The cliche is that the first bite is with the eyes. That first bite is what sets the stage for the second (actual) bite, and can have a profound impact on how you subsequently enjoy and remember the meal. We are biologically hardwired to anchor ourselves heavily on first impressions. If the food looks disgusting and rotten, we won’t eat it. If it looks nutritious and delicious, we’ll tuck in.

This “first impressions > everything” mechanism serves a valuable evolutionary purpose and has helped keep us alive for millions of years. We carry this hardwiring even today, and understanding its impact on human decision making may mean the difference between you getting hired or fired, because the world of employment is no different. When you apply for a job or internship, you’re now the food. Are you going to sizzle and delight? Or will you look less appetizing than gas station sushi?

Note: the best way to apply for a job is and will always be to be asked to apply. Those coaches who have taken the time to establish a relationship with and demonstrate value to the individuals doing the hiring will always win. Your primary goal is to be one of those people. If you don’t yet have that relationship, your goal should be a strong recommendation from someone who does. But we’ll save these for future articles.

You can only have so many truly meaningful relationships. The rest of the time, you’re going to have to throw in with everyone else and submit a cover letter and resume. In this article we’ll cover the fundamentals of what you need to include or omit from these documents to make your application sizzle, to be the appetising first bite that sets the tone for the rest of the meal, and that lands you in the “yes” pile.

Cover Letter

Structure

The cover letter is a qualitative expansion of your resume and your desire to work within that particular organization. Here’s my preferred way to structure and read a cover letter:

Paragraph 1: What position are you applying for, what semester, and how did you hear about the position (helpful if you heard of it through your network to name drop a mutual colleague here if applicable).

Paragraph 2: If you have prior coaching experiences to elaborate on more than your resume indicates, do so and tie it to how it qualifies you as an ideal candidate for an internship- do you have the kind of sport experience, coaching level, skills or qualities they are looking for? The easiest person to pick for a job is someone who did the same job well somewhere else before.

Paragraph 3: What draws you to want to work within that particular organization? I get that you are probably sending out a dozen of these, but spend 10-20 minutes doing some research on the people you would work with (social media channels work well here) and their backgrounds and elaborate on what is going to keep you coming back for long hours of tedious grunt work.

The shorter the better!

Don’t:

Tell me about your characteristics. Your body of work says more about you as a person than your own words ever will. Telling me you’re dependable is way less powerful than telling me about the time the boss called in sick and you took on all her groups for the week and worked 16 hour days until she came back.
Recite your resume. Qualitatively expand on the experiences in a way that a resume can’t encapsulate.

Try to prove how smart you are or talk about your training philosophy. You’re not being brought in to overhaul the training program, you’re being brought in to make the lives of the existing staff easier. To that extent your ability to be independent, follow instruction, and work unsupervised are much more desirable traits as an intern or entry level coach than your own ideas about training.
If a cover letter isn’t listed as a requirement, I would do a VERY brief email cover letter which you attach your resume to. Use paragraph 1 as outlined above, 2-3 sentences from paragraphs 2 and 3 each in separate paragraphs so they are brief little hits of what you’ve done and what draws you to the organization.

Who you are applying to

Always address specifically. Most internship postings tend to include a person of address, so this should make it easy, but if they don’t include that, I would encourage you to use a search engine to see if you can find the posting somewhere else on the internet, possibly with the relevant person’s name included. Make sure it isn’t an old posting- there is nothing more annoying to the ego of a head than receiving an application addressed to your predecessor. If you are unable to find anyone to address it to, go with the head strength coach, and they will typically forward it to their internship coordinator. Otherwise there is a machine known as “the telephone” in which you could call a contact point at the organization and find out.

Make SURE you know who you are addressing it to. You can prefix the cover letter however you like. Some prefer a first name, other morons insist on being addressed as “Coach”, but if you are going to go with Mr, Mrs or Ms, be SURE that the person falls into the correct category if they have a unisex or unfamiliar name. A former female colleague in power 5 football related to me numerous occasions on which she received cover letters addressed to a Mr- little else will get you placed in the “no” pile faster than this. Also, make sure you don’t add unnecessary prefixes that make it apparent you didn’t do your research. I was once sent an application addressed to “Dr. Kuehn”, and much to my disappointment, when I went through my papers I was reminded that I have still only completed a Master’s degree.

Spell their name right. Dale Carnegie’s third principle for how to make people like you from his book How to Win Friends and Influence People is this, “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language”. As someone with a unique last name, I can promise you this matters. Also take care to double check names that can have multiple or unique spellings to ensure you use the correct one. You have the world’s information at your disposal via the internet, spend 30 seconds on it finding the staff directory of the organization you want to work for and ensure you’ve spelled their name correctly.

DON’T use “to whom it may concern”. Just don’t. We should be past this poor convention by now. If you use this, you won’t get the job and you deserve not.

Overall Formatting

Include everything requested, in the manner in which it was detailed to be submitted. Often this is just a simple test to see if you pay attention to detail, and sloppy errors in an otherwise good application can derail you. Some of the typical instructions to be on the look out for include:

Email subject heading. Use the EXACT heading they want, down to the capitalization- some will set up smart inbox folders that filter for specific subject heading strings, so if you don’t follow this, your application may never get seen. If it doesn’t specify, just go with your full name, semester of internship you are applying for, an “Internship Application” (“Scott Kuehn Spring 2021 Internship Application”).
File type. Most typically want a PDF because it preserves the formatting on a variety of computers; best conventional practice is to send a PDF unless otherwise stated.

Merged or separate documents. If you don’t have a good version of Adobe, there are many websites that will merge multiple PDFs together for free (if you haven’t noticed the theme around search engines, time to pick it up and realize how much power you have at your fingertips with the right combination of words entered into a search box). A bonus tip is to merge/attach the documents in the order listed on the posting, but this may also be my OCD personality talking.
Name of file. Again, a detail. Follow it down to the capitalization. If the posting doesn’t specify, your default should be separate documents clearly labeled with your name, the semester of the internship you are applying for, and which document it is (“Scott Kuehn Spring 2021 Cover Letter”).
Page/length limits. If three references are requested, provide three; not five or two. If a “brief” cover letter is requested, keep it to half to three-quarters of the page everything included. Do I need to go over what to do if a one page resume is requested?

Lastly, PLEASE double and triple check on spelling and grammar on all submitted documents. Have someone else look at it. When you commit the faux pas of listing your personality traits on your resume (more on this garbage later) and tell me you are detail-oriented, but then proceed to misspell your alma mater’s name and the word “exercise” in your resume. Yes, this actually happened, and yes, I put the application in the trash.

Double check alignment of all content relative to other information pieces like it. If your dates are right aligned, make sure they are all right aligned as far as possible to the right. If experience details are one indent in from the position title, make sure all of them are one indent in and use the same symbol for the same detail level etc. etc.

Resumes

Keep your experiences relevant. Nobody is expecting an intern to have a two page resume full of coaching experiences (if you do and haven’t found upward advancement yet, there may be a more fundamental issue at play). Nonetheless, all things being equal, the candidate with more experience actually coaching is probably going to get the nod, so draw as much attention as you can to yours. Even if you are still working through your undergrad, pick up 10-15 hours a week volunteering/observing at your school’s weight room. This also gives you the chance to begin building the kind of professional network that helps you skip the line and not have to worry about this stuff in the first place.

I know you probably cleaned equipment , set up and broke down sessions etc… as a previous intern, it doesn’t necessarily need to be listed unless you improved the previous system in some way to be better. You SHOULD list the things you did at your coaching experiences that differentiated you or demonstrate a lasting impact. I consider getting the opportunity to coach at a previous internship noteworthy, because not every intern will earn the opportunity to coach. If you didn’t coach, tell me about a project you did that made a difference. For example, our interns were responsible for creating a video exercise database for use on our remote programming. If you’re volunteering or interning now and you don’t have a project or coaching opportunities like this yet, go ask your boss for them now. Don’t do what everyone else is doing. You don’t want to be ordinary, you’re trying to be remarkable when you apply for jobs.

Only list technical skills if you’ve truly had experiences running the software, using that technology, or working that particular system. Handing an athlete an iPad to do a wellness survey does not mean you know how AMS systems work, putting an ipad in a rack for Gym Aware doesn’t make you a VBT expert. If I could ask you basic level questions on the spot and you could answer them confidently and comprehensively, put it on your resume. Otherwise you risk getting caught out.

You should list your accreditations next to your name at the top and in the body of your resume, as these are often a major criteria used to sort you into the yes or the no pile. This means CSCS, SCCC, ASCA, UKSCA and/or whatever else they are looking. Any other alphabet soup next to your name doesn’t matter, won’t impress your boss, and won’t get you hired. We just want to know you can be left alone with an athlete and not kill them.

If you aren’t pursuing or don’t have a degree within a kinesiology-related field, 1) why aren’t you? This is the expected standard, so understand that you are at an immediate disadvantage against every applicant who has it. If you aren’t/don’t, be prepared to explain why.

You should be CPR and AED trained, and have recognised qualifications that are up to date. Organisations want to cover their ass above all else, and you will not be left alone with athletes without one… which creates work for the supervisor, and interns/coaches who create more work than they do don’t get hired.

Playing Experience: there are two schools of thought, and I subscribe to both. Using playing experience as a resume piece is pretty congruent to having platinum status with an airline as a frequent passenger and listing that on your resume submission to become a pilot with the airline. Having been along for the ride doesn’t mean you know how almost 200,000lbs of steel takes off, flies, lands, and is managed in emergency situations.

Conversely playing experience, especially at the level which you are coaching or attempting to coach at, gives you a relatability factor with the athletes. You can speak from a position of understanding what it’s like to have been in their shoes and the stress that comes with managing the full-time commitments of being a student and an athlete. If you have this kind of experience, feel free to add it to your resume. If you won a championship, mention it. It’s never a bad thing. Maybe mention letters won too, but then leave it at that. If playing experience is the biggest thing you have to boast about in your application, you have a weak application.

More than anything your resume should act like a checklist that supervisors can easily run through and check off that you have all the necessary qualifications, experiences and education that they are looking for in a prospective intern or coach. And I’d recommend you list them in this order too. Put your accreditations next to your name or in your personal statement, then list your relevant professional experience, then your education. Too many coaches list education first, and this is a big mistake. We don’t care where you went to school if you’re not accredited and you can’t coach worth a shit, sorry.

Stuff you SHOULDN’T include in your application:

List the time you were a lifeguard in high school or worked at Hollister. Keep your experiences to coaching experiences.
List your personality traits. Everyone is a hard worker and passionate coach according to themselves. Even if you were a piece of shit, you wouldn’t be honest and tell me. So I’ll assume that every unverifiable statement you make about yourself is an exaggeration, and then take it with a huge pinch of salt. Like Dragnet, “Just the facts”.

Mission statements. If your goal is stupidly low, some will say you lack ambition. If it is stupidly high, others will say you need to be humble and do your time. It is enough that you want to do the job and that you’ll add value.
Go over one page. Most decently paid jobs get hundreds of applications these days. Internships for big schools aren’t much better, so don’t write War & Peace. They’re going to skim read it, so structure it in such a way that can be skimmed.

References

This gets its own section because it may appear in both your cover letter and resume, and because it is so important. The right references can literally take you from the “No” pile, into the “Yes” pile, especially if they call or email ahead of your application. Remember, you’re applying to be a coach, so your references should be about your ability and potential as a coach, from those who are experts in coaching. As valid as her opinion may be, we don’t want to hear from your mother about what a wonderful person you are.

Make sure you know what those references are going to say. You need to ask those who you are going to want to list as a reference 1) if they will do so for you and 2) what they will say. Assuming someone will be a reference for you because you completed an internship for them without knowing what they think of you is a gamble, because they are certainly going to be asked about your limitations in addition to your strengths. It might be an uncomfortable conversation, but it ultimately helps you improve to know where you can better yourself and to develop the self-awareness of where your deficiencies lie. Not to mention you will probably have to answer for what your references identify as your limitations and how you are actively working to improve upon them.

If you list a reference in your resume be sure to include:

• Full name
• Current role & organization
• Relationship to you
• Where you worked with them (they might have moved)
• Cell Phone Number
• Office Phone Number
• Email Address

Example:

Scott Kuehn, M.S., CSCS, SCCC

Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach, University of Arizona Football

Relationship: Direct Supervisor at Metea Valley High School

Cell Phone: (123) 456-7891

Office Phone: (101) 112-1314 ext. 1516

Email: scottkuehn88@gmail.com

Conclusion

This represents the really big rocks of what is required to clear the first hurdle of a job application- getting into the “Yes” pile. This list of dos and don’ts should be your first reference, but is by no means a complete list of what constitutes a truly competitive job application. In the next series of this instalment we’ll be covering the finer points of cover letter and resume design including branding, imagery and structure. Watch this space.