AUSTRALIANCOVERLETTERANDRESUMEGUIDELINES

GeneralGuidelines

Keepyourfonttypeandsizethesameinbothyourcoverletterandresume.

Beconciseanduseattentiongrabbingwordsthereaderwillspendroughly8seconds
readingyourresumeand5secondsreadingyourcoverletter.

Rememberthereaderwillbelookingatwhatyousayandhowyousayitthesedocuments
giveagoodideaofthecommunicationskillsoftheapplicant.

Yourcoverletterandresumeshouldworktogetherasapartnership,bothdeliveringa
powerfulmessageaboutwhoyouare.

Checkyourspelling,punctuationandgrammar

Usepastandpresenttensecorrectly

CoverLetterGuidelines

ACoverLetterisnotaLetterofMotivationitisaprofessionaldocumenttargetedata
seniorexecutive

AddressyourlettertotheHostSupervisor,asthisistheletterwewillsendtothehost
organisationtoseeiftheyareinterestedininterviewingyou.Therefore,targettheletter
towardsthehostorganisation.

Keepyourlettergeneralanddonotbetoospecificwithwhereyouwanttoworkandwhat
roleyouwanttodoasyoumayendupapplyingforsomethingquitedifferent.

Justwriteonecoverletter.IfyouhavewrittenthatyouwanttoapplyforaPRrole,butend
upapplyingforaMarketingrole,youcanchangetheletteratalaterdate.

Sticktoonepageinlength,withtheparagraphsnotedonpagethree.

Donotmentionyoursorority/fraternityinyourCoverLetterastheydonotexistinAustralia
thereforeemployersdonotunderstandtheirsignificance.Youcouldnoteitinyour
Membershipssectionifyouwish.

Tailoryourstatementstoyouraudience,ensuringthattheexperienceandgoalsyou
mentionarespecifictotheinternshipprofileyouarelookingfor.Youmayhaveskillsin
otherareasbutasyouneedtokeepyourlettershortleavethemout.

DonotusewordslikeIlove...orIamreallyexcited...Imagineyouarereadingthisletterto
theCEOofYahoo!7bematureandprofessional.

Dontusevaguewordslikealot,plenty,variousetc.Grabyouraudiencesattentionwith
actionwords,eginitiated,coordinated,organised,demonstratedetc.
AlwaysendyourletterswithYoursFaithfullyifyouarenotaddressingsomeonebyname.

ResumeGuidelines

Thetoptwothirdsofyourfirstpageisprimerealestatesellyourselfheresothereader
continuesthroughyourdocument

Keepittotwopages

Dontaddaphotooryourdateofbirth

Dontuseasillyemailaddress

Whitespace(ienotext)isimportant,useitcarefullytoemphasizeimportantwordsor
information

Placethesectionswiththemostrelevantandimpressiveinformationfirst

CareerobjectivetoassistthereaderininterpretingandcontextualisingtherestofyourCV.
Focusonqualities,experience,shorttermgoalandlongtermgoal.

ProfessionalOverview
o Providea12linesummaryabouteachofyouremployerstosetthesceneforthe
reader.ThisisimportantasAustralianemployersmaynotknowanythingaboutthe
organisation.
o PositionSummarywhatwereyourresponsibilitiesintherole?
o Keyachievementswhatdidyouachieveintherole?

KeySkillschoosethoseskillsmostrelevanttothepositionandlistinorderofrelevance.
Foreach,provideaspecificexamplethatclearlydemonstratesyourlevelofcompetencein
thisarea.

IntereststhisisyouropportunitytoputsomepersonalityintoyourCV.Usenomorethana
coupleofexamples.

Followingaremoreguidelinesforacoverletterandanexampleofaresumetohelpyoutocreate
yourown.Thisresumeisentirelyfictitiousandrepresentsastyleandcontentguideonly.


Yourname
Youraddress
Yourphone
Youremail

Date

DearHostSupervisor,

Beenthusiastic!Thisisyourchancetosell
yourselfandsecureaninterview.Besure
tomakeitclearwhatyoucanofferthe
organisation.

Paragraph1Position:Indicatethekindofinternshippositionyouwouldliketoapplyfor,egmarketingor
psychologyandshowenthusiasmfortherole.Dontbetoospecificinyourareaofinterestassyoumayendup
applyingforaslightlydifferentfield.

Paragraph2Qualifications:Identifyyourcurrentdegreeofstudyandanyotherrelevantqualifications.Use
thefullnameofyourdegreeandinstitution.YoucouldmentionyourGPA,relevantsubjects/coursesyouhave
studiedandawardsreceived.

Paragraph3Employment,workexperience,volunteeringorextracurricular:Asentenceortwobriefly
highlightingthemainskillsorabilitiesyoucanbringtotheroleandanyrelevantpersonalqualitiesor
attributes.Refertoemploymentandskillsgained.Backupwithexamplesasevidenceyoupossessselection
criteria.

Paragraph4Whyyouwanttodoaninternship:Explainwhyyouareinterestedinundertakinganinternship
aspartofyourdegree.

Paragraph5Thankyou:Thankthemfortheirconsiderationofyourapplication

Yoursfaithfully

Ifyourstudiesandworkexperienceare
Yourname
closelyrelatedtotheInternshipyouare

applyingfor,keepthedetailneatandto

thepointtomaintainimpact.

Encl.Resume
Havelittleornoworkexperienceor

nothingrelevanttoyourinternship?Focus

onyourtransferableskills,experienceand

contributionwithintheUniversity,andbe

enthusiasticabouttheopportunitytodo

aninternship.

Usethisheadernearyour
nametoinsertyouraddress
andcontactdetails,keeping
themoutoftheway.

SamTaylor
CareerStatement

12UniversityParade
RichmondNSW2753
0406100100
sam.taylor@university.edu.au

Yourcareerstatementshouldmention
yourbestqualities,anyrelevant
experience,currentplanandgoals

Organised,adaptableJournalismstudentwiththreeyearsexperienceinradioandprintjournalism,seekingacadetship
opportunitywithalargemetropolitannewspaperinordertogainagreaterunderstandingofeditorialcompositionand
newspreparation.

Education

20082011

BachelorofCommunicationsStudies(Journalism)

MacquarieUniversity,Sydney

2007

HigherSchoolCertificate
StMargaretsCollege,Sydney

Remove/insertsectionsdependingonwhat
appliestoyou.Putthosesectionsfirstthat
demonstrateyourskillsthemost.

ProfessionalOverview
May2008Present

Editor

MacquarieUniversityNewspaper,Sydney

TheMacquarieStudentNewspaperisabimonthlypublicationforstudentscoveringcurrentaffairs,campusnewsanddiscussiontopics,
aswellasrelevantinsightsintotravel,employmentandculture.

PositionSummary

KeyAchievements

Feb2008May2009

Interviewandprofilespecialguestsforfeaturearticles
Coordinateadvertisingstreamsandpaymentswithcommercialpartners
Manageateamofsixinterviewandadministrationstaffoncontentanddeadlines
Participateincampusradiosegmentsthreemorningsaweek

Pickoutthemostimportant
Reachedtargetreadershipof4000inNovember2009
pointsofeachposition
Exceededadvertisingrevenuetargetsfor2009by150%
PromotedtoEditorafter2monthswiththeNewspaper

Tutor

ExcellentEssaysEtc,NorthRyde

Excellent Essays Etc is a small tutoring company established to help secondary school students with their assignment planning,
structure,grammarandspelling.

PositionSummary

KeyAchievements

Aug2006Nov2007

Meetwithclientsonafortnightlybasistoreviewassignmentprogressanddeadlines
Conducttrainingworkshopsonessayandshortanswercomposition
Supportjuniortutorswithclientneedsandtrainingplans
Reviewstudynotesandrevisionguidespriortoexaminationperiod

AchievedaBGradeaveragefromallstudentclientsinassignmentsubmissions
Introducedaclientdatabasemanagementsystem,reducingadministrationworkload
Receivedreferralsandrecommendationsfromlocalhighschoolteachingstaff
AwardedTutoroftheYearfor2008

SalesAssistant

ActiveSports,Caringbah

ActiveSportsisafitnessequipmentandclothingfranchise,with18storesacrosstheSydneyMetroarea.TheCaringbahteamconsisted
ofthreesalesstaff,twoassistantmanagersandastoremanager.

PositionSummary

KeyAchievements

Consultwithstorecustomersontheirfitnessplansandsafetyrequirements
Reviseinstoremerchandisingdisplayssubjecttopromotions,newlinesandsales
Performcountersales,returnsandexchangessubjecttocustomerrequirements

Learnttomanagecustomerdemandsunderpressure

Implementedowninventorytrackingsystemtoreducetheftandloss
ReceivedindustryrecognisedtraininginHealthandFitnessManagement

KeySkills
Communication

Organisation&Time
Management

Teamwork

AsEditoroftheMacquarieUniversityNewspaper,Icommunicatedwithadiverse
rangeofpeople,includingverballywithinterviewsubjects,advertisers,and
contributors,aswellaswritingarticlesandeditingthefinaldraftofthenewsletter.
Duringmytimeasatutor,Ihadtomanageandplanformytutoringaroundmyown
studyandwork,aswellascoordinateandsupportjuniortutors.Thisrequired
carefulplanning,prioritisingandtimemanagement.
OursalesteamatActiveSportshadambitioussalestargetstomeeteachmonth,
requiringtheteamtoworkcloselytogethertosupportandmotivateeachotherto
achieveourgoals.

AwardsandAchievements

2008
2006
2006

ExcellenceinFirstYearJournalism
MacquarieUniversity
DukeofEdinburghAwardBronze
InternationalYouthDevelopmentandAchievementAssociation
SeniorFirstAidCertificate
CentreforFirstAidTrainingandSurvivalSkills

FurtherTraining

2007

CertificateofKnowledgeinFitnessHealthandSafetyAwareness
ActiveSportsTrainingandDevelopment

Competencies

MicrosoftWord
MicrosoftProject
MicrosoftExcel
Italian
DataEntry

AdvancedKnowledge
BasicKnowledge
IntermediateKnowledge
AdvancedSkills
98%accuracy

6yearsexperience
1yearexperience
2yearsexperience
4yearsexperience
2yearsexperience

Includeanylanguages,computer
programs,orothertechnicalskills
youhaveacquired.

Memberships

Current

AgentforChange
MissionAustraliaStandUpforYouth
AssociateMember
AustralianInstituteforEducationalTutors

20072009

Interests
BuildingJapanesetreehouses
CookingItaliancuisine
Skiing

Referees
Availableuponrequest

Bespecificwithyourinterestsgoing
out,eating,movies,music,friendsand
shoppingarenotintereststheseare
activitiescommontomostpeople