4 Differences Between Cover Letter and Resume

English Job Seeker Guide

4 Differences Between Cover Letter and Resume

September 26, 2023

Most job applications need a resume immediately; the best resumes are tailored to your desired jobs. Some jobs placed on LinkedIn allow you to “Easy Apply” with just your LinkedIn profile (so you should also optimize your LinkedIn profile). Still, even with these jobs, you often can attach a resume and your LinkedIn profile. If your resume has more or different information than your LinkedIn page, you should include both in your application.

Not every job offer asks for a cover letter or even lets you send one, but sometimes it’s necessary to move forward. Even if it’s not required, sending a cover letter gives you another chance to sell yourself to potential employers. Take advantage of this (and do what you can to ensure employers read your cover letter).

Your resume and cover letter are not the same thing. Here are the 4 main differences:

1. Structure of a resume and a cover letter

The cover letter and the resume look different, which is the most apparent difference. The cover letter is a business letter; if it’s an email, it’s still written like a letter, even though it’s shorter and less formal. On the other hand, the structure of the resume is like a summary of your work path. There are sections for your contact information, a summary of the most important things about you, your experience, your education, and other things like your technical skills, charity work, and hobbies.

2. Resume voice vs. cover letter voice

Since the cover letter and resume are set up differently, your voice (how you present yourself) comes across differently. The resume is written in bullet points, which is enough to get across the information but not so much your personality. Don’t try to show your personality through your resume by making it look cute. It just makes you look unprofessional.

In your cover letter, you have more chances to show who you are. The cover letter is written in prose, so even though it has some of the same information as the resume, it does so in full lines, like a story, if written well. You don’t have to put your skills in one place, your education in another, etc., like on a resume. You also don’t have to put things in backward chronological order like you do on a resume. Depending on what you want to emphasize, you can group material differently and jump around in time. Your decisions show who you are and what you want to say.

ALSO READ: Can You Be Jailed For Resume Forgery in Malaysia?

3. How companies use the resume vs. the cover letter

Since a cover letter and a resume share information in different ways, companies use them differently. Recruiters scan resumes in seconds, looking at the order of your jobs to see if there is a clear path of more responsibility. Are there long breaks between jobs or short jobs that must be explained? Does the experience and skills mentioned on the resume match what the job needs?

The cover letter shows how well you can write and talk to people. If the job you want needs you to be able to write, the cover letter is the first thing the employer sees to show that you can do it. The cover letter can also point out things that aren’t clear from the resume and answer any questions that might be raised about your prospects. For example, if your resume shows that you haven’t worked for a long time or have had many short-term jobs, you can talk about what you did while you were out of work or say that you moved from job to job to follow your boss. If your related skills and experience come from school or something else that isn’t working, your cover letter can highlight these in a way that your resume might not.

4: How to choose between a resume and a cover letter

Since the cover letter and resume are so different in how they are put together, how they sound, and how they make a company feel, you need to use them differently. Do you choose what to put in your cover letter carefully and not just repeat what’s on your resume? Does your cover letter show that your skills and experience match your desired job? Does your cover letter clear up any problems with your resume?

Your resume can be a review of your work history. Does your part on experience show how you’ve grown over time? Do the results and tasks you list for each job real and applicable to the ones you want? Does your schooling show that you are always learning, or do you at least pick up new skills at work? Is the Summary at the top of your resume a good representation of your wide range of experience and skills? Is it also directly related to the type and level of job you want?

What are you waiting for? Come find your dream job on Jobstore.com, download our free mobile app today!

Anisa is a writer who focuses on career and lifestyle topics in an effort to motivate both job searchers and employers towards greater fulfillment in their professional lives.

Reach me at anisa@jobstore.com.

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