Writing Resumes and CVs

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Writing Resumes and CVs
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CV and Cover Letter

• Your package
• Your sales
• Your time
• Your opportunity
• You will only get it once!!!

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Application Packet

• Cover letter
• CV/Resume
• Application (if requested)

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Resumes and Vitae

• Resume
• Summary
• Vita Curriculum Vita
• Course of a life

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CV/Resume

• Definition
• Brief written summary of individuals education,
  work experience, skills, and accomplishments
• Goals
• To inform
• To persuade

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Resume/CV

• Telling
• Selling

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Your resume IS you!qualityquantitypresencepro
fessionalism
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Who reads CVs/resumes?

• Human Resource Mgt professionals
• Hiring Managers
• Personnel Agencies/Placement Firms
• Government Representatives
• School Admission Officers

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Reading CVsHow they do it

• First impression
• 30-60 second task
• Looking for exclusionary data
• Adding things up

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CVs/Resumes

• One page
• Most important facts only
• Best foot forward
• General

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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)

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Quadrant Analysis

• Read from left to right and top to bottom
• (depending upon language!)

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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

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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

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Jessica L.
BevelCurrent Address
Permanent Address 1976A University Drive
235 Pine Ridge Road Auburn, AL 35602
U.S.A. Madison, AL 35756
U.S.A. [phone] [phone]
jlbevel_at_auburn.edu
jessiebev_at_hotmail.com
Jessica L. Bevel 234 Pine Ridge Road Madison, AL
35756 U.S.A. [phone] jaybev_at_gmail.com
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Parts of CV/Resume II

• Objective
• only for specific jobs
• short, focused
• Example

OBJECTIVE Position as pharmaceutical sales
representative in Fortune 500 drug manufacturer
OBJECTIVE Position as financial analyst
utilizing quantitative, research and technical
skills
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Jessica L.
BevelCurrent Address
Permanent Address 1976A University Drive
235 Pine Ridge Road Auburn, AL 35602
U.S.A. Madison, AL 35756
U.S.A. [phone] [phone]
jlbevel_at_auburn.edu
jessiebev_at_hotmail.com

• OBJECTIVE Position as pharmaceutical sales
  representative in global
• drug manufacturing
  organization

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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)

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Continued.

• Reverse chronology
• High School if job in country or if school
  extremely well known
• NO HIGH SCHOOL AWARDS ! ! ! !

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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
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• 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)
• Deans List (2002,2004,2005)

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Jessica L.
BevelCurrent Address
Permanent Address1976A University Drive
235 Pine Ridge RoadAuburn, AL 35602 U.S.A.
Madison, AL 35756
U.S.A.[phone] [phone]
jlbevel_at_auburn.edu
jessiebev_at_hotmail.com

• OBJECTIVE 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)
• Deans List (2002,2004,2005)

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• 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)

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• 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)

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Parts of CV/Resume IV

• Experience
• Paid work
• Summer employment (part-time and full-time)
• Work-study positions
• Volunteer activities
• Dates (reverse chronology)
• Description/Title
• No I statements

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• Experience
• Summers
• 2006 Salesperson
• Marys Merry Market
• Hilton Head, SC
• 2005 Salesperson Assistant Manager
• Saks Department Store
• Birmingham, AL
• NO DETAILS IF TITLE DESCRIBES WORK

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• Experience
• Sept.- Dec. 2006 Research Assistant
• Professor of Biology
• Auburn University
• Sept. 2006-May 2007 Residence Hall Assistant
• Auburn University

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Parts of CV/Resume V

• Qualifications/Skills/Abilities
• Computer skills
• Languages
• Teamwork
• Projects
• Event planning
• Bullets/columns to emphasize

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• 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

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Parts of CV/Resume VI

• Interests/Activities
• Activities
• Group focused
• Competitive
• Cultural interests
• Artistic and musical abilities
• Professional/community organizations

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• 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

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Parts of CV/Resume VII

• Other areas
• Certifications/Licenses
• Publications
• Research
• Community Service
• Leadership
• Specialized Training

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Parts of CV/Resume VIII
References NO, No, No, No No
statement about availability Will ask when
need them
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No-nos of CVs/Resumes

• Label document CV/resume at topthey 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 selfbe descriptive
• References listed
• E-mail address that is funny (or not) or refers
• to religion, origin, sex or other aspect

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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!!!!!!!!!!!!

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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?

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The Cover LetterThe Letter of InquiryThe
Letter of Application

• Introduces CV/resume
• Focuses
• Job- and company-specific
• Reinforces motivation
• Personalizes CV/resume

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Purpose

• Add personality
• Emphasize applicability to company
• Get you to the next step
• Persuade

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Audience of Letter

• Individual reviewing CVs
• Hiring manager
• Other managers in company
• Peers

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Content

• Name job you want
• Tell why you want to work for company
• Persuade that you are a good fit
• Reinforce how you fit

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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

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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!!!

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Letter Structure Body

• 1-3 paragraphs
• Expansion of qualifications
• Apply qualifications to particular job
• (one or two only)
• Refer to CV
• Tell about training

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Tell them what you can do
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Letter Structure Closing

• Request next step
• Reiterate interest
• State contact information
• Thank person for time and consideration

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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

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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

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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

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26 October 2006  Ms. Janet WorthingtonHuman
Resource DirectorABC Pharmaceutical
Manufacturing 199 Drug AlleyPharmaceutical
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
Jessica Laine Bevel1435 Pine Ridge
DriveHuntsville, AL 35801256
533-1389jbev_at_msn.com
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CV and Cover Letter

• Your package
• Your sales
• Your time
• Your opportunity
• You will only get it once!!!

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