Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Resume/Cover Letter
Your resume is a document that identifies your current and prior jobs, education, professional strengths, experiences, and skills. Your resume is important because it’s created to help you land a new job and it helps the recruiter or hiring manager identify what value you might add to the company.
- Keep it somewhere safe (USB Drive, Google Drive)
- Double check for spelling and grammar
- Do not include personal information such as birthdate, height, weight, etc
- Include volunteer work, hobbies, and awards if they show experiences or skills
- For past jobs use past tense words such as words ending in “ed”
- For current jobs use present tense words such as words ending in “ing”
- Whenever possible send your resume as a PDF attachment
- Include hard skills and soft skills (see below for more info on hard skills and soft skills)
A cover letter is a document (usually sent with your resume) that allows you to introduce yourself and tell a brief story to persuade an employer how well your skills, abilities, and attributes match the organization’s needs.
- A cover letter should be formatted like a business letter
- Make sure your cover letter is addressed to a specific person
- If you are pursuing a specific job or position, you should customize the cover letter for that position and the employer.
- If you are emailing your cover letter make sure you have it saved as a clear file name Ex: YourName_Business_CoverLetter.doc
- Whenever possible send as a PDF
