Presented by:
Sharon Mathis-Curd; Career Counselor
Career Development Center
Chapman University
Argyros Forum 303
714 997-6942
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Purpose to get you an interview
Details all academic credentials and
professional accomplishments
Used for seeking academic jobs, research jobs
in government labs, funding (grants or
fellowships)
Lengthy
Examples
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Purpose to get an interview
A ”snapshot” of your qualifications
One or two pages
An “advertisement”
Creates a critical “first impression”
Can Open doors – only part of the process!
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3 Must Knows:
1. What
you are “selling” -- your qualifications
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Major skills and abilities?
Research/lab skills
Technical or field-specific skills?
Important personal attributes?
Working independently/team player
Where you have successfully used these skills,
abilities and attributes?
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Education, Experience, Personal Qualities,
Internships
Transferable skills (i.e. communication,
analyzing, organizing, problem-solving,
planning, presentation)
Accomplishments (i.e. improved, created, built,
managed, wrote)
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3 Must Knows:
1. What
you are “selling” -- your qualifications
2. For what purpose -- your job objective
3. To whom you are “selling” -- your market
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Research Employers & Jobs
Must be able to identify the
industry and employers for whom
you would like to work and type
of job
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Don’t use templates- not your friend!
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One chance to make a 1st impression!
Scanned for 10-15 seconds – must be attractive
Make info easy to find, easy to read
Good white space, 1” margins, spacing
Don’t crowd
Don’t go CRAZY with fonts
Be selective with bolding, underlining, avoid italics
No erors !!
Most important information at the top!
Know why you are including information
ALWAYS EXCEPTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!
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Font size: between 10 and 12
Your name should be LARGEST & at top
Resume Font Type
 Typically use a readable, bookprint font
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Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri.
Graphic design or advertising employers
might be open to alternative fonts or portfolio
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Who knew there were so many fonts!
 Keep to one font type
2 categories:
*Serif font and has a tail
Times New Roman, Georgia, Century, Bookman Old Style
*Sans serif fonts do not have tails look like blocks
Arial, Tahoma, Gothic, Lucida Sans
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What will get you the job!
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Convince them you are the one!
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Be short & sweet!
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Contact Data
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Objective
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Education
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Experience
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Activities
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Awards, Honors
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MORE…………..
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MANDY MOORE
1 Main Street-Orange, CA 92866 (714)555-1111
moore100@chapman.edu
Professional Email/Phone Message
Address versus no Address?
Local Address versus Permanent?
Many different ways for heading
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JOHN L. SMITH
One University Dr. #200 - Orange, CA 92866
(714) 222-2222
smith100@mail.chapman.edu
JOHN SMITH
(714) 222-2222 smith100@mail.chapman.edu
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Matt Martinez
123 Main Street
Orange, CA 92866
(714) 555-9865
sportymarti100@chapman.edu
---------------------------------------------Matt Martinez
123 Main Street-Orange, CA 92866
(714)555-9865 marti@chapman.edu
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Do you need an objective statement?
If not, why?
If yes, what?
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Chapman University – Orange, CA
B.S. in Economics, May 2006
May 2013
3.9 GPA
Include: Degree/Major/Minor/Grad Date/Class Standing
Options:
All Schools attended? High School?
GPA/Honors, Study Abroad
Courses/Projects, Thesis
Do they all go under Education? What order?
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Chapman University – Dodge College of Film and Media Arts
May 2015
BA in Public Relations and Advertising
GPA 4.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BS in Business Administration – Finance Emphasis
Chapman University Argyros School of Business and Economics
May 2015 (3.7 GPA)
Associates of Sciences Degree in Business Fullerton Junior College
Graduated with Honors (May 2013)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------BS in Business Administration – Entrepreneurship Emphasis
May 2014
Chapman University – Argyros School of Business and Economics
Presidential Scholarship, Chancellor’s List
Study Abroad: Spain
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STUDY ABROAD/INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
College International De Cannes – France
Dates
• Enrolled in intensive French language courses
• Traveled throughout France
University of Salamanca –Spain
Dates
RELEVANT COURSES
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History of Film
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Visual Storytelling,
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Film Aesthetics
Practice
International Marketing
Global Business Marketing
Journalism Theory and
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Include Employer Name – city, state
Dates employed
Descriptive job title
Can be paid/non paid
Projects?
How many do you include
How do you prioritize
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Use phrases not sentences
Condense without losing meaning
Start with action verbs
Use buzz words specific to industry
Don’t underestimate what you did!
Bullet or paragraph format
Must match skill set of what you want
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Inventoried and stocked all medical supplies;
created a more streamlined tracking system
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Conducted short and long range investment
analyses on NYSE stocks using Lotus
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Built loyal clientele of regulars in addition to
tourist trade
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Managed a $5000 budget
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Finance Intern
PAINE WEBBER INCORPORATED, Newport Beach, CA
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Summer 2012
Assisted financial consultants with prospecting new clients
Researched equities and mutual funds
Worked independently on statistical and program planning projects
Organized client files and developed client follow up procedures
Recognized for being a dedicated and reliable employee
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Lead Server Watson’s Restaurant-Orange, CA 2012 Present
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Provide exceptional service in fast-paced setting ensuring positive
dining experience
Motivate team to work quickly and efficiently
Plan and coordinate schedules
Train and supervise new staff
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Use projects: teams/solo
Describe what you did
Identify skill sets
Consider activities/community service
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Specific Project/Team/Independent
What you did
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Design experiments, collect and analyze data
Construct stimuli
Lab Skills/Statistical packages: SPSS, SAS, R
Conference Presentations/Publications
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List team/independent projects
Identify relevant skills, use action verbs
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PR/Ad Campaign, Entertainment Marketing,
Research, Accounting , Production Experience
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Developed advertising campaign using social media
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Created public service campaign
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Designed press kit
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President – Sorority
2013 – present
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Lead meetings of over 40 members
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Increased membership by 15% in one year
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Substantially increased number of service
hours given by club members
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Chancellor’s List
Presidential Scholar (highest award for freshmen)
Graduated with Honors
Gamma Beta Phi Honor Society (top 25% class)
Employee of Month
Dean’s List, 4 semesters
Basketball Team, Most Valuable Player
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Research Projects
Research Skills
Lab Skills
Publications
Manuscripts
Conference Presentations
Stat Packages
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Professional Affiliations
Leadership/Offices held
Technical/Computer Skills
Languages
Community Involvement
STUDY ABROAD/international
studies
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Be sure to have someone proofread your
resume for spelling, typos, and grammar
Create a visually appealing resume
 1” picture frame margin
 Effective utilization of white space
 Effective use of boldfacing, italics, caps
 Placement of headings
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Too much – too little!
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Vague objective; resume is lacking focus
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Typos, grammatical errors
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Irrelevant or outdated information
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Poor layout
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Date of birth
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Marital status
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Letters of
recommendation
Salary History
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Photograph
Personal data (gender,
ethnicity, height,
weight, political
affiliation, etc.)
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(Unless requested)
“Date-Stamping”
References (Do NOT state:
“References Available
Upon Request”)
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Individualized to each company
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What you are applying to and why
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Pull from resume what is most relevant to position
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Put personality into it
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Wow them!
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Products, services
Philosophy
Company culture
Review web page
Search for recent news coverage
Use vault.com or wetfeet.com to get insider views
Glasssdoor.com
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Identify how you fit the job description
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Skills, personality, experience, education
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Ensure you sell yourself by identifying key
points in cover letter
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Three main paragraphs:
1) Why you are writing
2) SELL IT: Why you
are right for the
position
3) Summarize
Return Address Date
(Inside Address)
How you learned about
the position
Referral, Job Listing
Dear Internship
Coordinator: (Avoid To
Whom It May Concern)
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Name, Title
Company Name
Street
City, State zip
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Sell yourself – how you meet the qualifications
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Use education, experience, personal qualities
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Show personality!
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Provide evidence of related experiences and
accomplishments
Show genuine interest in position & company
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Express appreciation to the reader for their time and
consideration
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Strong conclusion about interest
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Sincerely,
Name
 email
 phone
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Do not include all of your experiences in your cover
letter.
Highlight one or two significant and relevant jobs,
leadership positions and/or other experiences that
relate to the position.
Convince the reader you have exactly what they
want by clearly showing how you match
requirements.
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Use active, not passive voice
Keep sentences short and succinct
Reduce the use of modifiers such as “very”
Be clear and direct
Write naturally and avoid overly formal words
such as “shall”
It may help to dictate your letter or read it out loud
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