Preparing a Job Application part 1 - Cover Letter and Resume

Right now I am helping modeling students at CG Protege to prepare their applications for Jedi Masters Program, so I will share my preparation process in a series of posts. There are usually 3 things needed in a job application: a cover letter, a resume, and a demo reel (plus a portfolio).

In this post, I will cover how you can write a cover letter and a resume in half a day.
(Edit: I am writing this article in the context of 3D computer graphics industry. My points may be irrelevant in other fields.)

Around half of my students are afraid of cover letter and resume. I will tell them that these two are the easiest to finish. Even if you do not have these, you can finish a draft for both in 2 hours. Here is how.

Cover Letter

What do you write in a cover letter? In the minimum, it must:

• introduce you and what job you are applying, and
• make a strong case why you are the one for the job.

Spend 10 minutes researching cover letters, then start writing your draft. While writing, you may feel the need to research specific details. Do research more while writing.

Almost all my students felt that they need to type one full page. This is a wrong idea. If the company you are applying to gets 100 applicants, then the people who look through the applications will need to read 100 letters. Make their life easier. Write only 3 paragraphs:

• paragraph 1: introduce yourself and the job you are applying.
• paragraph 2: explain why you are the best fit for the job. (Not just a good fit, but the best fit.)
• paragraph 3: thank the person and close the letter.

Spend at most 30 minutes to type your cover letter draft. You can take a brief break from writing if necessary, then move on to your resume.

Resume

A resume must have 3 critical sections: Work Experience, Skills, and Education. Spend most of your time on these sections. Your contact info at the heading should take you 5 minutes max.

Spend 15 minutes researching resumes, then start typing the skeleton of your resume. At this point, you should have (1) your contact info at head of the resume and (2) section headings.

What do you write in these 3 critical sections?

Work Experience

• List your past jobs. Include only jobs that are related to what you are applying and jobs that show significant responsibilities.
• For each job, describe what you did. Start each description with a verb in the past tense. Examples:
• Solved customer problems...
• Researched and developed look and feel...
• Fixed geometry problems...
• Include only relevant descriptions and descriptions that show your ability to take responsibility. Keeping the list short is better (remember to make the recruiter's life easier).

Skills

• List the software that you use.
• For each software, describe (1) what you use it for and (2) at what level of proficiency (beginner, intermediate, or expert user).
• Examples:
• 3ds Max: Expert user (level of proficiency) for 3D modelling and texturing (usage).
• Nuke: Expert user for 2D compositing.
• ZBrush: Intermediate user for digital sculpting, texturing, and detailing.
• What is the difference between intermediate and expert? My rule of thumb is this. Imagine you are in your first day of the new job. The company gives you the software and a task to do. Can you immediately launch yourself into 100% productivity, hitting shortcut keys as fast as other veterans in the company?
• If you can, then you are an expert user.
• If you need some time to grope around the User Interface (UI) or to remember which commands to use, then you are an intermediate user.
• Include only relevant software. If the position requires proficiency in word processing, then do include word processing (assuming you do have the skill). Otherwise, keeping the list short is better (remember to make the recruiter's life easier).

Education

• List the highest qualification you have, which school you got it from, and when you got it.
• If you have multiple equivalent qualifications (usually diplomas in different aspects of arts), then list these.

If you are focused, you should finish a draft in one and a half hours.

Polishing the Drafts

You may feel that this is too easy. You are right. What you have at this point are drafts. You need to polish them now.

First, research more about the particular job you are applying. Make sure you know clearly (1) what requirements are and (2) what you will do if you get the job. Next, research about the company you are applying to. Get familiar with what they worked on.What you want to do is to eliminate as many blind spots that you have as possible. This will help you in polishing your drafts.

A student who was preparing for a modeling internship position for Lucasfilm Singapore wondered why the company needed 3D modelers since he thought the company did not do modeling that much. I answered by showing him these videos:

• Behind the Magic: The Visual Effects of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" 
• Behind The Magic - Invisible Effects of "The Lone Ranger"

I finished off by mentioning "Pacific Rim" (so many giant robots, kaijus, and buildings; not mentioning different extent of damage for each model).

Just by reminding him about past films ILM worked on eliminated his blind spot that ILM (and therefore Lucasfilm) does not create model much. In addition, he realized the scope of modeling needed, both in complexity and volume, giving him a clearer idea of what he would be doing if he got the job.

How do you polish your cover letter draft?

You can mimic the process I follow for all my students. I read through what they wrote, pretending that I were a recruiter who has to read tens of cover letters.

By now, you should know more about the job and the company compared to when you started writing your draft. Identify anything that tells the recruiter that you are not clear about the job or the company. Rephrase or delete such sentences or paragraphs. If your draft as a whole draft gives off such impression, then you may want to rewrite your draft.

Next, strengthen your argument that you are the best fit for the job. You can cite past experience or explain how your background makes you that best fit.

Finally, work on the language. Here are a number of common mistakes I saw so far:

• Bombastic words. Tune down such words because they make you sound as if you are sucking up.
• Certain points are repeated. Eliminate repetitions.
• Some paragraphs essentially say nothing. Delete such paragraph.
• Some paragraph elaborate a point mentioned in another paragraph. Combine those paragraphs.

Edit ruthlessly until you have 3 short paragraphs.

Now you are ready to show your draft to people you trust who can help you to improve the grammar, word choice, et cetera. You can ask your parents, your instructor, or even cross-check with your classmate (you check your classmate's and your classmate check yours). I recommend getting feedback from a person who is meticulous about language. This can be a never ending process, so be reasonable.

How do you polish your resume draft?

Same process as polishing cover letter draft. Read your resume as if you were a recruiter who has to read tens of resumes. Again, the first thing you must do is eliminate anything that tells the recruiter that you are not clear about the job you are applying.

After that, the edits are relatively minor:

• Make sure the recruiter can find the 3 critical sections in one glance. Adjust font size and spacing to make the 3 headings easy to find.
• Any past jobs or past responsibilities that will not interest the recruiter must be removed.
• On the other hand, if researching about the job and the company remind you of a past experience you forgot to write, then do add this.

Edit and format ruthlessly until you fit your resume within 2 pages.

Now you are ready to show your resume draft around and get feedback.

(One point to note here. I am in Singapore where the words "resume" and "CV" mean the same thing. If you are not in Singapore, please make sure you write what the company asks for.)


I hope this post convinces you that writing a cover letter and a resume in half a day is possible. I am sure you give yourself more time than half a day, so you can definitely finish yours with reasonable quality. In the next post, I will cover the demo reel (and possibly a portfolio).

If you have a different take, please leave a comment below. I would especially like to hear what recruiters want :)

(Edited on 2 May 2015. Added elaboration on levels of proficiency and closing line.)
(Edited on 15 May 2015. Pointed out the I assumed the context of 3D computer graphics industry.)