Résumé
For current students and recent graduates, the résumé is typically a one-page document highlighting educational background, experiences, accomplishments, skills, and interests. This length could vary depending on the industry and depth of your experiences, so knowing expectations within your field is critical for résumé success. Ultimately, your résumé is a guide and marketing tool about you and your abilities.
Cover Letter
A cover letter is a formal business letter that serves as an introduction to your résumé and as a tool to market yourself to employers. A cover letter may accompany résumés you submit to employers during the job search process but is not necessary to distribute at career fairs or other networking events. A good cover letter will describe the reasons why the employer should consider inviting you for an interview.
Documents for Graduate Students
Your professional materials are the supporting documents for anything to which you apply. Perhaps you are applying for a job or internship, another graduate program, a fellowship, research funding, etc. Your professional materials can include a Résumé and/or CV, Cover Letter, Writing Sample, Personal Statement, Research Statement, Diversity Statement, Teaching Statement, or Sample Syllabus. See all Résumé, CV, and Cover Letter resources specifically for Grad Students here.
Take our interactive units on building Résumés and Cover Letters to learn how to develop materials that markets your abilities and enthusiasm for specific opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are quick answers to the most common questions we get about Writing a Résumé or Cover Letter. For further questions about our responses or any other questions, schedule an appointment with a career coach.
Résumés
A good first step to building a résumé is to make a list of all the experiences you’ve had up to this point. Then, take a look at the résumé templates provided on this page, choose one you like, and begin adding your experiences. At any point in this process, you’re welcome to meet with a career coach for guidance.
As a college student, your résumé should primarily feature post-secondary experience, in other words experiences you’ve had since completing high school. If you are in your first or second undergraduate year at UConn, you can include high school experiences, too. Additionally, if you have an experience that is a bit longer ago but is directly relevant to your career, it’s okay to keep.
Most employers are expecting a résumé that is 1 page in length. That doesn’t necessarily mean having a longer résumé will disqualify you, but it might. There are some industry exceptions, such as healthcare and education/academia, where a 2-page résumé is standard. Ideally, you should research the opportunity you are applying for to determine what the résumé expectations are.
While it is not necessary, tailoring a résumé to an application increases the likelihood your résumé will secure the attention of the hiring team. We recommend having multiple versions of your résumé that align with each type of role you are applying to and tailoring even further for specific positions you are especially excited about.
Everyone has their own opinions and preferences when it comes to résumés, including different hiring managers. That’s why there’s not one correct way to create one. At the end of the day, our advice is to collect varying feedback and make your own decisions about which feedback to implement based on your own personal preferences.
Résumés are not limited to formal, professional experiences. Any experience you’ve had where you have learned valuable skills can be listed on your résumé, including things like class and independent projects. If you are unsure what to include on your résumé, we suggest meeting with a career coach for some guidance.
Cover Letters
If a specific person is listed in the job description as the person overseeing the hiring process or the future supervisor of the role, address your cover letter to them. If not, address your cover letter to the department, “search committee,” or “hiring manager.”
Some do and some don’t. It’s best to assume they do and submit the best possible cover letter you can.
The best cover letter you can write will be one that is fully tailored to the opportunity. While it is not necessary, if the opportunity is one you’re especially excited about, it’sbest to fully tailor your cover letter.
Yes. While the employer may not consider it as strongly as if it was required, if you submit a cover letter and other applicants do not, it could make you stand out.
