Writing Resumes and CVs

Writing Resumes and CVs CV and Cover Letter  Your package  Your sales  Your time  Your opportunity You will only get it once!!! Application Packet Cover letter CV/Resume Application (if requested) Resumes and Vitae Resume Summary Vita = Curriculum Vita Course of a life CV/Resume Definition: Brief written summary of individual’s education, work experience, skills, and accomplishments Goals: To inform To persuade Resume/CV Telling Selling Your resume IS you! quality quantity presence professionalism Who reads CVs/resumes?  Human Resource Mgt professionals  Hiring Managers  Personnel Agencies/Placement Firms  Government Representatives  School Admission Officers How they do it First impression 30-60 second task Looking for exclusionary data Adding things up Reading CVs CVs/Resumes  One page  Most important facts only  “Best foot forward”  General Visual Presentation  Balance of text and white space  Text: 10-14 font Sans Serif: Arial Tahoma Serif: Courier Garamond  Left Justified  Column layout (natural stops)  Emphasis (bold, capitals, underlines) Quadrant Analysis Read from left to right and top to bottom (depending upon language!) 1 2 3 4 CV/Resume Basics Action Orientation show self as doer; use words such as: adapted managed applied assisted communicated led trained organized reviewed monitored facilitated Skills Orientation basic duties and overall transferable skills such as: communication skills self-motivation or initiative ability to work on teams capacity for leadership strong interpersonal skills time management abilities Parts of CV/Resume: I Heading/Identification -Name -Address -Phone number -E-mail (university & other) not work; not ”cute” -“Current Address” -“Home/Permanent Address” never use work address Jessica L. Bevel Current Address 1976A University Drive Auburn, AL 35602 U.S.A. (287) 698-1522 jlbevel@auburn.edu Permanent Address: 235 Pine Ridge Road Madison, AL 35756 U.S.A. (259) 527-2612 jessiebev@hotmail.com 234 Pine Ridge Road Madison, AL 35756 U.S.A. (259) 526-2612 jaybev@gmail.com Jessica L. Bevel Parts of CV/Resume: II Objective: only for specific jobs short, focused Example: OBJECTIVE Position as pharmaceutical sales representative in Fortune 500 drug manufacturer Position as financial analyst utilizing quantitative, research and technical skills OBJECTIVE Jessica L. Bevel Current Address 1976A University Drive Auburn, AL 35602 U.S.A. (280) 698-1522 jlbevel@auburn.edu OBJECTIVE Permanent Address: 235 Pine Ridge Road Madison, AL 35756 U.S.A. (256) 527-2612 jessiebev@hotmail.com Position as pharmaceutical sales representative in global drug manufacturing organization Parts of CV/Resume: III Education: college only Name of school Location Graduation date Degree Overall and major GPA (if above 3.0) Thesis or projects Honors and awards Internships Specific courses (only for job seeking) Continued…. Reverse chronology High School if job in country or if school extremely well known NO HIGH SCHOOL AWARDS ! ! ! ! Education Examples EDUCATION Auburn University (U.S.) 2002-2006 Degree: Bachelor of Science Majors: Biomedical Sciences & Business Minor: Philosophy GPA: 3.31 (4.0); Major GPA: 3.57 (4.0) Thesis: The Impact of Genetic Engineering Technology on Generic Drug Manufacturing Education 2002-2006 Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences Auburn University (U. S.) Courses include: Genetic Engineering; Laboratory Analysis of Vertebrates; OSHA Standards in Laboratories & Testing Activities: Science Students Union, Earth Day Committee (chairperson) Awards: Lab Person of the Year 2005 \ Education 2002-2006 Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences Auburn University (U. S.) Grade Points Average: 3.49/4.00 Projects: Lab Rats in Love: Making New Behavioral Predictions; Innovations in Sterile Environment Stability Factors Awards and Honors: Pfizer Pharmaceutical Scholarship (2002-05) Dean’s List (2002,2004,2005) Jessica L. Bevel Current Address 1976A University Drive Auburn, AL 35602 U.S.A. (280) 698-1522 jlbevel@auburn.edu OBJECTIVE Permanent Address: 235 Pine Ridge Road Madison, AL 35756 U.S.A. (256) 527-2612 jessiebev@hotmail.com Position as pharmaceutical sales representative in global drug manufacturing organization EDUCATION 2002-2006 Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences Auburn University (U. S.) Grade Points Average: 3.49/4.00 Projects: Lab Rats in Love: Making New Behavioral Predictions; Innovations in Sterile Environment Factors Awards and Honors: Pfizer Pharmaceutical Scholarship (2002-05) Dean’s List (2002,2004,2005) EDUCATION 2009 Bachelor of Arts in Business American University in Bulgaria Major: Business CGPA: 3.5/4.0 Specialized coursework: Marketing Research, Consumer Behavior, Human Resources, Portfolio Management Projects: Corporate Policy and Procedure Manuals (individual) Stress Reduction Program in CEE (team) EDUCATION 2009 Bachelor of Arts in Business American University in Bulgaria Major: Business CGPA: 3.5/4.0 Specialized coursework: Marketing Research, Consumer Behavior, Human Resources, Portfolio Management Projects: Corporate Policy and Procedure Manuals (individual) Stress Reduction Program in CEE (team) Honors: Soros Academic Scholarship (2006-2009) Outstanding Student Award from Department (2009) Parts of CV/Resume: IV Experience Paid work Summer employment Work-study positions Volunteer activities (part-time and full-time) Dates (reverse chronology) Description/Title No “I statements” Experience Summers 2006 Salesperson Mary’s Merry Market Hilton Head, SC Salesperson & Assistant Manager Saks Department Store Birmingham, AL 2005 NO DETAILS IF TITLE DESCRIBES WORK Experience Sept.- Dec. 2006 Research Assistant Professor of Biology Auburn University Sept. 2006-May 2007 Residence Hall Assistant Auburn University Parts of CV/Resume: V Qualifications/Skills/Abilities Computer skills Languages Teamwork Projects Event planning Bullets/columns to emphasize Skills and Abilities Computers -MS Office -SPSS -STATA -WebDesigner5 Languages -Bulgarian (fluent) -French (basic) -English (fluent -Russian (basic) Training -Diversity Training -Advanced Project Management Activities Parts of CV/Resume: VI Interests/Activities Activities Group focused Competitive Cultural interests Artistic and musical abilities Professional/community organizations Skills and Abilities Computers -MS Office -SPSS -STATA -WebDesigner5 Languages -Bulgarian (fluent) -French (basic) -English (fluent -Russian (basic) Training -Diversity Training -Advanced Project Management Activities Sports -Skiing -Hiking -Gaming -Football (manager of university team) Clubs -Business Club (vice-president 2006-2007) -Community Service Club Parts of CV/Resume: VII Other areas: Certifications/Licenses Publications Research Community Service Leadership Specialized Training Parts of CV/Resume: VIII References NO, No, No, No No statement about availability Will ask when need them No-nos of CVs/Resumes Label document CV/resume at top—they know! Reasons for leaving (always trite or lies) Salary history (too biased and lies) Misspellings (“curses in mathematics”) Happy/smiley faces or expression fonts Personal data (unless requested) Suspicious gaps in time Bragging about self—be descriptive References listed E-mail address that is “funny” (or not) or refers to religion, origin, sex or other aspect What are they looking for and how do they evaluate my CV?  No double counting  Time units must add up  Searching for key words  Ease of read  Organization  NO MISTAKES!!!!!!!!!!!! 20 Second Test of CV Have someone read your CV/resume in twenty (20) seconds and summarize Do they know about you? What do they know about you? The Cover Letter The “Letter of Inquiry” The Letter of Application  Introduces CV/resume  Focuses  Job- and company-specific  Reinforces motivation  Personalizes CV/resume Purpose  Add personality  Emphasize applicability to company  Get you to the next step  Persuade Audience of Letter Individual reviewing CVs Hiring manager Other managers in company Peers Content  Name job you want  Tell why you want to work for company  Persuade that you are a “good fit”  Reinforce how you fit What you want to do in letter  Convince reader you are qualified for job or are interesting enough to pursue  Highlight performance related to job  Point to CVC/resume  Request next step Letter Structure: Opening  Paragraph 1 (2-4 sentences only): job you want how you learned of job contacts within company general qualifications for job THIS IS THE GRABBER!!! Letter Structure: Body  1-3 paragraphs  Expansion of qualifications  Apply qualifications to particular job (one or two only)  Refer to CV  Tell about training Tell them what you can do Letter Structure: Closing  Request next step  Reiterate interest  State contact information  Thank person for time and consideration A good cover letter  Positive appearance  Is addressed to person who can hire you  Is written in your own words  Shows you know something about company and position  Uses terms and phrases meaningful to employer Appearance  Good paper  Professional font  Same font as CV  Brief and concise---1 page maximum  Block format  Addressed to person, not title  Signed by you No-nos of application letters  Typos and misspellings  Slang  Lack of formal address (USE Ms., Mr., etc.---overly formal always better)  Informal font or font changes  Over one page Jessica Laine Bevel 1435 Pine Ridge Drive Huntsville, AL 35801 256 533-1389 jbev@msn.com 26 October 2006 Ms. Janet Worthington Human Resource Director ABC Pharmaceutical Manufacturing 199 Drug Alley Pharmaceutical Alley, AL RE: Opening in Pharmaceutical Sales, Southeast Division Dear Ms. Worthington: You recent advertisement for a new sales representative for the Southeastern Division of your company came to my attention through the Career Services Office at Auburn University. I was drawn to your opening by my strong interest in sales and my background in science. As my resume indicates, I will complete my degree in Biomedical Sciences in December, and have participated in a number of research projects related to drug development, testing and production while a student. My summer employment has been in a variety of seasonal jobs, all of which involved sales. While in school full-time, I participated in a number of campus projects with various organizations, and I served in many leadership roles. From this, I have learned and practiced personal management skills and have been in situations that helped develop and sharpen my persuasion and sales skills. I believe that my educational background in science, my participation in pharmaceutical research projects, my work experience in sales, combined with my personal skills, make me a good candidate for your position. If you agree, I would like to meet with you to further discuss this opportunity. I want to thank you for your time and the consideration of my application for the sales position. I look forward to hearing from you and meeting you in the near future. Sincerely, Jessica L. Bevel CV and Cover Letter  Your package  Your sales  Your time  Your opportunity You will only get it once!!!