Resumes & Cover Letters
Career Center – UW1-160 – Student Success Center
(425) 352-3706 | career@uw.edu | www.uwb.edu/careers
Resume Overview
 The purpose of a resume is to get an interview
• Be interesting; make whoever reads your resume view you as valuable to
their cause
 A resume is a marketing piece
• Highlight your strong points
o Education
o Professional or Relevant experience
o Skills & Accomplishments
 Customize each resume to the job for which you are applying
 Read the job descriptions carefully to insert keywords & identify the skills they
are targeting (try www.wordle.net)
 Know your audience – use industry specific terminology
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Demonstrate Value
 What employers have in mind:
• “How can you be valuable to us?”
• “Value” = skills, accomplishments, education and experience
• Successful job seekers understand their unique combination of
skills, education and experience and articulate their value to
employers.
 It takes on average 10 – 30 seconds to review a resume the first
time
 Most significant part of the resume is the top half of page – must
give evidence of a good “match” to the position
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Resume Components- Contact &
Objective
 Name & Contact Information
• Email & phone number are important, address optional
• Contact information can go all on one line to save space
• Use a professional looking email
(i.e. not totescraycray@hotmail.com or bigsexy@aol.com or
johndoe10001110001@gmail.com)
 Objective
•
•
•
•
List the position you’re applying for and the company or organization
List important, valuable attributes that you bring to the job
Keep in mind the employers perspective
Objectives are concise, usually one sentence, two at most
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Resume Components- Summary of
Qualifications
 Summary of Qualifications
• Highlight skills specific to the job description
• Measurable experience that prepares you for job
• Can be in list form (more common) or a short paragraph
• List skills that are transferable from job to job and highlight
flexibility
• Try not to use skills that everybody has, or that are generally
expected (ex: Hard worker, proficiency in Microsoft Word,
motivated self starter)
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Resume Components- Education
 Education
• Your degree and expected graduation date
• GPA if above 3.5 or if required by company
• Relevant coursework or projects
o
o
o
Describe in relative detail the process by which you learned a skill
Group projects, research and presentations are good to use here, they
can show your demonstrated ability
Think of your learning objectives of each class
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Resume Components- Experience
 Relevant (Work) Experience
• Internships, volunteer, or professional experience applicable to
this position
o
o
o
Be specific; “worked at a hotel” doesn’t tell anyone anything useful
Use action verbs
Quantify wherever possible;
o
o
o
o
dollar amounts responsible for
how many customers served or co-workers managed
how often you made a status report
% of improved efficiency
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Resume Format
 First impressions are important
 Use professional consistent styles, punctuation and fonts
 Chronological, Functional and Combination resumes
 Resume “real estate” and page layout -centering/lining up parts of
the resume
 Utilize bullets in order of importance
 1 –2 pages at most
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Skills to focus on in coursework
No matter what you major in, you need excellent writing skills and eloquent
speaking skills. The Association of American Colleges and Universities recently
asked employers who hire at least 25% of their workforce from two- or four-year
colleges what they want institutions to teach. The answers did not suggest a
narrow focus. Instead:
 89% said they wanted more emphasis on “the ability to effectively
communicate orally and in writing”
 81% asked for better “critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills”
 70% were looking for “the ability to innovate and be creative”
From Zernike, Making College `Relevant’, The New York Times, 2009
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Resume Checklist
 Make your resume visually appealing, easy to read, and consistent in resume
style and format.
 Maximize the space on your resume. Don’t waste an entire line on your page
for one to three words.
 Keep it to one page (two pages dependent on professional level relevant to the
position).
 Choose a resume style for your particular skill level/work history. For
suggestions on what style to choose, view outlines and sample resumes on the
UW Bothell Career Services website.
 Spell and grammar check. Keep the correct verb tense. Use past tense for
previous jobs and present tense for current jobs. Don’t use personal pronouns.
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Resume Checklist Continued…
 Immediately impress the reader – be job specific, customize.
 State up front in your objective and the job for which you are applying.
 Include keywords from the job description.
 In choosing what character traits, skills, accomplishments, academic knowledge
and employment history you are going to highlight, focus on the employer’s
needs and job requirements.
 In your bullets, not only communicate your job responsibilities; but also make
sure to include the abilities and skills that made you successful in performing
those. Stress your productivity in terms of your potential for solving employer’s
problems. Quantify whenever possible. Numbers help to draw the eye and
stand out.
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Something NOT to do…
Peyton Manning
iamthemanning@foozballfans.com | 425.555.2111
Objective: Hi. I’m looking for a job. Only for the spring though, cause I gotta go back to work in late summer. Thx.
What do I have to offer?
• Like ppl
• I have a good spiral
• Think outside of the field
Skills:
•
Good at organizing
•
Good sense of humor
•
Good with pople
•
Good with infants and children
Hobbies:
• Football
• Laser Tag
• Animal training
• Eyebrow tweezing
Volunteer:
• Visiting the old people at the old age home
• Volunteer at the Zoolander Center for Children Who Don’t Read GoOd
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A Strong Resume
Russell Wilson
rwilson@uwis.edu | 425.555.2111 | linkedin.com/in/russellwilson
Summary of Qualifications
• Leadership skills learned through academic coursework and professional experiences
• Demonstrated leader with commitment to the community and team
• Strong verbal communication skills with individuals of diverse populations and backgrounds
Education
Bachelor of Arts: Communications
• GPA: 3.8
• Dean’s List: Autumn 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011
Relevant Experience
Quarterback, University of Wisconsin
• Passed for over 3,500 yards during a single football season
• Leading pass rusher in the Big Ten Conference
Honors:
• Named Third Team All American, Yahoo Sports
• Griese-Brees Big Ten Quarterback of the Year
June 2011
2011
Quarterback, North Carolina State
2007-2010
• Collaborated with team members in effectively planning plays, techniques, and strategies
• Effectively lead team to 3 Bowl Games, passing over 500 yards per game
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Cover Letters
• Explain why you are sending a resume
• Tell specifically how you learned about the position or the organization
• Convince the reader to look at your resume.
• Call attention to elements of your background relevant to the position.
Be specific, use examples
• Reflect your attitude and interest in the position
• Provide or refer to any information specifically requested
• Indicate what you will do to follow-up
• Samples: http://www.uwb.edu/careers/job-search-tools/coverletters
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COVER LETTER OUTLINE
• Formal letter header
• Salutation
• #1 Introduction
• #2 Relevant skill sets
• #3 Why this company/job?
• #4 Appreciation/conclusion
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References
Choose the Right Reference
• A good reference: A professor in whose class you earned a good grade or an employer
who has commented positively about your work.
• A great reference: In addition to the above, they can comment on your personality and
passions.
 Academic Reference Consider any Professor:
• who has seen your best academic work
• that you engaged with in a quarter-long special topics or research project
 Work Reference Consider any Employer:
• where you received promotions
• where you completed any special projects
• where you can qualify or quantify your contribution to the organization
• that you left the organization on good terms
• with whom you still communicate
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Questions?
Career Center – UW1-160 – Student Success Center
(425) 352-3706 | career@uw.edu | www.uwb.edu/careers