SpeakWrite for Your Resume

Highlight Your SpeakWrite ™ Credentials

The purpose of a résumé and cover letter couldn’t be simpler: Hire Me! So how can you show a potential audience of managers, human resource personnel, or future coworkers that you have the communication skills that so many companies value?

Depending on the type of job you’re applying for and the particular layout of your résumé, you might highlight your completion of a SpeakWrite™-certified program in a few different places.

Résumés

Résumés and cover letters are great ways to use the PACT questions in communicating. The purpose of a résumé couldn’t be simpler: Hire Me! So how can you show a potential audience of managers, human resources, or future coworkers that you have the communication skills that so many companies value?

Depending on the type of job you’re applying for, and the particular layout of your résumé, you might tout your completion of a SpeakWrite™-certified program in a few different places.

An Objective statement:

If communication skills are central to the job, you should probably mention SpeakWrite™ up front in an Objective statement. This approach allows you to demonstrate your writing skills, and gives you more flexibility to explain your particular training and abilities. For an example of a résumé that includes SpeakWrite™ in the Objective statement, please see the following from Biology #1 Résumé

Objective
As a graduate in Biology, a WVU SpeakWrite Certified Program,™ I am seeking to apply my effective communication skills and problem solving abilities to the position of _________________________.

Related Coursework
BIOL _____, SpeakWrite™ Certified
Course emphasized effective communication and Field- specific problem solving
In a Skills, Advanced Training, or Additional Coursework section:

If you are applying to a job where specialized communication skills are important, such as technical reporting, visual design, communicating to the public, or managerial positions, a skills section is a logical place to mention your SpeakWrite™ training in a concise way. For some highlighted examples of résumés that include SpeakWrite™ in their Skills section, please see these examples in Biology #2 Résumé and the FIS - Skills Résumé

Specialized Training
— Graduate of the SpeakWrite™ Program
In the Education section:

For many new college graduates, the education section of their résumé is the most well developed, and emphasizes the quality and rigor of your degree program. Mentioning SpeakWrite™ as a requirement of your degree can help you stand out when applying for entry-level jobs where the applicants can be very similar. For a highlighted example that includes SpeakWrite™ in the Education section, please see the the following from the FIS - Education Résumé

West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV May — 2017
Bachelor of Science: Forensic and Investigative Sciences
The FIS major is a SpeakWrite™ Certified Program

Specialized Training
Include "Professional Communication" in your list

In general, we recommend using the trademarked name: SpeakWrite™. The presence of a trademark symbol helps someone reading the quick points of your résumé recognize that this unfamiliar term is the title of a particular program that you have completed. If you suspect that your résumé may be evaluated by automated software, you should be sure that common keywords such as writing or communication are also present on your résumé somewhere.

Cover Letters

If you do mention SpeakWrite™ in your résumé, you should also mention it in your cover letter. Typically, a discussion of your strengths and skills would go in the second or third paragraph. Since cover letters are written in complete sentences, you can clarify and explain what you gained from the program in a way that is difficult within the conventions of a résumé. Here are some highlighted examples of cover letters which discuss SpeakWrite™:

FIS Cover Letter

Jane P. Doe
1600 University Ave
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-555-5555
jdoe2313@gmail.com

Lt. Joe Masters
Hiring Manager
Atlanta Police Department
2131 Peachgrove Ave
Atlanta,
GA 64800

Dear Lt. Masters:

Please accept my application for Evidence Specialist, position #132455 with the Atlanta Police Department. I am graduating soon with a bachelor’s degree in Forensic and Investigative Science from the FEPAC-accredited West Virginia University, and with my extensive advanced coursework and training, I think I would make a great addition to the APD team.

My goal has long been to work in a large, urban crime laboratory where I can specialize in forensic evidence photography, a skill I have practiced in both classwork and as the focus of a summer-long internship at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. In that internship, I took over 2500 photographs of trauma, organ specimens, histopathological specimens, and foreign bodies as an assistant during autopsy. I also performed extensive photography of developed fingerprints and biological stains under ultraviolet and infrared conditions. I would be happy to share some of my extensive portfolio.

I realize that success in this position will require me to work for and with a diverse array of coworkers, and that I will need to be able to explain my photographic techniques to judges, juries, and attorneys. My undergraduate program at WVU was a SpeakWriteTM-certified program, which emphasized writing and presentation skills as essential companion to technical abilities. I learned to write reports conforming to lab standards in Latent Fingerprint Development; to project confidence and scientific expertise in Courtroom Testimony; and to collaborate fairly with regular team members in at least five others.

I am available for phone or video interview any day of the week except Tuesday and Wednesday after 1pm, and would be happy to travel to Atlanta for a face to face interview or follow-up. I look forward to hearing from you soon, and to the opportunity to work with such a great team.

Sincerely, Jane Doe

Biology Cover Letter

Jane Doe
1234 K Street
Somewhere, WV 00000

The Roskamp Institute
2040 WhitfieldAve
Sarasota, FL 34243

January 31, 2017

Dear Hiring Committee:

I am writing to express my interest in a Research Assistant position at your facility. I came across the posting in early February while searching for openings on Monster.com.My research experience has exposed me to a wide array of biological, chemical, and analytical techniques, all of which make me an ideal candidate for this position. I have long wanted to study various mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, and I believe that this position would be a natural extension of my previous work.

My research began in the summer of 2014, where I was granted a fellowship underDr.__________, the director of West Virginia University’s genomics core facility.During this time, I become proficient at a number of enzymatic assays as well as culturing cells. In the fall of 2015, I began working under Dr. ___________, where I become familiar with both proteomics and metabolomics during my study of fungal secretomes.

During my time with Dr. ________, I utilized GC/MS, IC, and IMAC systems of analysis. Further, as a graduate of a SpeakWrite certified program in Biology, I can manage, apply, analyze, and convey information in a number of contexts. For example, I have experience communicating complex findings verbally and in writing to a variety of audience members. I have given presentations on my research at West Virginia’s Research Day at the Capital Event, and I am in the process of completing both my honors thesis (in biology) and a manuscript for publication in Nature.

At your convenience, I would like to schedule an interview for this position. I am available Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I can be reached at (555)-555-5555 or the email address, jane.doe@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely, Jane Doe

Return to Resources

Writing Studio