Tag Archives: Kathryn Minshew
New Rules of Work about Cover Letters and Resumes
On Friday at the Park City Club in Dallas, I will present a synopsis of this best-seller by Alexandra Cavoulacos and Kathryn Minshew: The new rules of work: The modern playbook for navigating your career. New York: Crown Books (2017).
You can register for this event on the home page of 15MinuteBusinessBooks.com.
One of the issues the authors discuss is whether job seekers still need resumes and cover letters, given the amount of information available about them on social media sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter.
Here is what they say:
“Believe us, we’ve heard that question many times before. But heed our advice when we say that nothing replaces your formal resume and cover letter. Not your LinkedIn profile. Not your impressive personal website. Not your articulate expression of your skills and talents in your informational interview, or your well-written email to the hiring managers. These are all important, of course. However, you absolutely still need to have a polished resume and cover letter prepared. Because all those extra trappings won’t matter if you don’t have the right packaging to catch the eye of your target audience – the hiring managers” (p. 125).
They publish a list of resume and cover letter do’s and don’ts (pp. 149-150)
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Resume |
Cover Letter |
|
Do’s
· Tailor your information · Include quantifiable achievements · Show, don’t tell · Make contact information easy to find · Stick to one page – two at most · Check for skimmability · Include key words from job description · Use powerful and unique verbs · Proofread · Save as a PDF |
Do’s
· Share your personality · Tell a relevant story about what brought you to the job · Expand on your resume · Highlight key transferable skills · Use the company’s “voice” · Address the letter to someone specific |
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Don’ts
· Make bullets read like job descriptions · Include confidential information about a previous employer · List “references available upon request” · Neglect application instructions · Squish it all to one page – six point font · Lie |
Don’ts
· Fail to write one · Regurgitate your resume · Use stiff, formal language · Address to “whom it may concern” · Include a desired salary – unless asked |
New Work Rules Book Crashes into Best-Seller List
Just eleven days ago, as of this writing, Crown Books released The New Rules of Work: The Modern Playbook for Navigating Your Career. It is already in the top 100 books in two Amazon.com best-selling sub categories, and today, hit # 5 on the Wall Street Journal business best-seller list (April 29-30, p. C10).
We will watch the progress of this book on the best-seller lists, and continue to monitor critical reviews of the book before making a decision to present it at the First Friday Book Synopsis. However, the strong start that it has certainly has us already giving it very strong consideration for presentation.
The authors are Alexandra Cavoulacos and Kathryn Minshew. According to Amazon.com,
Cavoulacos is the Founder and COO of The Muse.com, where she leads the 
Product and Operations teams, creating and launching new features weekly. Prior to founding The Muse, Alex was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company’s New York office. She graduated from Yale University and is an alumna of Y Combinator in Silicon Valley.
Minshew is the CEO and Founder of The Muse.com, a career platform and community helping 50+ million Millennials find inspiring careers at innovative companies. She was named to INC’s 35 Under 35 and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for two years in a row.
These are the rules that the book presents:
The New Rules for finding the right path: Sift through, and narrow today’s ever-growing menu of job and career options, using the simple step-by-step Muse Method.
The New Rules for landing the perfect job: Build your personal brand, and communicate exactly how you can contribute and why your experience is valuable in a way that is sure to get the attention of your dream employer. Then ace every step of the interview process, from getting a foot in the door to negotiating your offer.
The New Rules for growing and advancing in your career: Mastering first impressions, the art of communication, networking, managing up and other “soft” skills – and make it obvious that whatever level you’re at, you’re ready to get ahead.
Continue to monitor our blog and website for any future decisions regarding whether we will present this book. As of this writing, I have fair optimism about that.
