Resumes & Cover Letters
by Vault Careers | Published: Monday, May 07, 2012
"I'll just put it down. Who's going to find out anyway, right?"
If you ever needed a reminder that embellishing or fudging an item on your résumé is a bad idea, you might want to read up on the furor that has overtaken Yahoo! CEO Scott Thompson.
Hired as CEO in January this year, Thompson is at the center of a storm over a misstatement regarding his education: his résumé states that he has a degree in accounting and computer science from Stonehill College. The reality: it's only a degree in accounting.
Given[...] Read More >>
by Vault Careers | Published: Friday, April 13, 2012
Jim Hopkinson was looking for a marketing intern. Since he happens to work for the website of an intensely popular tech magazine, Wired, he decided to up the ante a little on his application requirements with a "bonus" question: what's his favorite baseball team?
This was in addition to a more traditional list of demands, including links to blogs/websites/videos that demonstrate web skills, a PDF-formatted resume, cover letter detailing why the applicant wants the job, and a specific subject line[...] Read More >>
by Vault Careers | Published: Tuesday, March 27, 2012
It's really frustrating applying to jobs on the internet. You spend a lot of time poring over your cover letter, reworking your resume, Googling the right person to address your application to (and making sure you've got their name right), and then waiting days, weeks, and even months for a response that often never comes.
That's why we have really mixed feelings about the 3,000-word "advice" email that one company sent its 900+ rejected job applicants.
Openly acknowledging that they've already picked[...] Read More >>
by Vault Careers | Published: Tuesday, March 20, 2012
The weather's heating up, but are your job hunting efforts cooling off?
Fight the urge to abandon your search—stay on track and refresh your motivation with these tips:
1. Do Something You're Awesome At
One of the best ways to right burn out is to feel A. successful, and B. energized. This is most easily and effectively achieved by doing something you enjoy, and you kind of rule at. Be it table tennis, interpretive dance, or beating your niece at Crazy Eights, do it. The sillier (and most different[...] Read More >>
by Vault Careers | Published: Friday, March 09, 2012
Ah, Spring. A time of new beginnings and vigorous cleaning. We can smell the sunshine and Pinesol already!
But as you flip your mattress and give your walls a sponge bath, don't forget a key area to re-evaluate: your job search.
If reported job gains from the BLS can be believed, things are improving. It's been a hard winter, but the light is visible at the end of the tunnel, and it's all natural, Tulip-nurturing sunbeams. So leave your past efforts behind: this Spring is all about renewed energy,[...] Read More >>
by Vault Careers | Published: Thursday, March 01, 2012
An article in the New York Times today about jobseekers taking formal courses and workshops on social media raises an interesting question: just how valuable are social media skills?
Is Facebook know-how worth investing a few credit hours at your local college and the cost of tuition? Do the benefits of a Twitter account outweigh the annoyance of begging your tech-savvy niece to set up one up for you?
Of course, that depends.
You've increasingly heard that social media's a job skill, and that's pretty[...] Read More >>
by Vault Careers | Published: Friday, February 17, 2012
We've talked before about using social media tools to find a job. But usually, that means the Big Three: Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace.
Just kidding! Of course, the (arguably) best site for job search social media is LinkedIn. And it's undoubtedly the best place for explicating posting your resume and qualifications, since you're not likely to have any photos of you drinking nearby, and you have more than 180 characters to describe your job duties.
But what about Pinterest, a newly, wildly popular[...] Read More >>
by Vault Careers | Published: Thursday, February 09, 2012
Dear Vault readers,
You may have caught our post on Joe Maddalone and his ill-fated introduction email to Morgan Stanley's CEO.
Well one person definitely missed it: the NYU undergrad who wrote this epic fail of a cover letter to JP Morgan. In a plea for a summer analyst position, the applicant mentioned his GPA as well as bench pressing abilities. The end result was so bad that a BofA/Merrill Lynch director forwarded it to his entire team with a promise to buy for drinks "for the first analyst to[...] Read More >>
by Derek Loosvelt | Published: Wednesday, January 25, 2012
According to an article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, “Companies are increasingly relying on social networks such as LinkedIn, video profiles and online quizzes to gauge candidates’ suitability for a job. While most still request a resume as part of the application package, some are bypassing the staid requirement altogether.”
In addition, the article revealed that Todd Carlisle, director of staffing at Google, which Fortune recently named the Best Company to Work For, “reads resumes in an[...] Read More >>
by Vault Careers | Published: Friday, January 13, 2012
Joe Maddalone wasn't exactly "cold" contacting Morgan Stanley when he sent the CEO an email at 3:02pm the day after New Years.
He'd already interviewed with the company for a sales position, and was contacting James Gorman, whom he hadn't met yet, to introduce himself.
Here's the email:
"Mr. Gorman,
Hope you had a great holiday. My name is Joe Maddalone, and purpose of this email is to see it you received a letter of recommendation on my behalf from Mr. T Boone Pickens. It was FedExed last week,[...] Read More >>
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