Congratulations new graduates you finally made it! Or you went back to recharge your mental batteries;
which is fantastic. Now it’s time to apply for that career you have worked so hard to get ready for.

You are reading job postings and run into the challenge: “We require 3-5 years’ experience.” Now what?
You apply anyway and hope for a callback. When you get the callback, how do you communicate the
skills you have?

Here are a few great tips you can use in your cover letter, resume and in the interview. Helping people
communicate what they have accomplished is a passion we have here at R&R…so please enjoy and pass
these along.

Here are the skills you have and a few words to help you communicate your message:
Ability to achieve goals: You have graduated right? Check whether your good grades are proof of that
skill. You may have met other goals while in school as well, such as graduating in three years instead of
four (which may be why you don’t have any job experience).

Research skills: How many people who’ve been out in the “real world” have research skills that are as
fresh and recent as yours? How many know as much as you do about, say, conducting research on the
Internet? Probably not many, so for jobs where this ability may be helpful, be sure to emphasize your
research skills.

Ability to meet deadlines and thrive under pressure: University & College are full of deadlines. You have
years’ experience meeting and exceeding deadlines.

Ability to handle multiple tasks: Remember how you wanted to smack all your instructors for requiring
simultaneous major papers and projects? Now you can send a thank you letter! Multi-tasking is valued
in the workplace, and your cover letter gives you the chance to boast about your ability to juggle many
projects at once.

Ability to adapt: Your university/college years probably gave you your first opportunity to make adult
decisions and act independently. How did you handle stumbling blocks and disappointments along the
way?

Writing skills: Jobs that require good writing skills are a lot more common than you probably think. If
you demonstrated your ability to write well for class, you can highlight that skill in your cover letter.
And, of course, your writing talents should be self-evident from the quality of your cover letter as well.
Many of you worked your way through school; so think about the balance of school and work. Your
commitment to both is reflective of your ability to multi-task, take responsibility and so much more. You
have so much to celebrate so be sure to share it with your prospective employer!