Creating an Effective Resume &

Cover Letter

Overview

• Purpose of a resume

• Preparing to write your resume

• Resume content areas

• Resume format

• What to include and exclude

• Cover letters

What is a resume?

• A resume is your introduction to the employer to review in 6 to 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!

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.

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

Self Assessment Example

Resume Item Skills Results Achievements

Internship

AcademicAssignment or Project

Software development

PTC Creo

Technical Writing

Designed Androidapplication

Designed chassis frame

Documented process in research paper

Received company recognition award

Presented project at a showcaseAwarded Top 10 Project

*Always use your name as theresume file name

Resume Samples Based On

• Employer 6 Second Rule

• Conformance to Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Software

Resume Content - Basic Section Titles

• Name & Contact information

• Objective (optional, not generally necessary)

• Education

• Skills

• Experience

• Research, Projects, Assignments

• Employment Experience

• Volunteer Experience

• Activities & Honors / Professional Memberships/Certifications/Other Training

Objective Statement

• Not generally 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 - “perfect or ideal candidate”

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

Education

• List most current education first

• Omit high school

• Include major

• Anticipated graduation date

• GPA if over 3.0 (Bachelor) 3.5 (Master)

Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL May 2019Bachelor of Science Marine Biology, GPA 3.45

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

Experience Format

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.

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

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

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

Resume Basics

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

Cover Letters

Career Management Services

• Part-time and full-time job postings on Handshake at https://fit.joinhandshake.com/

• Internships & Co-op• ProTrack Co-op• Federal Work-study• Florida Work Experience Program• Workshops• Resume & Cover Letter Reviews• Career Fair & Employer Day• Mock Interviews

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