Resume Checklist

When applying for a job, you want to make sure your resume and cover letter is tailored to the role. Quality trumps quantity here. Being particular about your resume and cover letter for each job you apply for increases your chances for an interview, rather than sending out a generic resume without a cover letter to lots of jobs.  

Make sure your cover letter is a maximum of 1/3 page length, and your resume a maximum of 2 pages (play around with formatting). It should be in an easy-to-read font with a size of 10.5-12 and straight-forward to follow visually, meaning, linear, straight sections with contrasting colors and clear titles do best.

Have a look below at all the things you should include in your cover letter and resume (top to bottom):

Cover Letter 

Writing a cover letter is almost always worth it. It shows your eagerness for the role and gives you an opportunity to connect with the interviewee before you even meet them. A good cover letter can make all the difference in scoring an interview, and already puts you ahead of anyone who does not include one.

Cover Letter Objective 

• Show your true understanding of the demands of the role 

• Highlight your strengths 

• Demonstrate your eagerness and willingness to adapt and learn  

• Show your personality

Cover Letter Checklist 

• A heading with your contact information  
• A date  
• Dear hiring manager and [company name] team/ Dear recruiter at [company name]

Opening Paragraph 

Introduce yourself and the position you are applying for, express your enthusiasm. Here, you can briefly expand on WHY you are eager for this particular job.  

Body Paragraph  

Here is your chance to share unique insights about yourself and demonstrate your understanding of the company, main tasks, future vision and values.  

Provide specific examples of your experience, accomplishments and achievements that are relevant to the role, and how they align with what the company is looking for.  

Address Potential Concerns (Optional) 

If there have been gaps in employment or anything else, a cover letter is a good place to briefly provide context/ offer solutions.  

Closing Paragraph 

Outline what excites you most about the role and how you hope to contribute in a positive way. 

Thank the employer for their time and invite them to view your resume.  

Resume Checklist 

Contact information  

Full name, phone number, email address and a portfolio or LinkedIn profile if applicable  

Summary or Objective (this is optional) 
A concise summary of career goals, skills and what you bring to the position. Keep this a maximum of 3-4 lines.  

Professional Experience 
List this in reverse chronological order (most recent first). Include name of company, job title and dates you’ve worked. Use bullet points to describe key responsibilities and achievements, and pick the ones most relevant to the current role you are applying for.  

Education  
List this in reverse chronological order as well (most recent first). Mention name, degree, start and end date and place any relevant course work or majors in bullet points bellow  

Volunteering/ Extra-curriculars/Internships/ Personal Projects  
Here, add anything else outside of the educaiton and work sector that is relevant to the job role, with the same format as “Professional Experience”.  

References  
After asking for their permission (this is important!), include the name, role, number and e-mail of your references. Aim to have two people that are not your family or friends, that can vouch for your work ethic and good nature. These can be past managers, teachers, tutors, project partners, volunteering leaders and the like.  

Preparing for an Interview 

Research the Company Well
Do as much research as you can about the company from as many sources as you can find, and really think about how you can make it better in the role you're interviewing for, as part of preparation. You kind of want to know it inside-out before you turn up. 

Focus on key purpose, company values, company history, usual activities.  

You want to prepare answers for how your previous experience and personal values align with the company and have some answers to questions about possible improvements you can bring prepped and ready to go.

Prepare your “Stories”  
When answering behavioral and situational questions, to help keep yourself on track and truly highlight your great qualities, go into story mode. Essentially you want to prepare your "stories" in advance. Almost every question is an opportunity to go into these stories and expand on your experience and how great you are and single word responses usually means you are not taking full advantage of the question.  

The "PAR" method is a good one to keep you on track. Identify what the Problem was, explain your Actions to solve it, point out the positive Result due to your input. 

Essentially you want to touch on different categories relevant to the role you’re applying for and have about five to seven stories up your sleeve.

View this video which does a great job at explaining the PAR method:  

Interview Question Categories and How To Answer Them

Personal and Behavioural 

Tell Me About Yourself? 
Focus on: your past experience, your study, why you want the role, why you appreciate the company and why you believe you’re a great fit.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?  
Focus on: Listing your strengths, with examples or a “PAR” story to demonstrate what events developed these strengths or how you applied these strengths to improve situations/problems. For weaknesses, be honest and upfront (whatever you do, don’t say you don’t have any weaknesses), but also show your willingness to overcome them and eagerness for consistent learning and improvement and how you plan to do so.

Describe a challenging situation you faced and how you handled it 
Think back on your experience at school, university, work, extracurriculars or volunteering. Think of something particularly impactful and use the “PAR” method to keep your answer concise and to the point.  

Technical and Job Specific Questions

Focus on: Writing down key themes and points and identify if there is anything you need to brush up on. This is something that’s more specific to each role and is a similar process to preparing for an exam. You will most likely also be asked problem-solving scenarios related to the job. Have a think of possible scenarios and prepare your answers. If relevant, give previous examples of how you handled similar situations using the “PAR” method.

Situational Questions 

These can include questions about the following: problem-solving, meeting deadlines, handling conflict, teamwork, decision making, client interaction, handling mistakes, prioritisation, thinking of new ideas, managing change, managing a heavy work load, managing stress.

Pick the most relevant to your role and come up with stories showing examples of your previous experience and how you handled these situations. This is where the “PAR” method really comes in handy.  

Motivational Questions 

Examples include: why do you want this job? What motivates you? Where do you see yourself in five years?

These answers are quite unique to everyone, but with all of these, the employer hopes to see a drive and ambition behind what you do, and hopefully some alignment with your personal values and the company values.  

Cultural fit and Teamwork 

Almost all interviews will have a question about teamwork; how you handle conflict, how you operate within a team, a time when you had to manage a team, your communication style and the like. It is handy to have a personal story about how you’ve worked in a team previously, any problems or conflicts you faced and how you solved them. Underline what you value in communicating with others (honesty, fairness, empathy). It would be a good idea to come up with a “PAR” story for this too.

Leadership and Management 

Good leadership usually includes:  

• Honesty, transparency, empathy and emotional intelligence 

• Having a strong vision of the future and being able to think strategically  

• Transparent, open and positive relationships with others, focusing on strengths, and the ability to bring up sensitive topics in a relevant and honest manner 

• Adaptability and continuous learning

Think of what defines a good leader for you, good leaders you’ve had in the past and what you admired about them. Identify if you have these qualities within yourself and times you’ve had to put them to use. If you have a story about this, make sure you say it.  

Problem Solving and Adaptability 

Good problem-solving and adaptability usually includes:  

• Identifying the problem effectively 
• Adapting to the context quickly and prioritising your actions   
• Keeping to moral and company values   
• Being level-headed, positive, flexible and logical throughout  
• Reaching out and collaborating with others when appropriate

Think of a time you’ve demonstrated this, ideally, see if you can come up with a “PAR” structured story for one or two scenarios from your past.  

General Tips

• Make sure you arrive between 5-10 minutes early if it’s in person, and have all the links set up and ready to go 3-5 minutes before the meeting if it’s online (it’s good for your own sanity to have a window of time to sit and breathe before you get into the interview). Be clean and have a neat appearance.  

• Shake off the nervousness and remember we are all human, it’s ok to be upfront about being nervous but don’t let it get in the way of presenting your answers confidently and don’t be shy about talking yourself up. It isn’t considered arrogant at all, in fact, it’s very welcomed and expected of you.  

• If you don’t have experience with a question that’s been asked of you, it’s better to be upfront and not lie. What you can do instead is; give an example of what you would do or how you would act, give an example of how you’ve seen someone else do it and what you admired about it, give an example of something similar that you’ve done that’s applicable.

Best of luck! You'll smash it!