Resume Basics

What is a resume? A Marketing Tool. . .

Summarizes your experiences that are of interest to potential employers
Establishes enough interest to get you an interview

The resume is often the first impression an employer receives about a candidate and serves as a student’s marketing tool. CIT students are encouraged to carefully write a resume that clearly and concisely describes:

pertinent information about your skills
academic projects
work experience

This may include creating a few versions of a resume that are tailored to specific career areas. Since a resume contains sections that help employers learn about a candidate, some sections are essential, while others are considered optional. There is no single format reserved for a resume. Even though you can get ideas from many people and many samples, you must decide what best communicates the most important information to an employer. Getting feedback from your CIT Career Consultant is strongly encouraged.

Use the following headings to format your resume:

Contact Information

Include your name (can be bold and also larger than the rest of this heading) and local and permanent addresses, if applicable. Include phone number and email address. If you have a homepage, you may include the URL, however, make sure the content is appropriate for employer viewing.

Objective

Your objective should concisely indicate the type of position for which you are searching. It should be what YOU can do for the employer, not what they can do for you. For example:

To obtain a summer internship in the field of Civil Engineering.

If your search is narrow and you are seeking very specific employment indicate this. However, be aware that this may limit your options. For example:

To obtain a full-time position in hardware design that utilizes my technical, research, and interpersonal skills.

Education

Do not include high school, unless you are a freshman or sophomore or attended a special high school focused in math, science, or technology. Your education should be organized as follows:

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, May 2006
Minor in Engineering Design
GPA in Major: 3.70 Overall GPA: 3.50

Include your GPA if it is close to or over a 3.0. Calculate your GPA in major and overall. If your in major GPA is higher than your overall, be sure to include it, too.

Relevant Coursework

If you are seeking full-time employment, include this category only if there are certain specialized courses that you want employers to know you have completed. These courses should be pertinent to your objective. If you are seeking an internship, you should always include this category. It indicates to an employer the level (breadth and depth) of engineering courses you have completed. Use two columns to economize space.

Academic Project

This section is an excellent way to show how you have implemented theories into practice and how you may have worked on a team. If you have completed (or are currently working on) any relevant projects in your classes, then this section would be a brief description of one or two of those projects. Use a descriptive project name and include the semester. For example:

Process Control, Spring 2005
• Worked on a team of four students to model the metabolism of the average male college student through the use of control theory.
• Derived system equations based on research and applied them using the SimuLink modeling software.

Computer Skills

This is a very important category. It is best to have subcategories, such as:

Programming Languages
Operating Systems
Computer Applications

You can change this heading to “Skills” and then subcategorize into:

Computer (or use the subcategories listed above)
Spoken Languages (can use the following to describe: “Fluent in” or “Conversant in”)

Experience

Use action verbs to describe paid employment, internships, summer jobs, and/or work-study positions. Quantify results if possible. If applicable, you can categorize your experiences into Work Experience, Research Experience, Internship Experience, Leadership Experience, etc. Whatever format you decide upon, record information in reverse chronological order with your most recent experiences first. A typical description could be arranged as follows:

Intel Corporation, Folsom, CA
Summer Intern, June 2005 – August 2005
• Synthesized and tested next generation chip set using Synopsys.
• Developed Perl Scripts used in synthesis process and aided VHDL code testing.
• Worked with team of engineers and attended weekly meetings and presentations.

The Experience category can be the most challenging to develop on any resume. If you need assistance please contact your Career Consultant.

Activities and Honors

Include memberships in organizations and teams (such as sororities, fraternities, and student engineering societies). And also, include honor societies, scholarships, and awards.

Resume Content Tips

Demonstrate contributions you can make to the employer
Within a section, start with the most recent event and then list events backwards chronologically
Avoid abbreviating names of organizations, titles, and descriptors
Emphasize results and accomplishments
Employers only spend 30 seconds per resume
Limit your resume to one page if you do not have a lot of experience related to your career goal; advanced degree students and candidates who have worked for several years may require more than one page. If using more than one page, be sure your name is at the top of subsequent pages.
Target your resume to the needs of the employer
Include items that are most relevant and supportive of your career go

Resume Format Tips

Be sure the resume is easy to read with clean, simple lines, and reasonable use of white space on the page.
Use white or ivory resume quality paper 8 ½” x 11”.
Print only on one side of paper if a two-page resume.
Use font size that is readable, typically no smaller than 10 point or larger than 14 point (name can be up to 32 points, if desired).
Must be flawless: no spelling errors, neat, easy to read; PROOFREAD several times!!

Computer Scannable Resumes

Some companies are scanning resumes into a computer to create searchable databases. Whether you need to produce a scannable resume will depend on your employer targets. Some studies indicate that about half of mid-sized companies and most large companies use this type of system.

To convert your resume into a computer scannable resume, make the following modifications: