Resumes And Cover Letters For Social Workers (Page 2 of 9) in pdf

A resume and cover letter work together to interest an employer in interviewing you. This important marketing

team should always be geared to your specific audience and describe the relevant skills, experience, and accomplish-

ments that qualify you for the position for which you’re applying.

Getting Started on Your Resume

Ask yourself what populations and settings interest you. This will help you decide what to include in your resume,

what to emphasize, and the appropriate terminology to use.

Research the organizations where you’ll be sending your resume. Browse their websites, check out their social me-

dia presence, and connect with Smith alums and others who work there. Learn about an organization’s mission, pro-

grams, population served, and theory base.

Make a master list of all your experiences and skills. Include education, certifications, and licensing; field place-

ments; projects (community, anti-racism); jobs, internships, and volunteer positions; trainings attended and presenta-

tions given; research (thesis); and professional activities (memberships, committee work, conferences); language and

computer skills; interests, activities, and travel. With all this recorded, you can more easily tailor your resume.

Choosing a Format and Headings

List information in reverse chronological order, from present to past. Employers are most familiar with this format.

Choose headings to emphasize relevant skills and experience. Clinically-focused resumes typically begin with Edu-

cation followed by Social Work or Clinical Experience. Other background be called Additional Experience or some-

thing more specific such as Teaching, Research, or International Experience.

For macro-level positions other headings may be appropriate such as Human Services Experience, Community Out-

reach Experience, Administrative Experience, and so forth. To further emphasize the breadth of your skills and experi-

ence, you might begin your resume with a profile or skills summary.

Avoid using a template. Template resumes often look alike and are hard for most users to modify.

Describing Your Experience

Use action verb phrases, not sentences (see the action verb list on page 9). Omit personal pronouns and “a,” “an,”

and “the” to achieve a concise style that will be easier—and faster—for employers to read.

Use keywords and details appropriate to your audience. For clinical positions include details about your client

population such as diagnoses or presenting issues, age, ethnicity, and socio-economic status unless certain your read-

er knows this. Other details: the number of clients seen individually or in groups, and length and type of treatment.

For macro-level positions stress skills such as supervising others, program development, community organizing,

fundraising, teamwork, grant writing, and budget management. Include the number of people you’ve supervised or

amount of money raised. Use more familiar language for non-clinical positions.

Stress accomplishments and sequence phrases according to the skills most relevant to your reader. List less rele-

2 2 2 2 2 2

vant information later in your descriptions, condense it, or omit it.

Resumes And Cover Letters For Social Workers Page 2