Lauren Xie Cronin Center for Enterprise: Summer Leadership Program 2011 Saturday, July 16, 2011

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To look good and stand out as the best candidate for a position or role. 3

 Student Organizations  Jobs  Internships  Capped courses  Programs  Optional: College application Anything that involved a selection process. 4

 To help someone better understand you as part of the selection process  Summary of yourself  Skills and Qualifications  Relevant Experience  Educational Background 5

 Only include highlights that are relevant to the position  3-4 basic sections  Education  Relevant Experience ▪ Only 2-3 things here  Optional “Other Qualifications” (customize section)  Skills 6

 Name, phone, address up top  Include position titles for experience  Include 2-3 line succinct description for important experiences  List positions/skills in order of importance and reverse chronological order 7

 List duration of experiences  Keep tenses straight  Skills are generally listed in the bottom  Computer skills  Language skills  Other relevant skills for the job 8

 Most readers will skim your resume for 30 seconds max  Try to align in as few columns as possible  Simple is better!  Do not crowd content  1-page, frontside only  Bold/underline/space/italics/do whatever to draw attention to highlights  Consistency 9

 Information gaps, such as a missing summer  Personal pronouns  Slang/colloquialisms/abbreviations  Number of letter categories  Superfluous information such as a picture, age, sex  Listing references on resume 10

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 First impression: promote yourself for the position  Express your interest for the position in prose  Focus on what makes you uniquely well- suited for the position  Free form (2-3 paragraphs) 13

 Opening: Identify what job you are applying for, how you heard about the opening, and why you are interested.  Middle Paragraph(s): Discuss your qualifications for the job and your interest in the organization. Use one or two accomplishments to illustrate the skills and experience you bring to the job.  Closing Paragraph: Express your interest in meeting with the employer to discuss the requirements of the job and your qualifications. Refer reader to enclosed resume. 14

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 It’s OK to have a template, but be sure to customize your resume for each position  Be straightforward and to the point  Cover letter and resume complement each other  Remember: cover letter comes first! 18

 Harvard University Office of Career Services  Angela Frankel, Harvard College Class of

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