Writing an Effective Resume

Michael R. Wick Department of Computer Science University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI 54701

Road Map
        

Role of the Resume Types of Resumes Resume Formats Resume Sections Additional Documentation Miscellaneous Tips Miscellaneous Tilts Sample Resumes OnOn-line Resources

What is a Resume?


A marketing tool
  

Your first tool for building a career The first impression a prospective employer has of you A selling tool that allows you to highlight to an employer how you can contribute to the company Purpose of the resume is to get you an interview Must capture the readers interest and attention Must convince the employer that you have the ability to fill their position A snapshot of what you believe are your most important experiences and qualifications

Request for an interview

  

Your big picture



Types of Resumes


A Paper/PDF Resume
   

A printed resume for use at job fairs, conferences, Should be clean, concise, professional, and pleasing to the eye Use bullets, bolding, and indentation Take this resume with you on job interviews, career breakfasts, A plain text resume for on-line submission onTypically must conform to employer specifications Use left-justified and space indented formatting leftIf desired, use +, *, and 0 to represent bullets Typically includes links to homepage, images, Avoid this type of resume Most people dont want an employer walking around in their homepage

An Electronic Resume
   

An HTML Resume
  

Resume Formats - Chronological



 

Highlight your work experience in reverse chronological order Be sure to not leave gaps The most widely used format for working professionals

Cut off

Resume Formats - Functional



 

Highlight specific skills for which the market has high demand Seldom used by new graduates Frequently used to change jobs or careers

Again, cut off

Resume Formats - Combinational

   

Highlight specific work experience Highlight marketable skills Use reverse chronological order The best resume style for most college students
I would prefer bullets

The Silver Bullet



What Is Your Story?

      

What slant can you take on your resume? Do you want to emphasize internship experience? Do you want to emphasize work experience? Do you want to emphasize course work? Do you want to emphasize project experience? Do you want to emphasize research experience? Do you want to emphasize personal traits?

 

What is unique or interesting about your college experience? My Recommendation

   

If you have an interesting internship emphasize it if not get one! Most UW-EC graduates have interesting project experience UWBuild on your liberal arts education!!! Demonstrate leadership, communication, cultural awareness leadership, communication,

Standard Resume Sections

Move toward bottom        

Header Objective Education Honors/Activities Work Experience Relevant Courses Skills Projects
I prefer other order

The Header Section



The first line should be your name

   

Larger than the largest font used in body Avoid using decorative fonts Dont use black or gray shaded backgrounds Exclude titles Mr., Mrs., Ms., Permanent address Current address Use your UWEC email address Dont use BIGBOY@HOT_MAIL.COM BIGBOY@HOT_MAIL.COM Change the message machine to be appropriate

Include contact address

 

Include your email address

 

Include your phone number



The Objective Section

 

Considered optional but I strongly suggest including it Make statement clear, concise, and to the point
  

Bad: I want to get a job job Weak: To attain an internship in the computer industry. Good: To attain an internship in the computer industry working with database or network security. To attain a position at 3M Pharmaceuticals working on To attain a web application programming position where knowledge of Java and the Struts framework will add value the overall development process.

 

Avoid being overly specific to single company



I prefer objectives from the companys perspective



The Honors/Activities Section

This section should scream I am a leader
   

Should only contain honors and awards earned during your time in college You can include academic or extracurricular items


I prefer only academic or service-related items serviceAward given to top performer on the capstone exam

Include a brief description if not self-evident from title self

Dont include hobbies or activities not related to the job or your story
 

Good to include leadership positions in CS-related organizations CSGood to list membership in CS-related organizations CS-

Dont include volunteer work unless there is a direct and positive link with the job or your story

The Work Experience Section

 

Dedicated to most recent and relevant employment Format



Employer and location on the first line

Dont need name of supervisor, complete address, or contact information

Position and time-span on the second line timeUse only year, not month and year (avoids time gaps)

Each position should have at least two bullets

 

Explain role and contributions Dont emphasize duties but rather emphasize outcomes
Increased efficiency of by 20% Improved user navigation experience on

Descriptions should be consistent in wording Current job uses present tense Former jobs use past tense

Employers want problem solvers

Watch the tense

 

The Relevant Courses Section



The keyword is relevant courses

  

Dont include Foundations of Computing Dont include Algorithms and Data Structures Focus on courses the are either unique or would normally be considered elective
Computer Security Computer Graphics Artificial Intelligence Computer Networks Database Systems Data Mining

Employers will assume you have had the rest

The Skills Section



This is where you emphasize your technical skills



Programming Languages
Put in order of familiarity Can use Exposure to: as the only modifier if you wish

Platforms
Nice to list Windows and Linux

Packages
Eclipse, Oracle 9i, MS SQL Server, ClearCase, Rational Rose, We make a concerted effort to use real products so make a concerted effort to list them

Development Methodologies
Rational Unified Process, Extreme Programming, Agile Development

The Projects Section



Used correctly, this section can set you apart from other new graduates


Most new grads dont get the opportunity to use this section

Show any lengthy, impressive, or relevant projects to which you have made real contribution Each project should have at least two bullets (focus on outcomes)
Market Basket Analysis System
Designed and implemented a Java application for predicting future purchases based on a probabilistic analysis of past purchase records Deployed system as a web service using XML and SOAP and an Oracle database on the backend Used synchronized threads to increase overall throughput of the system to handle up to 50 client requests per second

Supporting Documentation Cover Letter (1)



Why do I need to write a cover letter?

 

Use the cover letter to focus attention on elements of your background that are particularly relevant to the company Letter acts as your verbal introduction to the employer Avoid To Whom It May Concern, Worst case Dear Recruiter: I am writing in regard to your posting listed on Dr. Wagner at UW Eau Claire suggested that I As you may recall, I spoke with you briefly at If unsolicited, indicate why you are interested in the company

Send it to a person, not a place

 

First sentence should tell why you are writing

   

Supporting Documentation Cover Letter (2)



Highlight your skills

 

Use two to three paragraphs to given in-depth description of your inselling points Each paragraph should be stand alone (could be moved to different location in text) If possible, indicating that you will be contacting them in the near future to set up a mutually acceptable meeting time or to further discuss your qualifications Nice if you can say during my Winter Break, between December 28 and January 12, I will be in your Minneapolis. I will contact your office when I arrive to arrange a possible meeting time

Close with a promise of action



Supporting Documentation Cover Letter (3)

Supporting Documentation References



Prepare a separate reference sheet

  

Use same paper as the resume itself Bring reference sheet (and resume) with you to any interviews, job fairs, career breakfasts, Do not mail reference sheet with resume and cover letter Should include your Header from the resume Try to arrange contact information in pleasing fashion Pick individuals that think highly of you Pick individuals that are familiar with your work Be prepared to give supporting materials courses, projects, Ask again if it has been a while

Reference sheet is a stand-alone document stand 

Use professional references only

 

Always ask your references before using their names

 

Scannable Resumes
 

Most large employers will scan your resume into a central database Tips to assist the scanning process
  

Dont use italics, underlining, or graphics Use bold only for headers Use scanner-friendly fonts (Serif or Sans Serif fonts) scannerTimes New Roman, Courier, Helvetica, or Arial are good examples Font sizes of between 9 and 12

Use black ink on white background Most lookup is keyword-based keywordSamples: Unix, C++, Java, hardware, networking, troubletroubleshooting, testing, security, data mining,

Tips to assist the retrieval process

 

Tips on Delivery of Your Resume



Posting Online
 

rules are still emerging Common mistake formatting that doesnt make the trip
Convert to text only Use PDF if allowed Proofread carefully after conversion

 

If they ask about salary, leave it empty If they force salary, be honest but dont shoot for the moon Attach resume as a PDF document (or Word document)
75 80% of companies are running Windows

Emailing your resume



Also include text version in the email message

Attachments can get dropped or filtered

Test before deploy

Send to at least three friends, ask them to print it and send it back to you

Miscellaneous Tips (1)



Use action words in your descriptions

Miscellaneous Tips (2)

 

Act like a professional



Avoid cutesy or inappropriate graphics, images, formats, You are a fresh graduate, dont assume that the one-page rule onedoesnt apply to you! Dont sprinkle buzzwords in that you really dont understand It speaks volumes about your character when you cant explain your own resume Laundry lists of duties are not impressive

One page only



Stick to the truth

 

Focus on achievements and results



Miscellaneous Tips (3)

     

Use easy-to-read language easy-to

Winston Churchill - Use short, old words. Errors and broken English are the kiss of death If the company asks for specific information, then give it to them If you said you would call, then call Avoid To apply then Applying

Get the words and punctuation correct



Follow the instructions



Follow up


Maintain a consistent writing style



Avoid the use of I or my

Miscellaneous Tilts (1)

   

USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS



How about him?

Much harder to read

Avoidwhitespace
Use white space (not borders) to break sections apart Include a picture of yourself Would you hire this guy?  Youre not THAT good looking!


Use several fonts to catch their attention



Creates a ransom note effect Be professional Resume is a story put most interesting parts at the beginning

 

Print your resume on day glow paper Print your resume on day glow paper


Illogical Order Use



Miscellaneous Tilts (2)



Focus on you and your needs

 

Employers have better things to do than hear about you They want to know what can you do for me Give cookie-cutter look cookieLacks flexibility to your silver bullet Great performance as Stick to the facts and figures not an evaluation of yourself Short and to the point Sentence fragments are fine if they are understandable BUT NOT IN THE COVER LETTER!!!!!

Use templates to construct your resume

 

Use superlatives to emphasis your work

 

Use long flowing sentences

 

Dont Make These Famous Mistakes



Education: Curses in liberal arts, curses in computer science, curses in accounting Personal: Married, 1992 Chevrolet Proven ability to track down and correct erors. Disposed of $2.5 billion in assets Accomplishments: Oversight of entire department Cover Letter: Thank you for your consideration. I hope to hear from you shorty!

    

Good Examples (1)

Good Examples (2)

Bad Examples (1)

Bad Examples (2)

OnOn-Line Resources
     

www.collegerecruiter.com www.developercareers.com www.writinglettersandresumes.com www.professionalwww.professional-resumes.com www.1stresumes.com www.a1resumes.net www.10minuteresume.com www.crsresume.com www.resumeservice.com

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