1. What is a Curriculum Vitae ?
A Curriculum Vitae or a CV is the written record of one’s education and experience.
It is the traditional way of presenting personal data.

2. 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
Request for an interview
Purpose of the resume is to get you an interview

3. Must capture the reader’s interest and attention
Must convince the employer that you have the ability to fill their position
Your “big picture”
A snapshot of what you believe are your most important experiences and qualifications

4. Differences between a Resume and a Curriculum Vite
Length
A resume is a one or two page summary of your skills, experience and education.
A CV can be more than two pages,
2. Content
A curriculum vitae is a longer (at least two page) and more detailed synopsis.

5. A curriculum vitae includes a summary of your 1
A curriculum vitae includes a summary of your 1.educational and academic backgrounds 2. teaching and research experience, 3. publications, 4. presentations, 5. awards, 6. honors, 7. affiliations and other details. 3. Usage 1. A resume is generally used when applying for a new job. 2. A curriculum vitae is used primarily when applying for academic, education, scientific or research positions.

6. 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, …

7. An Electronic Resume A plain text resume for on-line submission
Typically must conform to employer specifications
Use left-justified and space indented formatting
If desired, use “+”, “*”, and “0” to represent bullets

8. Resume Formats - Chronological
Highlight your work experience in reverse chronological order
Be sure to not leave gaps
The most widely used format for working professional

9. 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

10. Resume Formats - Combinational
Highlight specific work experience
Highlight marketable skills
Use reverse chronological order
The best resume style for most college students

11. What Is Your “Story”?
What stand 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?

12. What is unique or interesting about your college experience?
Recommendation
If you have an interesting internship – emphasize it – if not get one!
Demonstrate leadership, communication, cultural awareness

13. Standard Resume Sections
Header
Objective
Education
Honors/Activities
Work Experience
Relevant Courses
Skills
Projects

14. The Header The first line should be your name
Larger than the largest font used in body
Avoid using decorative fonts
Don’t use black or gray shaded backgrounds
Exclude titles Mr., Mrs., Ms., …
Include contact address
Permanent address
Current address
Include your address
Don’t use
Include your phone number
Change the message machine to be appropriate

15. The Objective
Make statement clear, concise, and to the point
Bad: “I want to get a 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.”
Avoid being overly specific to single company
“To attain a position at 3M Pharmaceuticals working on …”
Prefer objectives from the company’s perspective
“To attain a web application programming position where knowledge of Java and the Struts framework will add value the overall development process.”

16. Honors/Activities
Should only contain honors and awards earned during your time in college
You can include academic or extracurricular items
(only academic or service-related items)
Include a brief description if not self-evident from title
“Awarded top performer award”

17. Don’t include hobbies or activities not related to the job or your story
Don’t include volunteer work unless there is a direct and positive link with the job or your story
Good to include leadership positions in organizations related to your field.
Good to list membership in related to your field.

18. Work Experience
Dedicated to most recent and relevant employment
Format
Employer and location on the first line
Don’t need name of supervisor, complete address, or contact information
Position and time-span on the second line
Use only year, not month and year (avoids time gaps)

19. Each position should have at least two bullets
Explain role and contributions
Don’t emphasize duties but rather emphasize outcomes
“Increased efficiency of … by 20%”
“Improved user navigation experience on …”
Descriptions should be consistent in wording
Watch the tense
Current job uses present tense
Former jobs use past tense

20. Guidelines for Resume Writing
Relevant Courses
Projects
Use action words in your descriptions
Act like a professional
Avoid cutesy or inappropriate graphics, images, formats, …
One page only
You are a fresh graduate, don’t assume that the one-page rule doesn’t apply to you!

21. Stick to the truth
Don’t sprinkle buzzwords in that you really don’t understand
It speaks volumes about your character when you can’t explain your own resume
Focus on achievements and results
Laundry lists of duties are not impressive

22. Supporting Documentation – Cover Letter
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
Send it to a person, not a place
Avoid “To Whom It May Concern,”
Worst case “Dear Recruiter:”

23. First sentence should tell why you are writing
“I am writing in regard to your posting listed on …”
“Dr. Bhatia at LLC suggested that I …”
“As you may recall, I spoke with you briefly at …”
If unsolicited, indicate why you are interested in the company

24. Highlight your skills
Use two to three paragraphs to given in-depth description of your selling points
Each paragraph should be stand alone (could be moved to different location in text)
Close with a promise of action
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 city. I will contact your office when I arrive to arrange a possible meeting time”