Editing Tips for Your Resume and Cover Letter

Don't worry too much about grammar when you draft your resume and cover letters. Your first draft is the time to let your ideas flow. Get your content down on paper first, and then edit and proofread what you've written.

Focusing on grammar too early in the process can distract you from your primary task, which is selecting your ideas and putting them into words.

Besides, any interim editing or proofing you do will be lost as you revise your text. Why should you proofread each of your revisions when you can do a single, comprehensive, careful proofreading of the final draft?

Resume and Cover Letter Content Editing

When you edit a document, you are looking for weaknesses and inconsistencies in argument, structure, and expression. Here are five questions to ask yourself as you edit your cover letters and resumes:

1. Does your cover letter tell the reader why you are applying for the position? Does it say why you should be granted a job interview? Delete anything that does not answer those questions. Remember, the purpose of your cover letter is to secure an interview. Anything that does not give the reader a reason to want to interview you is extraneous. Similarly, does your resume properly highlight your skills, responsibilities, and career progression? Delete anything that does not contribute to that goal.

2. Do your cover letter and resume show original analysis and introspection? 'Original' does not mean that you have to say something that has never been said before. It does mean that anyone reading the documents should believe that these are your ideas, based on your thinking, experience, and values.

3. Will your cover letter and resume help the hiring committee picture you as an individual? Will they help a reader distinguish you from other job applicants with similar backgrounds and responsibilities?

4. Does your writing use the proper tone? Is it too stiff, or too informal? Does it sound boastful, or self-deprecating? Is it adequately concise? Is your resume format overly creative?

5. Will your prospective employer read your cover letter and/or resume and understand them the way you mean them to be understood? Do you need to add information, or explain any unusual jargon or references? Would it be helpful if you changed the order in which you present information, or used more precise wording to explain something?

Resume and Cover Letter Proofreading

When you proofread a document, you are checking for accuracy in spelling, punctuation, and grammar. The best way to make sure that your cover letters and resumes are letter-perfect is to have someone with a good eye for grammar and spelling proofread them. Even professional writers have a hard time proofing their own writing. When you write something, you spend so much time thinking about what you are trying to say that it becomes embedded in your mind – and consequently what you 'read' when you review your text is what you have memorized instead of what you actually have put on paper. This makes it easy to miss seeing grammatical and spelling mistakes.

Proofreading is an important step and should not be skipped. Even if you do not care that much about grammar, the person you are sending your application to probably does. Don't forget that the typical hiring manager has to review hundreds of resumes for each opening. A silly typo is an easy excuse to eliminate one of those resumes from contention. Employers may excuse one or two small mistakes, but a pattern of grammatical errors and misspellings will make even an outstanding job applicant look like a dud.

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