Cover Letter and Resume Building for Audiologists Web Seminar Recorded October 9, 2013

Cover Letter and Resume Building for Audiologists October 9, 2013 Don Vogel, AuD, Director, Hunter College Center for Communication Disorders [email protected]

What are we accomplishing today?

 Understand the purpose of, and how to design a good cover letter  Understand the framework needed to compose an accurate, easy-to-read resume  Describe professional/personal skills necessary for resume building

Why look for a new job?       

Increase financial gain Add to professional stature Expand knowledge Perfect skills Forge new relationships Work in a different location Perform research

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Cover Letter and Resume Building for Audiologists Web Seminar Recorded October 9, 2013

The “Now” and “Future” You  Clinical skills  Professional relationships  What are your future goals? Advice: Broaden your chances for employment opportunities by developing a good reputation in the field

Why do this?  What’s

the purpose of a cover letter?  What’s the purpose of a resume?

To get an interview!

Cover letter and resume represent you 

Cover letter/resume is only an introduction!



Minimize negative judgments/maximize positive perceptions (ensure they get to meet you in person, not make judgments about you based on scraps of paper!!)

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Put yourself in the reader’s position – and design the letter/resume so information is quickly gathered



You market yourself to the prospective employer at the interview

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Cover Letter and Resume Building for Audiologists Web Seminar Recorded October 9, 2013

Cover letter style 

Keep the letter one page long; more than a page a half, and the reader will get bored

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Business-style format

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Electronic versions – generate something you can cut and paste into an email

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Hard copy cover letters and resumes should use the same paper with matching fonts

Cover letter content  Discuss your goals  Review your knowledge and skills  Highlight your accomplishments  Do all the above while setting the right tone

Cover letter format – 6 sections Paragraph 1 - where you saw the ad; state your understanding of what the position is about Paragraph 2 – unique skills you bring to this position Paragraph 3 - special accomplishments and how those accomplishments can be utilized or morphed into this position Paragraph 4 - your professional goals and how this job aligns with them Paragraph 5 - education, credentials; how you are prepared for a position like this Last paragraph – brief closing statement

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Cover Letter and Resume Building for Audiologists Web Seminar Recorded October 9, 2013

Cover letter tone 

Personal – connect to the person who’s reading the letter



Specific – indicate you know details about the facility

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Friendly – be appropriate but not too familiar

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Professional – use scientific and technical language, but define acronyms

Good Cover Letter

Dorothy Dessybelle 2000 Hertz Way • Soundview, NY 11221 (516) 555-5555 • [email protected] Wanda Wonder, EdD Director, Wonder-ful Speech, Hearing and Balance Center 2020 Usher’s Drive Bayville, WA 44444 20xx Dear Dr. Wonder,

February X,

The need for a clinical audiologist at Wonder-ful Speech, Hearing and Balance Center was indicated in Advance for Audiologists February x, 20xx. Please accept this cover letter and enclosed resume for your review and as an expression of interest.

 One page says it all!  It’s pointed, friendly and appropriate  Business format is used  The tone is just right

On June 1, 20XX, I graduated from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) having earned a Doctor of Audiology (AuD) degree. As is standard for all CUNY AuD graduates, I have clocked over 1850 hours in clinical practicum experiences, inclusive of audiological evaluations, digital hearing aid programming and dispensing. Part of my practicum focus and personal interests were developing skills in balance testing and electrophysiological procedures which I exercised during my 4th Year Residency at the St. Vincent’s Hospice. Although my experiences in Audiology are limited, they have given me a foundation on which I can build a rewarding future. My goal is to grow and be involved as a professional and a team member at Wonder-ful Speech, Hearing and Balance. Your facility’s excellent reputation and diverse patient population is of special interest to me as I seek to develop my career in an outpatient facility attending to adult needs. You may be interested to know that I am currently working on a paper addressing fall prevention in phonemically challenged, visually handicapped elderly – a population I am familiar with, one with which I desire to practice, and a known demographic of your facility. Working in audiology is incredibly exciting to me and I look forward to participating in our field’s future development. I hope to make significant contributions to its growth having been especially prepared to do so in CUNY’s AuD Program.

I:FWS ratio = 1

Please examine my resume and credentials. Should you wish to call me in for an interview, I’ll be very happy to expand on education and career goals at that time. Sincerely,

Dottie Dessybelle Dorothy Dessybelle Enclosure: Resume

Not-so-good cover letter

Dottie Dessybelle 20,000 Hertz Way • Soundview, NY 11221 (516) 555-5555 • [email protected] Director Wonder-ful Institute for Speech and Hearing 2020 Usher’s Drive Bayville, WA 44444

 What’s wrong here?

2/22/xx To Whom It May Concern

 Spelling

I would like to apply for the audiologist position at WISH. I saw the ad at the CUNY Educationel listings and would like to know more about this position. Ive enclosed this cover letter and my resume for your inpection.

 Grammar

I will graduate from the CUNY Grad Center with an AuD on June 1, 20XX. My practicum experiences have given me the confidence to work independently in any hospital, nursing home, clinic, private practice or school. I am very experienced in the field of audiology and I know I can be an asset to your facility.

 Inappropriate tone  Personal information  I:FWS ratio = 8 I:FWS must be  5 Too many sentences start with “I”!!

I enjoy working with all types of people but especially enjoy getting up in the morning and facing the challenges of working with hearing impaired people. During graudate school, I was involved with my church’s volunteer system which allowed me to better understand the poor, the needy and those less fortunite than me. I look forward to working in such an important field like audiology and feel that my life’s mission can be fulfilled in many different ways which includes a work place like yours. I look forward to hearing from you.

Number of sentences in letter: Number of sentences that start with “I”: Formula I÷FWS = ?

10 8

Always,

Dottie Enclosure: Resume

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Cover Letter and Resume Building for Audiologists Web Seminar Recorded October 9, 2013

Building your resume Style Content Order

Resume styles Functional  Describes skills and work history Chronological  Emphasizes work history and skills Curriculum Vitae  Focuses on education, skills, research and service

Resume Content Accomplishments/Research  Citation: Date, co-investigator’s name(s), title of research, where presented Credentials  Current memberships; earned certifications Education  Date, degree, school and location Experience  Date, site name, location and demographics  Tasks you routinely performed there Skills  Only professionally related skills, e.g., NOAH, spreadsheets, databases, word processing, etc. Note: timeframe is always in a reverse chronological order!

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Cover Letter and Resume Building for Audiologists Web Seminar Recorded October 9, 2013

Resume length and content order New AuD

Experienced AuD

1-2 pages

3-4 pages

Education

Experience

Experience

Education

Accomplishments

Accomplishments

Credentials

Credentials

Skills

Skills

An AuD just starting out will likely have a 1-2 page resume; an experienced AuD could have 3-4 pages One page in today’s healthcare market is skimpy even for someone right out of school

Electronic Resumes  Generate a resume in a document you can cut and paste information from – make sure the wording is pristine  Fill out the forms as asked on line  Prepare short statement you can cut and paste (and spellcheck it!)  Review your work, and then review it again!  Trick: if you are unsure there is a spellcheck feature, purposefully misspell a word and see if it gets highlighted  Cover letters are not typically asked for – but have something prepared just in case  Save your resume as a PDF

Dorothy Dessybelle

New AuD Resume

20,000 Hertz Way • Soundview, NY 11221 (516) 555-5555 • [email protected] QUALIFICATIONS SUMMARY and GOALS • Auditory Processing Evaluations • New York State License, eligible • Full time, staff audiologist position in pediatric acute care medical facility • Available for employment June 1, 2013 EDUCATION

 BOLD CAPS are best for section heads  Use italics to emphasize information  Make it easy to read by keeping dates in the left column

2013

Doctor of Audiology Graduate School , City and State

2009

Undergraduate Degree School , City and State

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Spring ’12 to present

St. Vincent’s Hospice, Eveningstar, NY Population: adult, geriatric at skilled nursing facility Skills routinely exercised at this site: • Complete audiological evaluations (CAEs) • Electronystagmography (ENG) and balance evaluations, vestibular rehabilitation • Hearing aid dispensing • Counseling of patients; departmental staffings Presented at Grand Rounds, “Balance Processing Disorders” PRACTICUM EXPERIENCES Spring ‘12 Garinim Nursing Home, Eveningstar, NY Population: adult, geriatric at skilled nursing facility Skills exercised at this site: • Complete audiological evaluations (CAEs) • Hearing aid dispensing • Counseling of patients; departmental staffings Presented inservice, “Auditory Processing Disorders” Fall ‘11 Myteefine Speech and Hearing Center, Rye, NY Population: pediatric deaf and hard of hearing at outpatient center Skills exercised at this site: • Cochlear implant mapping and aural habilitation • Tonal auditory brainstem response (ABR) evaluations • Auditory Processing Evaluations Assisted in literature research for grant proposal, “Infant Hearing Screenings Using DPOAEs and Immittance Testing”

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Cover Letter and Resume Building for Audiologists Web Seminar Recorded October 9, 2013

Dorothy Dessybelle (516) 555-5555 • [email protected]

New AuD Resume

PRACTICUM EXPERIENCE (continued) Summer‘11 Mercy Medical Center, Massapequa, NY Population: pediatric, adult, geriatric outpatients at regional medical center Skills exercised at this site: • Complete audiological evaluations • Electronystagmography (ENG) and balance testing and rehabilitation • Generated and wrote Infection Control protocol under department chief’s mentorship

 Keep contact information on top

Spring ‘11 Hunter College Center for Communication Disorders, New York, NY Population: adult, pediatric; university clinic Skills obtained at this site: • CAEs • ABR • Auditory processing disorder (APD) testing • Counseling of patients; departmental staffings

 Continue style from previous page

Summer & Brooklyn College Speech and Hearing Center, Brooklyn, NY Fall ‘10 Population: pediatric, adult, geriatric; university clinic Skills obtained at this site: • CAEs • Prescriptive hearing aid measures • Counseling of patients

 The whole page does not need to be filled

RESEARCH Hertz, Q, & Dessybelle, D, (June 20XX), Measuring Growth of Hair Cells, Poster presentation at AudiologyNow!, Denver, CO. CREDENTIALS & MEMBERSHIPS 2013 Professional license eligible NY State Office of the Professions Hearing Aid Dispenser, registrant, Department of State, NY 2011 Student Academy of Audiology, member SERVICE & ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2013 Completed NYC Marathon, time: 5:38:17 2011 Chair, Risk Management Committee, Hunter College Center for Communication Disorders SKILLS American Sign Language, fluent Spanish, comfortable performing audiological evaluations and counseling in Spanish References will be furnished at interview

Bad Resume

Dottie Dessybelle 2000 Hertz Way • Soundview, NY 11221 (516) 555-5555 • [email protected]

Objective: To secure an audiology position which will enable me to work with adults, children and the elderly; Interests: cochlear implants, HA, tinnitus, electrophysiology, ENGs, and vestibular rehab

EDUCATION

 An “Objective” statement is not necessary  Make the document easy to read  UNDERLINING disturbs the visual flow  “Professional Experience” implies a paid experience

Doctor of Audiology May 20XX, GPA: 3.9 Moo-Shoo University, Beeline City, NY Bachelor of Science, May 200X, Magna Cum Laude Feenamint College, Cheesequake, NJ PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Mercy Nursing Home, Eveningstar, NY Spring ’0X, SNF with adult and geriatric populations; Supervisor: Stella Staypis, AuD Performed complete audiological evaluations, HA evaluations and dispensing, report writing, chart entries, NOAH 2 for a variety of HA programs. Presented “Auditory Processing Disorders” to Center for Communication Disorders staff Myteefine Speech and Hearing, Rye, NY Fall ’0X, children’s clinic Performed CI mapping, tonal ABR, aural rehab; attended weekly meetings; assisted during state investigation Mercy Medical Center, Massapequa, NY Summer ’0X, Hospital outpatient clinic serving pediatric, adult, geriatric; outpatients Perfomred complete audiological evaluations inclusive of pure tone, speech and tympanometry, acoustic reflex testing, play audiometry, VRA, BOA, ENGs and rehab; took history and wrote reports; wrote department’s Infection Control procedure manual CREDENTIALS Applied to be Fellow of the American Academy of Audiology Eligibil for New York State audiology licence starting in 200X

Dottie Dessybelle

Bad Resume

2000 Hertz Way • Soundview, NY 11221 (516) 555-5555 • [email protected]

CREDENTIALS Applied to be member of the ASHA New York State licence eligible starting in 2009 Member of Audiology Study Group of New York

 Chekc for tiepose, inconcistansees, and undefined abbreviations.  Do not enter personal information and anything that can make you vulnerable to someone else’s judgments.

SKILLS Fluent in sign language Medical Spanish Access

HOBBIES Weight lifting, flower arranging, travel, music, photography

PERSONALITY TRAITS Very confident, friendly, a “listener” Team player Good worker

VOLUNTEER WORK Spray Painted Legal Animal Togs (SPLAT) – assisted in peer counseling of PETA abuse victims Toys for TOts, gift wrapping

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Cover Letter and Resume Building for Audiologists Web Seminar Recorded October 9, 2013

Resume Tips Resumes are not static; tailor yours for targeted sites Instead of using an Objective, consider a bulleted intro section called Qualifications Summary and Career Goals: Licensed audiologist with 3 years experience Interests in pediatric HA work and balance diagnostics Full time position at private practice setting with growth potential

Resume & Cover Letter Dos & Don’ts  Be honest  Be concise  Be accurate  Don’t exaggerate skills, duties and accomplishments  Don’t confuse “Practicum Experience” with “Professional Experience”  Don’t offer age, disability, marital status, religion or sexual orientation

AuD Portfolio What is it and do I need one? Portfolio sections:  Clinical work and protocols  Research and Publications  Recommendations  Credentials Should I add a photo of myself?

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Cover Letter and Resume Building for Audiologists Web Seminar Recorded October 9, 2013

A motto to help you through the healthcare work environment

Permulce pellem in modo recto (Pet the fur in the right direction)

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