Creating an Effective Resume & Cover Letter

Transcription

1 Creating an Effective Resume & Cover Letter

2 Overview Purpose of a resume Preparing to write your resume Resume content areas Resume format What to include and exclude Cover letters

3 What is a resume? A resume is your introduction to the employer to review under 10 seconds A resume is a one (or two for highly qualified candidates) page summary of your education, skills, experience and accomplishments A resume gets you the interview so you can get the job!

4 Curriculum Vitæ (CV) versus Resume The differences between CVs and resumes are the length, purpose, and layout Curriculum Vitæ, (which means course of life in Latin) CV is an in-depth document that can be laid out over two or more pages and contains high levels of detail about your achievements, much more than a career biography. CV covers your education as well as other accomplishments like publications, awards, honors etc. Resume, or résumé, A concise document typically not longer than one page to two pages as reader will not dwell on your document for very long. The goal of a resume is to make an individual stand out from the competition.

5 Self Assessment Focus assessment on relevant & significant experiences Write down jobs, activities, class projects, volunteer work Add 2 or 3 bullets for each item and include: Skills and experiences Concrete, quantifiable data Results Achievements and accomplishments

6 Self Assessment Example Resume Item Skills Results Achievements Internship Software development Improved program efficiency by 20% Won Intern of the Year award Received full-time job offer Academic Assignment or Project AutoCAD Technical Writing Presented project at a showcase Top 10 Project Award

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9 Resume Samples Based On Employer 6 Second Rule Conformance to Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Software

10 Resume Content - Basic Section Titles Name & Contact information Objective (optional) Education Skills Experience Research, Projects, Assignments Employment Experience Volunteer Experience Activities & Honors / Professional Memberships/Certifications/Other Training

11 Objective Statement Not always necessary particularly for students If used, tailor your objective for field/position and employer Include specific skills necessary for the position that you have to offer Do not include assumptions

12 Objective Statement Samples To obtain a position as a support specialist in the fields of computer science and management information systems To obtain a summer internship to gain experience in biological sciences with special interest in marine mammals

13 Education List most current education first Omit high school unless you are a freshman Include major Anticipated graduation date GPA if over 3.0 (Bachelor) 3.5 (Master) Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL Bachelor of Science Marine Biology, GPA 3.45 May 2016

14 Skills Skills can be technical skills and soft skills Skill examples Technical skills: MS Office Suite, MATLAB/Simulink, LabVIEW, AutoCAD, Open Water Scuba Certified, Optical microscopy, Logistics Analysis, Mooney M20J, Spanish language fluency Soft skills: communication, teamwork, leadership, and management skills Employers know what the skills are so labeling the skills is not necessary i.e. Programming languages: (C/C++, Perl, Java, C#, Fortran, SQL, PHP) Skills should be listed as succinctly as possible Listing skills one after another separated by commas will save space and provide the employer reviewer a quicker and cleaner view of skills

15 Experience Format List paid & unpaid experiences related to career path List organization, position, location, and dates List in reverse chronological order Use past tense for previous positions Start each description with an action verb and ensure all descriptions are full statements Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL Aug Present Senior Design I & II Model Rocket Designed and created model rocket using PTC Creo and Open Rocket per National Association of Rocketry Laws and Regulations Determined and calculated what payload and engine needed to reach designated altitude Assembled rocket based on limited budget and restricted schedule Presented findings and summary report to assigned professor Prepared and launched model rocket successfully

16 Experience Tips The skill sets identified in the Skills section should be integrated into the Experience section Employers want to see how an applicant has used the skills and to what extent the skill is developed Describe your responsibilities and accomplishments What did you do? How did you do it? What was the purpose? What was the result? Do not use pronouns such as I, my, me, etc.

17 Experience Tips Students with few paid positions can use non-paid experiences Unpaid internships Projects (group or individual) Relevant and significant course assignments Volunteer activities Use same format for non-paid experiences as paid work experience and integrate these experiences in the Experience section

18 Activities, Honors & Memberships Campus organizations clubs, sports, student government, etc. Honor societies related to your major (Psi Chi, Alpha Eta Rho) Professional organizations: IEEE NSBE SWE Special scholarships exclude amount Awards/Honors/Achievements List most relevant activities such as professional associations or honor societies first Other training/certifications

19 Keywords & Action Verbs Accelerated Accomplished Accounted Achieved Acquired Adapted Administered Adopted Advised Advocated Aided Allocated Analyzed Appraised Arranged Assembled Assisted Based Budgeted Built Checked Classified Coached Collated Collected Communicated Compiled Completed Composed Conducted Consolidated Constructed Controlled Counseled Created Dealt Delegated Delivered Demonstrated Designed Determined Diagnosed Directed Documented Drafted Edited Eliminated Encouraged Evaluated Exhibited Expedited Forecasted Found Generated Guided Hired Implemented Improved Increased Influenced Initiated Innovated Integrated Interpreted Invented Invested Launched Led Lobbied Maintained Managed Measured Mediated Negotiated Organized Participated Planned Predicted Programmed Proposed Reduced Revised Simplified Streamlined Systemized Upgraded Worked Wrote

20 Resume Basics Resumes should be clean, clear & concise Easy to read & align visually Resume length can be up to two pages with relevant and significant information determining overall length but student resumes should be kept to one page only Determine what skills and achievements are necessary, keep only those that are relevant and significant to the job you are seeking Word Document resume samples located at SPELL CHECK!!!!!

21 Dos & Don ts Do include all relevant experience Do use a legible font face and size Do use bulleted lists Don t include your SSN, Photo, Marital Status, etc. Don t use more than two fonts Don t put references on the resume create a separate sheet Don t use excessive bold face/italics or an ink color other than black

22 Cover Letters A customized letter to introduce yourself to the employer Provide enhanced details about your qualifications but do not copy resume content Point out specific experiences which are relevant for the position Do not insert assumptions that you are the ideal candidate or the perfect fit A cover letter does not need to be lengthy and should not exceed a short one page

23 Career Management Services Part-time and full-time job postings on Handshake at Internships & Co-op ProTrack Co-op Federal Work-study Florida Work Experience Program Workshops Resume & Cover Letter Reviews Career Fair & Employer Day Mock Interviews

24 Contact Us Career Management Services Harris Commons

25 Questions?