The Ultimate Cheat Sheet to Optimize Your Job Applications!

The most desirable companies to work for in the United States are competitive, make no doubt about it. The New York Times reportedly receives some 5,000 applications just for its summer internship program (there are 25 slots — you do the math) and Google gets around 3 million applications every year and hires only 7,000 (that’s a measly 0.2%).

These figures can be distressing, but we only share them to paint a picture of just how competitive certain industries are and to encourage you to find creative ways to stand out in a sea of thousands of applicants. When a recruiter or hiring manager looks at your job application, the goal is not to make them play the Where’s Waldo game of “who is this person, what’s their experience like, and are they a good fit for the job?”.

Rather, your application should be so crystal clear about who you are and why you’re the right fit that a brief glance will immediately land you in the “contact” pile instead of the “reject” pile.

To help you make sure every job application you submit this year and beyond is in tip top shape, here’s our ultimate cheat sheet of five job application essentials to tick off for every single job you apply to.

Tip #1: Don’t Skimp on the Cover Letter

Chances are that you’re not the only one applying for that job, and the truth is that a cover letter can make the difference between two equally qualified candidates. Even if a cover letter is marked as optional in the company’s application, always include one.

In a competitive market, thoughtfully prepared cover letters give you an edge. They’re a graceful way to introduce who you are and brand your application with a sneak peek of your personality and writing skills. Even if the company has an informal culture (casual dress, a lack of cubicles, etc.), the cover letter is one formality you never want to exclude.

Your application should be so crystal clear about who you are and why you’re the right fit that a brief glance will immediately land you in the “contact” pile instead of the “reject” pile.

Oh, and don’t use a template. Templated letters are obvious to recruiters, especially those who’ve been in the business for their fair share of time. To make the cover letter less daunting for you, here’s a quick list of tips:

• Do your best to find the decision maker’s name (hiring manager, recruiter, etc.) and use it in the greeting. If it’s not available, use “To the Hiring Manager,” and always use a colon after the salutation. If it’s an email message, you can use a comma.
• Keep your cover letter short. Think three or four paragraphs.
• In the first paragraph, explain why you’re writing (How did you find out about the job? Are you answering an ad? Were you referred by someone who told you the company was expanding? Did a current employee network with you?).
• In the middle paragraphs, tell the reader why you’re a good candidate while showing them that you’ve researched the company. This is a good place to share a story (think problem, idea, solution, and outcome) that highlights how you can be an advantageous player there. This is also a good place to share your passions and why the job is the perfect fit for you. You can use bullet points or paragraph form when sharing your accomplishments, qualifications, and personal interest in the role.
• Finally, finish your letter by indicating that you’ll follow up in the future and sign off with “Sincerely,” followed by your full name.
• Include your cover letter as an email attachment or use it as the actual text of your email message if you’re contacting a decision maker directly.

Here’s a pro tip: If you’re very interested in a role and haven’t heard in a few days, consider mailing a hard copy of your cover letter to the hiring manager. Attach a handwritten note to the signed cover letter that simply says, “I’m very interested; second submission.” If you’re afraid this strategy is aggressive — don’t be. Recruiters call this “double hitting” and say it works incredibly well for landing interviews.

Tip #2: Consider a Tailored Add-On

If you’re applying to a job that regularly requires the production of industry-specific deliverables, consider including that in your application. For example, if you’re applying for a graphic design project, attach a few of your very best portfolio samples that are relevant to the work you know the company needs.

The power of customization is highly overlooked when it comes to resume crafting. Your resume should be tailored to perfection for the role so that the HR team deems you “The One, the Candidate to Rule them All” — not a vague outline of a person.

If you’re applying as an analyst to a real estate firm, attach a spreadsheet with complex data that you created for an economic class or, better yet, one that you created from scratch to analyze the value of homes in the company’s market. If you’re applying as a journalist, attach copies of your published work, or one of your best mock news pieces from the classroom.

Tip #3: Customize Your Resume for the Role

When I first started applying for jobs out of college, I made the mistake of sending the same resume to every single company that had a role I was interested in. A few years later, I took a step forward by creating three different resumes, with one for each vertical I was interested in. A few hops and skips down the road in my career, and I can assure you I’ve sent a different resume for every single company I’ve applied to in the last five years.

The power of customization is highly overlooked when it comes to resume crafting. Your resume should be tailored to perfection for the role so that the HR team deems you “The One, the Candidate to Rule them All” — not a vague outline of a person.

Even if you’re the best applicant on paper, the pace at which companies hire these days coupled with the hiring software recruiting teams use mean that it’s very easy for highly qualified candidates to slip through the cracks. Minimize the chance that this happens to you by finding a way to stand out.

Tip number four will play into this heavily, as you’ll need to understand the company and team’s goals prior to crafting the perfect CV. To write a resume that shouts “Hire me!,” don’t make the mistake of thinking of the resume as the most low maintenance part of your job search.

Here are our best tips for tailoring, consolidated:

• Think of your resume as a marketing document.
• Don’t give the same weight of detail to every single job. Emphasize experiences that are the most relevant to the position you aspire to fill.
• Highlight the parts of your previous jobs and internships that involved projects you know will be a part of the job you’re applying for.
• Don’t be afraid to leave out or briefly summarize volunteer, job, and internship experiences that aren’t relevant.
• Quantify your results with numbers. For example, “wrote X blog posts, resulting in a X % increase in email click-throughs.”
• Incorporate keywords. Just like search engine optimization helps articles get found by Google, keywords help you get found by recruiters’ software. For example, if you’re applying for an engineering job, use the words “HTML,” “back end,” and “design.”
• Format your resume so that it’s easy to read on paper and as a .PDF. Even if you send your resume via email, many employees still print them out for ease of reading.
• Make good use of bullets, bold text, and white space. Create a crisp, clean look that’s professional and impactful.
• Include a hyperlink to your LinkedIn profile or a website with your portfolio.
• Get the eyes of a family member, friend, or career counselor on your resume. Typos and grammar mistakes are a big no-no, and outside eyes can help you avoid them.

Tip #4: Do Your Research

Hooray, you’ve been invited to apply or you’ve landed an interview! Now what? Many interviews and job application questions are designed to help companies understand how successfully you could approach common scenarios that come up on the team you’re applying to.

Familiarize yourself with the company, the department, and the specific team you’re applying to. A good place to start is the company’s PR page, which can usually be found from the homepage of the company’s website. Use Google News to see if there are any recent news articles about the company (you can filter by date, and I recommend looking over content for big headlines over the past two to three years).

Glassdoor.com can also provide insight into the company’s culture (good and bad), as can face-to-face conversations with current and past employees. Key things to discover include how employees’ performance is evaluated, company-wide goals and obstacles, what the management style is like, and any current issues or hurdles the department or team is facing that your skill set could resolve.

If you’re at the application stage, display the knowledge you’ve learned in your answers to questions and in the success stories you choose to share. If you’re interviewing, find a way to show the interview team that you’ve taken your time to research the company, but don’t act like you know everything about it (this can come off as prideful). Rather, say that “you’ve read about…” or “a friend who works [here] told me that…” and curiously ask questions about the culture, job expectations, and what they’re looking for most in candidates for the role.

Tip #5: Find a Way to Stand Out

Returning back to the Where’s Waldo analogy, even if you’re the best applicant on paper, the pace at which companies hire these days coupled with the hiring software recruiting teams use mean that it’s very easy for highly qualified candidates to slip through the cracks.

Minimize the chance that this happens to you by finding a way to stand out that’s authentic to your personality. For example, if you enjoy writing and sense that the interviewer appreciates thoughtful gestures, send a handwritten thank you note. Always follow up with an email to thank them for the opportunity and ask about next steps if you thought the conversation was a good one.

Other ways to stand out with your application and before or after the interview include the following:

• Ask thought-provoking questions during the job interview that display your knowledge of the vertical.
• Reference a recent news piece featuring the company, department, or industry.
• Acknowledge obvious gaps in your resume that you highly anticipate the person seeing, and persuasively explain how you’re a good candidate in spite of them with a behavioral anecdote.
• Provide hardcopies of your resume and the most impressive pieces of your portfolio to every interviewer.
• Leave off on a good note. Genuinely thank them for the opportunity and let them know you’re enthusiastic about the role and could successfully contribute to the team.
• Appear confident. Practice your interviews with family members and friends. Better yet, role play with contacts/peers in the industry/company already for tailored feedback about your performance, body language, and delivery.

Remember that your job application is just one slice of the larger pie. Credentials are important, but motivation is underrated. In other words, you want to pull every lever possible to display to the company that you have the drive to think creatively, work collaboratively, and continue learning while you’re there.

Let us know if you use these tips on a job application in the comments below!