Job Application Package Analysis

							Job Application Package Analysis

Date: 2/24/09
To: Brian Neff
From: Vy Pham
Subject: Job Application Package Analysis

UNDERGRADUATE SUMMER INTERNSHIP: FLUID MECHANICS RESEARCH

This is a research position for the Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Lab. The
position is for undergraduate students with high interest in Fluids Mechanics and Hydro-
acoustics. During the internship, students will be working under supervisors, who are most
likely Penn State professors or graduate students. Preferred candidates should have laboratory
experiences, basic knowledge with experimental analysis and some lab procedures.

Since I am a Bioengineering student, I wanted to emphasize the fact that I am a Mechanical
Option and have enough background information in Fluids Mechanics. Therefore, I included all
the related courses I have taken or currently taking. In addition, shorten my involvement and
extracurricular activities, because I think my audience will be more interested in my knowledge
on the subject, and my past experiences in labs.

As a result for my cover letter, I decided to discuss how I was introduced to Fluids Mechanics to
show that I am familiar with the subject. I also discuss the procedures and the equipments used
in my lab courses to demonstrate my knowledge on laboratory instrumentations and on basic lab
procedures. My main focus is to ensure my reader that even though I am a Bioengineer, I have
sufficient background on Fluids Mechanics.

I chose the resume for this job to be my online resume. I divided the different sections of my
resume into tabs so that the audience can easily locate the information they are looking for. In
addition, I took the liberty to place more details on my online resume since there was enough
space for it. I also included a link of my past programming works to demonstrate my skills for
programming.

The link for my online resume is:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/vlp5015/blogs/eportfolio/

MOTE MARINE LABORATORY RESEARCH POSITION

This is a research position as well for the Mote Marine Laboratory. This is a perfect internship
for undergraduate students who are interested in Marine Biology or Marine Mammal Research.
The audience for my application, resume, and cover letter is the person in charge of hiring for the
Laboratory. Preferred candidates should show interest in Marine Biology and researching, have
efficient communication skills, and be able to work in a team of scientists and other students.

For this resume, I wanted to demonstrate my communication skills and my involvement on
campus to show that I am able to work successfully on a team. Therefore I included details of
my extracurricular activities. At the same time, I also switch my skill section location to also
stress that I have experiences with program soft wares and will be able to use them in the
research labs.

For my cover letter, I decided to further discuss my past experiences with customer services and
my extracurricular activity. This is because as part of the application I have to write a one to two
page essay explaining my interest in the position and the qualities that would make me a good
candidate. I thought it would be a good idea to discuss my interest in Biology and Engineering,
making this a very desirable position. I also want to discuss my experiences in the lab and with
medical as well as laboratory instrumentation. Therefore, I decide to discuss my involvement in
my community, and how it has allowed me to develop my communication and leadership skills.