Resume & Cover Letter Tutorial for Adult English Learners | Business English
Hey there! 👋🏼 This blog post provides the full transcript to our Youtube video, Resume & Cover Letter Tutorial for Adult English Learners | Business English. Watch the video or simply read the transcript to learn more about writing an American style resume and cover letter. At the end of the transcript you can download the resume and cover letter template discussed in the video. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions!
Full Video Transcript
Welcome back to another video, on this channel we teach business English to adult learners using a fun and relaxed approach. In today’s video we will be reviewing a job post, resume and cover letter for the fictional character, Shen Ruoxin from the Chinese drama, The Rational Life. Okay, let’s get started.
Background information:
In the Chinese drama, The Rational Life, Shen Ruoxin faces numerous professional and personal challenges. Despite her significant contributions and dedication, she encounters gender biases and workplace politics that hinder her career growth. Additionally, she strives to balance her career ambitions with personal values and relationships, often finding herself at a crossroads between professional integrity and corporate expectations.
Let’s help Shen Ruoxin find a new job that values her skills and contributions without the constraints she is currently facing. Every resume and cover letter you create should be specific to the job you are applying for. Let’s take a look at the job posting. By the way, this is an example of what a real job posting would look like in America.
The job posting is for the Director of Legal Affairs position. The company is Qianlong Enterprises and it’s located in Shanghai, China. They are looking for a full-time employee for the legal department. This role will report to the Chief Executive Officer, also known as the CEO.
The about us section is a description of the company and the things they want you to know about them before you apply. In this section you can see that Qianlong Enterprises is in the air conditioning manufacturing industry.
Next is the position overview. This section will tell you about the role that they hiring for, including the key responsibilities and qualifications. You can see it says, “The ideal candidate will have a strong background in corporate law, exceptional leadership skills, and a proven track record of successfully navigating complex legal challenges.”
In the key responsibilities sub-section they are listing some of the things you would be doing if you were hired for this job. For example, you would develop and implement legal strategies that align with the company’s goals and objectives. You would also oversee all legal matters, including corporate governance, contracts, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, and litigation.
The next sub-section is the qualifications section where they tell you how much and what type of education and experience you must have to be considered for the job. For example, a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from an accredited law school is the educational credential you need to have. A minimum of 10 years of experience is the work history you must have to be considered for the job.
An important note about this section. Often times you do not need to have all of the qualifications listed in order to be considered for the job. If you have a least 50-60% of the qualifications, you may have a good chance at being considered for the job.
Finally the application process explains the steps you need to take to apply for this position. It’s important to read this section carefully so that you can make a good first impression and increase your chances of getting an interview.
Now that we know what job Ruoxin is applying to, let’s review her resume and cover letter. I won’t read the resume and cover letter sentence by sentence. Instead I will point out a few things that are important to add to resumes and cover letters. You can find the full transcript of this video and a copy of these templates at AsianDramaEnglish.com.
The first thing to take note of is in the professional experience section there are two jobs listed for the same company. This is because Ruoxin was promoted in February 2015 and her responsibilities changed with the new role. It’s a good idea to show how you have progressed within a company in this way. Alternatively, you can include two different roles in the same section for one job. This format will help you save space but might not clearly show how your role grew over time.
If you have several jobs that take cannot fit on two pages, consider removing jobs that are less relevant to the job you are applying for. Also consider removing jobs that you worked for over 10 years ago. In other words, your resume should include your most recent and relevant work experience.
If you have more than five years of work experience, list your education after your work experience. If you have less than five years of work experience, you may want to list your education before your work experience. This is because education can supplement limited work experience, however, work experience is often more valued than education.
If you speak multiple languages, I’d recommend always including this somewhere on your resume, even if it doesn’t seem relevant. You never know when your language skills can be applied at any given time.
This is a standard cover letter template. Be sure to address your cover letter to the hiring manager, if this information is available. If it is not available, you can address it broadly to “Dear Hiring Team” or something similar. A good cover letter has three parts. In part one, you introduce yourself. In part two you explain briefly why you should be hired for the job. For example, in paragraph two, Ruoxin makes a connection between her current job and the job she is applying for by giving examples of things she’s done that she knows will need to do in the new job. In this way, she is showing that she has the skills necessary to do the new job. The third part should explain why you want to work for the company. In paragraph three, Ruoxin explains why she thinks Qianlong Enterprises is a good company and expresses excitement for the opportunity to work there.
With practice, you can switch the order of parts one, two and three to emphasize different parts first, second and third.
Okay and that brings us to the end of this video. If you found this video helpful, please give it a thumbs up and I will see you in the next one.
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