How to Tailor Your
Resume for a Job in
Higher Education
Created For Faculty Diversity Internship Program
May 20, 2013
Margie Lam
lam.margie.s@gmail.com
Higher Education landscape
Types of Academic Institutions
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Research Universities
Non-Assoc. of American Univ. Doctoral
Universities
State University Systems
Small Liberal Arts Colleges
Community Colleges
• What is the teaching load?
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All are looking for colleagues
Job Search
 Positions
posted in specialized scholarly
periodicals, higher ed job sites
 Application materials with disciplinary
distinctions
 Process congruent with the academic
calendar
Résumé
 No
right or wrong way*
 Strategic and better ways
 Personal marketing tool
 Recommendations
Purpose
 To
get an interview, not a job
 Give a positive first impression in
6-10 seconds
Carefully read job description, pick out
key terms, customize
Do you meet the MINIMUM
Qualifications?
6 mistakes that will get your
resume tossed out
Did not meet minimum criteria
 Bad grammar
 Resume not tailored to the position
 Deceiving/untruthful information
 You don’t “speak the language”
 Too much personality “fluff” and “fillers”
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Making It Easy for Your
Overburdened Audience
 Organization
 Clarity
 Consistency
Organization
Your information is presented in a
manner that highlights what is most
relevant, and pulls the reader's eye
directly to it, rather than making him/her
search for it.
2011-2013 Master of Arts Candidate in International Relations, Georgia
State University. Specializing in Japanese Politics and Economy. Dissertation
title: The World Bank and Transnational Society: An Analysis of How
Environmental NonGovernmental Organizations Institute Change in
Development (2012). Advisor Marty Consoli
MA
Georgia State University
International Relations, expected May 2013
The World Bank and Transnational Society
Marty Consoli (Chair), Linda Gentry, S. A. Inouye
Clarity
achieved by the use of concise,
unambiguous language and formatting
options that help the reader easily
assimilate the information you want to
convey.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Instructor, Global Movements, University of California, Berkeley, Department
of Anthropology, spring 2009.
Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Anthropology, University of California,
Berkeley, Department of Anthropology, fall 2008.
Teaching Assistant, Social Science Methodology, University of California,
Berkeley, Department of Anthropology, fall 2007.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Occidental College, Department of English, Spring 2009
Instructor
European Cultures II - The Enlightenment to the Present
Team-taught, multidisciplinary survey course required for all freshmen.
Contested Territories: Ethnic/Racial Literatures of the U.S. "Southwest"
Upper Division; study of texts which treat the "Southwest" as a determining and
originary site of cultural interaction and expressive production.
University of California, Berkeley, Department of English, 2006-2008
Instructor
Junior Seminar - The Augustan Age
Intensive study of critical and methodological problems in the study of literature.
Teaching Assistant
Reading and Composition - Travel Fiction of the Nineteenth Century
Reading and Composition - Lawyers & the Law in Contemporary Society
American Literature: Before 1800 (Upper Division)
Teaching Interests
Comparative Politics, Japanese Politics, Political Economy, International
Political Economy, and Methodology
Teaching Interests
Comparative Politics
Political Economy
Methodology
Japanese Politics
International Political Economy
Elements
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Contact information
Education
Dissertation
Honors & Awards / Fellowships / Scholarships
Publications
Teaching / Advising Experience
Teaching Interests
Conference Presentations
Professional Training
Professional Affiliations
Professional Experience
University/Professional Service - committee work,
leadership
Reviewer
References
Languages
Technical Skills
References
Dr. May Chang, Department of Sociology, 810 Barrows Hall,
University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
ChangM@berkeley.edu
Dr. May Chang
Department of Sociology
810 Barrows Hall,
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720
ChangM@berkeley.edu
510-642-1234 Fax 510-642 3456
Consistency
When the reader confronts different
spacing, formatting, and fonts among
similar items it is distracting, and provides
an easy excuse to discard the offender.
Making It Easy for Your
Overburdened Audience
 Organization
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What Three Things Should Your Audience
Know After the First 6 Seconds?
 Clarity
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Selective Use of Bolding & Indents
 Consistency
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Same structure, same formatting
Before writing the resume, read over the
job description and think about your
experience.
What experiences have you had that are
most relevant to the position you are
applying for?
How are resumes received/read?
-In person: HR, direct hiring manager,
assistant
-Via computer screening
Chronological Resume
Lists your experience in
reverse chronological order
– most recent to least
Works best: work, volunteer,
and academic experience
relate directly to the type of
job you’re applying for
Illustrates consistency in
your work history. If there
are wide gaps in your
experience, this may not be
the best format for you
Functional (Skills) Resume
Lists your experience based
on skill headings, which are
not necessarily in
chronological order
Actual work history
summarized in brief section
on bottom of page
Skills themselves are the
main attraction
Works best when you are
trying to break into a field
where you have little or no
experience. Good choice for
career shifters.
Contact Information
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Name
Address
Phone number(s)
Email
Optional: LinkedIn Profile
link; website; online portfolio
Make sure that your voicemail message is
professional
Objective/Profile/Summary of
Qualifications?
A brief “theme” statement that helps
organize the supporting info in the rest of
the resume
 Don’t put “fluffy”/filler material and lofty,
long term goals
 Focus on what YOU can do for the
employer, not on what you want
 Optional, it may be redundant to cover letter
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Example (English)
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Creative and passionate teacher
dedicated to fostering a student-centered
classroom environment based on mutual
respect and collaboration. Committed to
helping students identify and develop
their own passions while becoming
successful, confident writers.
DON’T
 Use
pronouns ("I") or articles ("a," "the").
 They take away from the force of your
accomplishments, slow down the reader,
and take up space.
DO:
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Use action words to emphasize
accomplishments:
Taught
Advised
Developed
Created
Managed
DO:
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Quantify your impact on the organizations you
have worked for:
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If you increased students’ ratings of a class, by
how much or by what percentage?
If you supervised a committee, how many were
on your team?
Ask yourself how you made a positive impact,
and insert the numbers that demonstrate that
impact.
Show skills rather than tell
Possess excellent communication skills
Successfully addressed the needs
of an average of 25 students
daily from a variety of ethnic and
socioeconomic backgrounds
Show skills rather than tell
Innovative instructor
Used social media like Facebook and Twitter to
support development of an online platform for
student discussions.
Magnify your accomplishments
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Wrote syllabus and assessed students
VS.
 Designed syllabus and weekly lesson plans
for 16-week semester. Wrote narrative
assessments for each student in addition to
formal grades.
DO:
 When
listing overseas experience, it may
be helpful to write a very brief description
about companies or educational
experiences that are unfamiliar to U.S.
employers
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For example: “the second largest public
university in Malaysia”
Be aware of
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Unexplained use acronyms and jargon
 Be sure to send EVERYTHING that is requested
in the job advertisement by the deadline
indicated.
 From Peralta Jobs w/s:
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Required Documents1.Resume 2.Cover Letter 3.Transcripts
Optional Documents1.List of References 2.Other Document
3.Letter of Recommendation 14.Letter of Recommendation 2
5.Letter of Recommendation 3 6.Curriculum Vitae
7.Training/Certification Document
Layout and Appearance
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White or off-white paper
12 point font
No crazy fonts - use readable and common: Times New
Roman, Garamond, Calibri
No crazy graphics
Be consistent with layout, bolded words, capitalization
Use the white space, 1 inch margins
Use bulletpoints
Simplicity, easy to read
CC resume: no more than 2 pages
Online Presence
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Set up/update your LinkedIn profile
Employers may Google prospective hires
Use social networking sites to recruit
Google yourself to see what comes up
Limit Facebook views
Be aware; make sure it reflects what you want people to
know about you professionally
Ask for feedback and
constructive critiques
Revise, revise, revise
Keep track of your
accomplishments
Resources
• Higher Ed Jobs, www.higheredjobs.com
• Chronicle of Higher Education chronicle.com/jobs
• Academic 360 www.academic360.com
• Academic Careers Online www.academiccareers.com
• Higher Education Recruitment Consortium www.hercjobs.org
• http://www.grad.illinois.edu/careerservices/facultyhiring
• http://www.fau.edu/cdc/students/resume/communitycollegecv
.pdf
• http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/cdc/files/C
ommunityCollegeCareer05-06.pdf
• The PDF of this slideshow (“FDIP Workshop”) is online at:
https://my.ciis.edu/ICS/Student_Life/Career_Development_Services.jnz
Questions, Concerns?
Margie Lam
lam.margie.s@gmail.com
Thanks for your attention and good luck!