Recipe for Success: Resums

In the job/internship search, you are the product and prospective employers are the consumer. A resum is a marketing tool to help you sell yourself to hiring managers. It provides an integrated snapshot of your past experience, current skills and abilities, and future capabilities with the goal of getting you an interview. A well-prepared resum is clear, concise and attractive to read. It not only presents where you've worked and what you've done, but your concrete accomplishments and how you've benefited your employers. On this website you will find a few tips to assist you in writing a strong resum. Click here for a model resume. More Nicholas School specific resum samples can be accessed on BlackBoard or the online Resum Book. In addition, books in the Office of Career Services related to resums include High Impact Resums and Cover Letters, Dynamite Resums, Resums for Recent Graduates, and more! Check these out.

Getting Your Resum Read Resums Dos and Don'ts What to Include on Your Resum Quantifying Your Experience and Accomplishments Customizing Your Resum for Each Employer Rate Your Resum

Getting Your Resum Read

Employers will spend no more than 20 to 30 seconds scanning your resum. So make sure that you:

Include significant information to support your career interests and communicate it effectively. Know and stress the skills and abilities you've acquired through your experiences. Use descriptive job titles, strong action verbs, numbers and keywords/language common in your career field to highlight your experience. Resum form and content are important. Be organized and concise in your presentation.

Resums Dos and Don'ts

Do . . .

Attend a resum writing workshop hosted by Career Services. Expect to write several drafts for the best result. Make your resum visually appealing with strategic use of "white space." Focus on accomplishments and results, not just activities. Edit judiciously and proofread carefully. Keep to two pages maximum. One is even better. Develop multiple resums if you have more than one career interest area. Schedule an appointment with a member of the Career Services staff for a review of your resum before you begin sending it out.

Don't . . .

Simply recite your job responsibilities without addressing the outcomes of your efforts. Use words or phrases that don't "sell" you or add value. Forget to include dates of employment. Include references (unless directed). Rely on your computer's spell-check or other people to proofread for you. Submit a standard resum. Your resum should be tailored to specific job/internship opportunities.

What to Include on Your Resum

1. Your Name. Your full name as you want to be known professionally should be at the top of your resum. It should be the most noticeable piece of text, so consider using all capital

letters and bold type. 2. Current and Permanent Addresses. It is best to include both addresses, as prospective employers may try to contact you during a break from school, or even after you've graduated, in which case they may not be able to reach you at your local address. If you plan to stay at your current address until you find a job, however, a single address is acceptable. 3. Career Interests. List specific career fields or areas of specialization relevant to your academic preparation and career goals. Your identified career interests set the tone for the rest of your resum; therefore, the information that follows should support them. 4. Education. List all degrees that you've earned (in reverse chronological order) and include school name, graduation year, major(s) or concentration(s), honors/awards received, study abroad and campus involvement. You can also list classes of particular relevance to your career. Optional Information for Your Graduate Education a. Master's project title. b. Coursework that has particular relevance to your career. List courses in order of importance to your career interests, and consider describing skills/knowledge gained instead of simply listing names of classes. You can also group courses by functional areas, such as quantitative, science, business, etc. c. Post-baccalaureate Study Format as with other academic information, between your undergraduate and graduate degrees. Include only if you completed significant course work (i.e., classes other than those required as Nicholas School prerequisites). Optional Information for Your Undergraduate Education a. Graduation with honors. Insert summa cum laude, magna cum laude, or cum laude between your degree and date received. b. Relevant course work that complements your graduate program and supports your career interests. c. Senior/honors thesis title. 5. Professional Experience. Include both paid and unpaid work experience, teaching and/or research assistantships, and relevant volunteer activities. Focus not just on what you did in each position, but also on what you accomplished and how your work benefited the organization. Quantify the results of your efforts as much as possible. Documenting Your Accomplishments. Focus on ways you improved the organization:

You solved an overlooked problem. You saw an opportunity for improvement, developed a plan and successfully implemented it. You created a new function, program or service to fill an important need within

your organization.

Your ideas helped increase the performance of a team or group.

6. Related Experience. Include other positions you've held in which you acquired transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, organization, problem solving and time management. 7. Publications. Use appropriate citation format.

8. Additional Information. Focus on "value-added" skills important in your career field and other relevant information about yourself as an environmental professional:

Knowledge of specific environmental acts and regulations Technical equipment and field skills, computer application and programming proficiencies Certifications and/or special training completed Professional memberships and conferences attended Foreign language competencies

Quantifying Your Experiences and Accomplishments

It is probably fair to say that all organizations, regardless of sector or mission are results driven. When you quantify accomplishments (results) in your resum, you speak the language that employers want to hear. To quantify accomplishments means using facts and figures to put your successes into concrete terms. Stand out from the crowd by using numbers (written as numerals), dollar and percent signs wherever applicable. Consider the following questions for a sense of the magnitude of your past contributions.

Have you helped reduce costs for a nonprofit or other organization? Increased profits for a corporation? Reduced waste? How? By how much? Did you help secure money for grant funding of a particular project? How much? How many people did you supervise in your last position? Was your internship project part of a larger project or a longitudinal study of a major issue?

Did you conduct independent research with a professor? What were the results/ conclusions you came to? Did you conduct interviews with a large group as part of your study? What types of advanced writing, research, and analytical skills have you developed in your coursework? How have you applied these skills outside the classroom? What have these skills enabled you to do differently? In your current or last position, what are or were your five most significant accomplishments?

Examples of resum descriptions including quantified accomplishments: Program Manager, Boston Cares 20XX-20XX

Executed signature Calendar Volunteer Program. Managed 175 monthly volunteer projects. Organized and led recruitment efforts for volunteers and project leaders. Increased project occurrence by 50% and increased volunteer rates to all-time high. Business Banker, BB&T, Richmond, VA Managed and grew loan portfolio from $2M to $13M with commercial clients whose annual sales were between $500K and $12M, exceeding individual performance goals each year. 20XX-20XX Actionquest/Seamester Programs, Sailing Master, Eastern Caribbean Sea, 20XX Led watch team of 30 and assumed control of vessel and crew team in captains absence. Organized and motivated crews in charge of operating sails, anchors, engine, dive compressor and other vital equipment. Co-taught Basic Seamanship and Coastal Navigation to college students who achieved 80% passing rate on U.S. Sailing examination (average passing rate 25%).

Customizing Your Resum for Each Employer

Depending on how closely your employment targets are related, you may have more than one version of your resum. Put your information in order of interest to your targeted reader, and provide more detail about the experience and skills that a particular

employer is seeking. Here are two different examples: Example One Target: An entry-level position as a marine mammal specialist. Highlight skills from your internship(s) that would be key to the position: Marine Reserve Selection Specialist, Devised habitat selection criteria and streamlined an oceanographic model to determine ecological connectivity to predict suitable sites for marine reserves. Gained project endorsement from NOAA International Program Office and NC Coastal Federation and secured a $3500 research project grant. Throughout the remainder of the resum, highlight your background in reference to the target: presentation at a Coastal Society conference, membership in the Marine Mammal Task Force, volunteer work with bottlenose dolphins as an undergraduate, and accompanying planning, organizational, and analysis skills (mastery of programs in statistical modeling, etc.) As space is limited, on this version of your resum you may choose not to include information about the recycling program you led as an undergraduate student 3 years ago.

Example Two Target: An environmental law internship with the International Environmental Law Association. They are seeking an intern to plan and present at an international environmental law conference; therefore, you would emphasize and provide plenty of detail regarding past experience in the areas of coordinating and communicating:: Symposium Organizer and Presenter, National Alliance for the Environment, Brown University Student Chapter Assisted with planning a 4-day symposium with over 80 international participants. Developed content and major topic areas for a panel discussion of international law analysts, and moderated the discussion. Researched, prepared, and presented a CD-ROM at the International Conference on Environmental Legislation on emerging partnerships between Bogot, Columbia and the United States. If you have assisted in planning other major campus or professional events, you would further highlight these areas on your resum to attract the attention of this employer. Since you are being asked to present at this conference as well, highlight prior student presentations at NAEP meetings, etc. How can you sell your education? In order to properly emphasize your education, describe honors, awards, special projects, and coursework. Use the heading "coursework" or training. You can describe the contents of the curriculum without including the actual name of each class. B.S., Environmental Science, minor in Business, 20XX Michigan State University Coursework included:

Independent Study in Environmental Science Corporate Finance Statistics & Statistical Analysis Environmental Policy in the 21st Century Advanced Microeconomic Models

Training:

Comprehensive plan evaluation, urban growth management strategies, CZMA and CWA legislation, NC CAMA legislation, NPDES and TMDL programs, social survey research methodologies, remote sensing.

Computer proficiency:

HTML, Microsoft Office Suite, GIS, Arc Info

Sample research project: Research Fellow, Marine Research Institute, Boston, Massachusetts Summer 20XX Completed independent research on the marine resource users of Cousteau Marine Park, a large marine protected area. Designed and conducted a large-scale survey of marine mammals within the protected area. Recruited and supervised four local student interviewers. Presented results to scientists and environmental experts at Marine Research Institute Symposium. Group project for client-based class: Student Consultant, Duke University, Fall 20XX Created Strategic Plan for non-profit conservation organization to address issue of methylmercury bioaccumulation in seasonally-flooded wetlands. Analyzed impact of Californias creation of TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) to clients mission, vision, and values. Investigated clients organizational structure, conducted SWOT analysis, and identified various key stakeholders also involved in the issue. Lead conference calls and acted as key communicator between client and Dukes team of consultants. How can you make your experience go further? Students and recent grads often fail to make an effective presentation of their experience because they use too narrow a definition of work experience. First of all, relevant "work" experience is in no way limited to paid employment. Consider including volunteer work, part-time and temporary positions, internships, self-employment and individual research projects, and various services you may have provided to your academic department or a particular professor. Here are two examples of "experience" that many students may not initially include: Black Student Union, University of New Hampshire (UNH), Founder and President, 1/XX12/XX Conceived, created and promoted a new Black Student Union after a twenty-year hiatus. Created necessary articles of incorporation and lobbied the university administration and student government for official recognition. Designed fliers and promoted information meetings. Arranged private reception with Angela Davis as guest of UNH Women's Commission. Developed successful shoestring budgets. Obtained press coverage in Concord Monitor, The New Hampshire, Portsmouth Herald, and Rockingham Gazette. Speaker and panelist, UNH Diversity Conference, 11/20XX.

Central Everglades Wild Animal Rehabilitation Clinic, Sarasota, Florida Veterinary Assistant (Volunteer), Summer 20XX Provided emergency care to injured wildlife, nursing care to convalescing animals, and physical therapy and behavior modification to animals that were potentially releasable. Learned to handle raptors, seabirds, alligators, and other wild animals. Attended at surgeries. Part of the capture crew, responding to reports of both injured animals and wild animals exhibiting dangerous/aggressive behaviors. How can you use superlatives to enhance your resum? Whenever possible, use a superlative in reporting your accomplishments. Anytime you can use words like first, only, most, best, and highest, your reader will be more informed regarding your high level of performance. Here are some more examples using superlatives:

Youngest member of the Environmental Policy Task Force. Only student representative on the Curriculum Policy Subcommittee. First undergraduate ever selected to serve as research assistant to the chairman of the department. Co-author of business and environment plan funded 100% by the Business and Environment Coalition

When using amounts and numerical figures, be exact. "19%" sounds like a number directly from a financial report, whereas, "20%" sounds like a guess. What makes you unique? Stressing your unique qualities can get you selected for an interview over the top of much more qualified candidates, make your interviews flow much more smoothly, and may lead to an increased initial salary offer. Consider the qualities that make you unique: have you secured a portion of grant funding or helped to write grant proposals? Have you co-authored an article detailing new perspectives in coastal zone management with the help of a professor, and later presented the results at a conference? Did you start a new student chapter of an organization from the ground up? Accomplishments such as these indicate innovation, hard work, and development of skills outside the realm of many students. If you have not yet developed skills you believe help you to stand out from other candidates, now is an excellent time to make a list of accomplishments you wish to achieve over the next academic year or two . (i.e., becoming president of the student chapter of SAF, developing an independent research project with a professor that details new directions in land use planning and successful management of urban sprawl, attending conferences on environmental management and leadership which will provide you with a new set of skills).

Develop a plan to pursue areas indicating involvement, leadership, and innovation, and incorporate these new areas into your resum throughout your academic career. Perhaps you will take a direction which combines several sets of skills, such as helping to design a business plan for a national park that incorporates environment, policy, and business aspects and illustrates your knowledge in several areas. The possibilities are limitless!