Creating an Effective Resume
&
Cover Letter
Overview
• Purpose of a resume
• Preparing to write your resume
• Resume content areas
• Resume format
• What to include and exclude
• Cover letters
What is a resume?
• A resume is your introduction to the employer to
review under 10 seconds
• A resume is a one (or two for highly qualified
candidates) page summary of your education, skills,
experience and accomplishments
A resume gets you the interview so you can get
the job!
Curriculum Vitæ (CV) versus Resume
The differences between CVs and resumes are the length, purpose, and
layout
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Curriculum Vitæ, (which means course of life in Latin)
– CV is an in-depth document that can be laid out over two or more pages
and contains high levels of detail about your achievements, much more than
a career biography.
– CV covers your education as well as other accomplishments like
publications, awards, honors etc.
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Resume, or résumé,
– A concise document typically not longer than one page to two pages as
reader will not dwell on your document for very long.
– The goal of a resume is to make an individual stand out from the
competition.
Self Assessment
• Focus assessment on relevant & significant
experiences
• Write down jobs, activities, class projects, volunteer
work
• Add 2 or 3 bullets for each item and include:
– Skills and experiences
– Concrete, quantifiable data
– Results
– Achievements and accomplishments
Self Assessment Example
Resume
Item
Skills
Results
Achievements
Internship
Software
development
Improved
program
efficiency by
20%
Won “Intern of the
Year” award
Received full-time
job offer
Academic
Assignment
or Project
AutoCAD
Presented
project at a
showcase
Top 10 Project
Award
Technical
Writing
Resume Content - Basic Section Titles
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Name & Contact information
Objective (optional)
Education
Skills
Experience
– Research, Projects, Assignments
– Employment Experience
– Volunteer Experience
• Activities & Honors / Professional
Memberships/Certifications/Other Training
Objective Statement
• Not always necessary
• If used, tailor your objective for field/position and
employer
• Include specific skills necessary for the position that
you have to offer
• Do not include assumptions
Objective Statement Samples
• To obtain a position as a support specialist in the
fields of computer science and management
information systems
• To obtain a summer internship to gain experience in
biological sciences with special interest in marine
mammals
Education
• List most current education first
• Omit high school unless you are a freshman
• Include major
• Anticipated graduation date
• GPA if over 3.0 (Bachelor) 3.5 (Master)
Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL
Bachelor of Science Marine Biology, GPA 3.45
May 2016
Skills
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Skills can be technical skills and soft skills
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Skill examples
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Technical skills: MS Office Suite, MATLAB/Simulink, LabVIEW, AutoCAD,
Open Water Scuba Certified, Optical microscopy, Logistics Analysis, Mooney
M20J, Spanish language fluency
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Soft skills: communication, teamwork, leadership, and management skills
Employers know what the skills are so labeling the skills is not
necessary
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i.e. Programming languages: (C/C++, Perl, Java, C#, Fortran, SQL, PHP)
Skills should be listed as succinctly as possible
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Listing skills one after another separated by commas will save space and provide
the employer reviewer a quicker and cleaner view of skills
Experience Format
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List paid & unpaid experiences related to career path
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List organization, position, location, and dates
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List in reverse chronological order
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Use past tense for previous positions
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Start each description with an action verb and ensure all
descriptions are full statements
Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL
Sep 2011 – May 2012
Resident Assistant
• Counseled peers and assisted over 50 residents in transitioning to campus culture in several capacities
• Organized, promoted and implemented educational workshops and social activities for residents
• Enforced college policies to ensure campus health safety standards were met
Experience Tips
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The skill sets identified in the Skills section should be integrated
into the Experience section
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Employers want to see how an applicant has used the skills and to
what extent the skill is developed
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Describe your responsibilities and accomplishments
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What did you do?
How did you do it?
What was the purpose?
What was the result?
Do not use pronouns such as I, my, me, etc.
Experience Tips
• Students with few paid positions can use non-paid
experiences
– Unpaid internships
– Projects (group or individual)
– Relevant and significant course assignments
– Volunteer activities
• Use same format for non-paid experiences as paid work
experience
Activities, Honors & Memberships
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Campus organizations – clubs, sports, student government, etc.
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Honor societies related to your major (Psi Chi, Alpha Eta Rho)
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Professional organizations:
 IEEE
 NSBE
 SWE
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Special scholarships – exclude amount
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Awards/Honors/Achievements
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List most relevant activities such as professional associations or
honor societies first
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Other training/Certifications
Keywords & Action Verbs
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Accelerated
Accomplished
Accounted
Achieved
Acquired
Adapted
Administered
Adopted
Advised
Advocated
Aided
Allocated
Analyzed
Appraised
Arranged
Assembled
Assisted
Based
Budgeted
Built
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Checked
Classified
Coached
Collated
Collected
Communicated
Compiled
Completed
Composed
Conducted
Consolidated
Constructed
Controlled
Counseled
Created
Dealt
Delegated
Delivered
Demonstrated
Designed
Determined
Diagnosed
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Directed
Drafted
Edited
Eliminated
Encouraged
Evaluated
Exhibited
Expedited
Forecasted
Found
Generated
Guided
Hired
Implemented
Improved
Increased
Influenced
Initiated
Innovated
Integrated
Interpreted
Invented
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Invested
Launched
Led
Lobbied
Maintained
Managed
Measured
Mediated
Negotiated
Organized
Participated
Planned
Predicted
Programmed
Proposed
Reduced
Revised
Simplified
Streamlined
Systemized
Upgraded
Worked
Resume Basics
• Resumes should be clean, clear & concise
• Easy to read & align visually
• Resume length can be up to two pages with relevant and
significant information determining overall length
• Determine what skills and achievements are necessary,
keep only those that are relevant and significant to the job
you are seeking
SPELL CHECK!!!!!
Dos & Don’ts
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Do include all relevant experience
Do use a legible font face and size
Do use bulleted lists
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Don’t include your SSN, Photo, Marital Status, etc
Don’t use more than two fonts
Don’t put references on the resume – create a separate sheet
Don’t use excessive bold face/italics or an ink color other than
black
Cover Letters
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A customized letter to introduce yourself to the employer
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Provide enhanced details about your qualifications but do not copy
resume content
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Point out specific experiences which are relevant for the position
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Do not insert assumptions that you are the ideal candidate or the
perfect fit
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A cover letter does not need to be lengthy and should not exceed a
short one page
Career Management Services
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Part-time and full-time job postings on Panther Career Link at
http://www.fit.edu/career/
Internships & Co-op
ProTrack Co-op
Federal Work-study
Florida Work Experience Program
Workshops
Resume & Cover Letter Reviews
Career Fair & Employer Day
Mock Interviews
Contact Us
Career Management Services
Harris Commons 307
career@fit.edu
321-674-8102
Questions?