Resumes and Cover Letters

1. Resumes and Cover Letters

2. Seminar Overview • Resume basics • Resume strategy • Hardcopy resume guidelines & structure • Electronic resumes • Cover letters • References • Last comments • Source materials

3. Resume Basics • The main purpose is to get you an interview • The first look at a resume averages 20 seconds • A resume should not exceed two pages in length • Spelling must be absolutely correct. • Things not to include on your resume • Personal data of any kind • The words “References available on request” • The words “Willing to relocate”

4. Resume Strategy • Tailor the resume to fit each employer • The chronological format • The functional format • Other formats

5. Hardcopy Guidelines • Black ink on white paper • Standard fonts • Font size should range from 10 to 14 points • Minimum use of italics, underlining, etc. • Use white space to enhance readability • Sentence fragments are acceptable • Use numerals, rather than spelling number

6. Chronological Resume • Objective • Qualifications or career summary • Education • Work experience

7. Chronological Resume OBJECTIVE A position designing CPU circuits, where experience with superscalar architectures will enhance the final value of the product

8. Chronological Resume • Objective • Qualifications or career summary • Education • Work experience

9. Chronological Resume QUALIFICATIONS Electrical engineer with 12 years of printed circuit board (PCB) layout experience. Has been successful as an individual contributor and as the manager of a 10 person PCB layout group.

10. Chronological Resume • Objective • Qualifications or career summary • Education • Work experience

11. Chronological Resume EDUCATION B.S. Electrical Engineering University of California San Diego, CA

12. Chronological Resume • Objective • Qualifications or career summary • Education • Work experience

13. Chronological Resume • Work Experience • This is the main part of a chronological resume • List each item in reverse chronological order • Different job at the same company count as separate items • Keep it short

14. Chronological Resume Example – One Short Item 1995 – 1997 Varian Associations, Palo Alto, CA-Senior Engineer Designed microwave tubes using computer codes. Wrote codes to improve the tube design process. Swept up after everyone else left the building. • Assisted design of framistat, now a major product. • Wrote design code decreasing design time by 90%

15. Functional Resume • The emphasis shifts to skills, and away from specific jobs • Shrink the work experience section to just the headers • Put all duties and accomplishments into skill categories

16. ASCII & HTML Resume • Space is not as tight • Use only alphanumeric characters, spaces and the Enter key. • Use lots of keywords and buzzwords

17. Cover Letters • No more than one page in length • First paragraph • Body • Final paragraph

18. References • Collected on the job • Collected from your network • Perishable! • Always notify your reference before you use them

19. Last Comments • Focus, rather than shotgun • Stay in control of your job search

20. Sources • “To Boldly Go: A Practical Career Guide for Scientists” American Geophysical Union. ISBN #0-87590-889-6 • “Engineer’s Guide to Lifelong Employability” IEEE Press. ISBN# 0-87942-314-5