会更简单。 来自辞典例句
• The fiber morphology can be concisely summarized. 可以对棉纤维的形态结构进行扼要地归纳。 来自辞典例句

9 reiterate   

v.重申，反复地说

参考例句：

• Let me reiterate that we have absolutely no plans to increase taxation.让我再一次重申我们绝对没有增税的计划。
• I must reiterate that our position on this issue is very clear.我必须重申我们对这一项议题的立场很清楚。

10 assertiveness   

n.过分自信

参考例句：

• Her assertiveness was starting to be seen as arrogance. 她的自信已开始被认为是自负了。
• Role playing is an important element in assertiveness training. 在果敢自信训练班上，角色扮演是个重要内容。

11 stilted   

adj.虚饰的；夸张的

参考例句：

• All too soon the stilted conversation ran out.很快这种做作的交谈就结束了。
• His delivery was stilted and occasionally stumbling.他的发言很生硬，有时还打结巴。