When creating my resume and cover letter for the Rockefeller Foundation position, I focused on explaining how my experience and values align with the Foundation’s mission of advancing well-being in the world using new ideas on health, food, energy, and fairness. This allowed me to locate experiences and abilities from my past that align with their mission, such as working on group projects, conducting research on fairness in public health, and serving the community on a volunteer basis.

I expressed explicitly within my cover letter that I had a strong desire to create a difference and that I had the skill to accomplish work in various fields. I equated the various work of the Foundation with those at school. I used language that reflected the Foundation’s valuable ideals of serving people and collaboration but remained professional and authentic to me.

I believed that it was necessary to get to know an organization well and demonstrate that knowledge within my application documents. I also discovered that the words that I use and tone that I use when demonstrating what an employer is looking for are also important. Above all, I learned how nonprofits define their mission and how to present myself as a competitive candidate who is qualified and has their shared vision for creating a difference. This exercise has enhanced my skill at presenting myself concisely and honestly when searching for jobs in the future.