1. Short Job Application Tips Do you have questions? Email me at: Mohammah@email.sc.eduMohammah@email.sc.edu

2. Outline 1.Writing Resume 2.Writing Cover Letter 3.Websites for Job Applications

3. Writing Resume Your resume should be maximum of two pages. It should contain the following sections: 1.Summary 2.Education 3.Skills 4.Experience 5.Achievements 6.Publications (Selected) 7.Courses (Selected)

4. SUMMARY Use summery if you have something exceptional, such as patents, books, so many papers etc., to offer. Sample: S UMMARY  To obtain a full-time position in Electric Power Systems, Power Electronics, and Renewable Energy Systems.  Two years of industry experience in electric power systems and control of power electronics.  18 published peer-reviewed articles, and one book – with industry applications.

5. EDUCATION Start from your highest education to the lowest one. Sample E DUCATION PhD – Electrical Engineering – University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC - (GPA:4.0/4.0) Sept. 2010-Dec. 2014  Area of concentration : Electric Power Systems, Control of Power Electronics, Renewable Energy (wind, solar), Micro-Grid, Smart – Grid, Modeling and Simulation  PhD Dissertation: Transient Stability Enhancement of Wind Farms using Power Electronics and FACTS Controllers MSc – Electrical Engineering – Iran U. of Science & Technology, Tehran, Iran- (GPA: 3.4/4.0) Oct.-2006-July 2009  Area of concentration: Power Electronics, High Voltage DC (HVDC), HV AC Transmission Systems BSc – Electrical Engineering – Iran U. of Science & Technology, Tehran, Iran Sept. 2001-Sept. 2006  Area of concentration: Distribution Systems, Substation Design, Electric Machines and Motor Drives, Transformers

6. SKILLS Use bullets for the skills Highlight if you have hands-on experiences Sample S KILLS Technical: Matlab (Simulink, SimPowerSystems, SimsCape), PSCAD/EMTDC, PLECS, PowerWorld, EMTP, DSATools (PSAT, TSAT, SSAT), AutoCad, PSpice. Hands on: Oscilloscope, PLC, Hardware-in-the loop (HIL) simulation, high voltage measurement. Computer: MS Office, Visio, LaTex, Adobe CS3, C/C++.

7. EXPERIENCE List all of your experiences from the newest to the oldest. Try to put title for each of them and write an outcome for each of them, if any. Use active verbs to describe your experiences: “Designed and implemented” instead of “Designing and Implementation” Try to have two or three verbs showing that you can 1) work on a team (you are a team player) 2) You are able to lead a group

8. E XPERIENCE Postdoctoral Fellow - University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA Dec. 2014-Present Control Engineering & Renewable Energy (Outcome: 1 peer-reviewed journal paper)  Designed and implemented a new multi-input multi-output (MIMO) observed-state feedback controller for the DFIG back-to-back converters for transient stability improvement and sub-synchronous control interactions (SSCI) damping. Research Assistant - University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA Sept. 2010-Dec. 2014 Power Systems & Renewable Energy (Outcome: 4 peer-reviewed journal papers and one book)  Developed mathematical modeling of the ERCOT Texas power transmission network, including DFIG wind farm.  Validated the mathematical model using small-signal analysis in Matlab/Simulink and DSATools, and detailed time-domain simulations in PSCAD, EMTP, and Matlab.  Developed three novel control approaches for grid integration of renewable energy resources. Power Quality & Digital Signal Processing (DSP) (Outcome: 2 peer-reviewed journal papers)  Developed a new method for the evaluation of the IEEE Standard 1459 power components based on the time-frequency analysis technique for power quality measurements and harmonic analysis.  Studied the LVRT and power quality enhancement of wind farms using series FACTS controllers Protection Engineering (Outcome: 1 peer-reviewed journal paper)  Developed novel high-impedance fault detection and location algorithms.  Performed a high-impedance fault test for different scenarios, in a high current laboratory. Distributed Generation (DG), Smart Grid, & Micro-grid (Outcome: 2 Reports to the US Navy)  Collaborated with the ESRDC team to model, analyze, and simulate the micro-grid medium voltage AC (MVAC) electric ship in different simulation software (Matlab/Simulink, PSCAD/EMTDC, and Virtual Test Bed (VTB)).  Led a team of 3 graduate students to develop reduced order model of MVAC electric ship in Matlab/Simscape. Software Development for Power Systems (Outcome: Enhancement of Power System Software, VTB)  Collaborated with a team of engineers and graduate students at the University of South Carolina to develop Virtual Test Bed (VTB) software package. System Engineer – Power Electronics Research Lab. (PERL), Tehran, Iran Sept. 2008-July 2010 Power Electronics & Power Quality (Outcome: 5 peer-reviewed journal papers and a prototype)  Designed, prototyped, and tested a novel and optimized SVPWM switching strategy for three-level neutral point clamped (NPC) voltage source inverter (VSI).  Collaborated with team of engineers on design and model of power electronics and wrote and presented technical reports EXPERIENCE - sample

9. ACHIEVEMENTS Put your achievement here Achievements could be anything like best paper award in a conference, best dissertation award, … Sample: A CHIEVEMENTS  18 published peer-reviewed articles, 20 Presentations, 10 Technical report and poster presentations for industry - 1 invited talk, and one book.  Full scholarship for PhD studies from University of South Carolina from 2010-2014.  Three travel awards from University of South Carolina (2012, 2013, and 2014).

10. PUBLICATIONS (selected) Only put some selected, industry related publications: Sample P UBLICATIONS (selected)  “Modeling and control of gate - controlled series capacitor interfaced with a DFIG-based wind farm,” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, Feb. 2015 (Link).Link  “Time-frequency based instantaneous power components for transient disturbances according to IEEE standard 1459,” IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, October 2014 (Link).Link  “High impedance fault detection in distribution network using time-frequency based algorithm,” IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, October 2014 (Link).Link  “SSR damping controller design and optimal placement in rotor-side and grid-side converters of series compensated DFIG-based wind farm,” IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, Jan. 2015 (Link).Link  “SSR Damping in wind farms using observed-state feedback control of DFIG converters,” Electric Power System Research (EPSR), Elsevier, Jan. 2015, to be published.  “Voltage stabilization of VSI SMES capacitors and voltage sag compensation by SMES using novel switching strategies," Energy, Elsevier, July 2010 (Link).Link

11. COURSES (selected) Since the hiring process is based on searching the related keywords, put some related keywords to the job description in this section on order to increase the chance of your Resume being seen by the recruiter C OURSES (selected) Advanced Power Systems Analysis and Control, Advance Power Electronics, Renewable Energy Recourses (wind, solar), Power Quality and Harmonics, Semiconductor Electronic Devices, Reactive Power Control, FACTS, Relays and Protection, Electrical Machines, Motor Drives, Modern Control, Linear Control Theory, Power System Planning and Operation, Restructured Power Systems, Advanced Digital Signal Processing, Industrial Control, Microcontroller.

12. Writing Cover Letter Never ever apply for a job without a proper cover letter, or you are wasting your time. The studies show that 66% of recruiters trash Resume’s without having a proper cover letter. The cover letter is a place so that you should convince the recruiter why you think you are a good match for the position for which you are applying. To write a good cover letter, you should do the following: 1.Read carefully the job description 2.Find out what exactly the recruiter is looking for. 3.Customize your cover letter and Resume based on the job description

13. Writing Cover Letter Sample Your Address goes here The company address goes here Dear Hiring Manager, I am kindly writing to apply for the XXX at the XXX Inc. I have received my XXX degree in XXX with focus on XXX (better to customize with the job description or as close as possible to that), from the University of XXX, in Dec. 2014, where I am currently a postdoctoral fellow. During my MSc and PhD programs, I have published more than 20 peer-reviewed journal papers, 20 international conference papers, and one book – with industry applications - in the areas XXX (I will customize this based on the job description). I have leadership characteristics evidenced by my clear and concise communications, verbal and written, skills which can be verified by my top-tier published articles in the power systems industry. (I am trying to convince them to read my resume) I am a very motivated, hardworking, and a team player, able to come up with novel ideas for challenging issues in power systems, and renewable energy recourses areas. I am also able to quickly learn and adapt new skills. I strongly guarantee that if I am given a chance for an interview (you should ask them to give you an interview chance, do not try to be humble here), I will impress the interviewer by my knowledge in the power systems area. Yet, I am open and enthusiastic to learn from my colleagues, since I firmly believe that knowledge and experience is a process not a point in life (Here you can make up for not being humble)! I have enclosed a resume for your review, and please let me know if I need to provide additional information or references. I look forward to further discussing my abilities, background, and skills, which I believe will be an asset to your company. Sincerely, Your name

14. Websites for Job Applications (Not limited to this websites) http://www.indeed.com/ http://www.careerbuilder.com/ http://www.monster.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/ I strongly recommend that you become a premium subscriber of the LinkedIn once you become serious in applying for a job.

15. GOOD LUCK IN YOUR JOB HUNTING