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 A resume is a one (or two for highly qualified candidates) page summary of your education, skills, experience and accomplishments Curriculum Vitæ (CV) versus resume 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. Preparing Your Resume Conduct Self Assessment Outline your skills, experience, and abilities Determine where your interests lie in your chosen career field Conduct research on job descriptions that are available in your career field and what qualifications are required Find matches between your skills and interests and available positions

6. Self Assessment Write down your jobs, volunteer work, activities, class projects Have one paragraph worth of information for each item and include: –Concrete, quantifiable data –Success stories –Skills and experiences –Achievements and accomplishments

7. Self Assessment Resume Item SkillsSuccess Stories Achievements InternshipSoftware development Time Management Project Management Completed project before deadline Improved program efficiency by 20% Won “Intern of the Year” award Received full-time job offer Sample Resume Self Assessment Worksheet

8. 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

9. Objective Statement Not always necessary 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

10. 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.

11. Education List most current education first Omit high school unless you are a freshman Include major Anticipated graduation date GPA if over 3.0 or if meets minimum requirements Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL Bachelor of Science, Marine Biology GPA: 3.45 Anticipated graduation: May 2012

12. 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

13. Experience Format List organization, position, location, and employment dates List in reverse chronological order Use past tense for previous positions Start each description with an action verb. Make sure that all of your descriptions are full statements. Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL 9/2011-5/2012 Resident Assistant Served as peer counselor and assisted over 50 residents in transitioning to campus culture in several capacities Organized, promoted and implemented educational workshops and social activities for residents Enforced college policies to ensure campus health safety standards were met

14. 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.

15. Experience Tips Students with lesser paid positions can use non-paid experiences –Unpaid internships –Projects (group or individual) –Relevant and significant course assignments –Volunteer activities Use the same format for these non-paid experiences as paid work experience

16. 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 List most relevant activities such as professional associations or honor societies first

17. Keywords & Action Verbs Accelerated Accomplished Accounted Achieved Acquired Adapted Administered Adopted Advised Advocated Aided Allocated Analyzed Appraised Arranged Assembled 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 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

18. Resume Basics Resumes should be concise Easy to read & align visually Resume length can be up to two pages with relevant and significant information determining the overall length Determine what skills and achievements are necessary for your resume – keep only those that will help you get the job you are seeking SPELL CHECK!!!!!

19. 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

20. Sample Resume Resume Sample http://www.fit.edu/career/resource- center/resumes.phphttp://www.fit.edu/career/resource- center/resumes.php

21. Cover Letters Opportunity to introduce yourself to the employer Provide enhanced details about your qualifications 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

22. Career Management Services Part-time and full-time job postings on Panther Career Link at http://www.fit.edu/career/http://www.fit.edu/career/ Internships & Co-op ProTrack Co-op Federal Work-study Florida Work Experience Program Workshops Resume & Cover Letter Reviews Career Fair & Employer Day Mock Interviews

23. Contact Us Career Management Services Tech Commons 307 career@fit.edu 321-674-8102