What the employer wants:

• 2 to 3 years university (or related) experience
• Experiential background in student life issues/student development

Evidence I have it:

• Experience as a graduate student and Teaching Assistant working with students for many years
• International Orientation Facilitator volunteer in UW’s Student Success Office

Bullet point:

What the employer wants:

• Supervision of staff and/or student supervision (preferred)

Evidence I have it

• Supervised undergrad RAs in the lab

Bullet point:

What the employer wants:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in “appropriate” field of study

Evidence I have it:

• MSc (Computer Science)
• PhD (Nanotechnology)

Bullet point:

What the employer wants:

• Strong knowledge of experiential learning, specifically service-learning
• Familiarity with range of university student services (e.g., student transition and orientation programming)

Evidence I have it:

• Personal experience as student accessing services
• International Orientation Facilitator volunteer in UW’s Student Success Office

Bullet point:

What the employer wants:

• Some knowledge of quantitative/ qualitative data analysis (i.e., SPSS); ability to interpret basic student research data (preferred)

Evidence I have it:

• Extensive quantitative data analysis skills obtained through coursework and theses

Bullet point:

What the employer wants:

• Proficiency with relevant computing applications/general computer literacy

Evidence I have it

• PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook, website design, programming languages, statistical software, etc.

Bullet point:

What the employer wants:

• Ability to work independently

Evidence I have it

• Worked independently as a PhD and MSc student

Bullet point:

What the employer wants:

• Ability to work as part of a team/ collaborate with campus and community partners

Evidence I have it

• Collaborated with colleagues as a researcher
• Worked with industry stakeholders on various projects

Bullet point:

What the employer wants:

• Ability to relate to students in a manner which builds trust and confidence
• Interpersonal skills/empathetic

Evidence I have it

• Built rapport with students as a Teaching Assistant &ndsah; tutorials, office hours, emails, discussion boards (won TA award)
• As volunteer Orientation Facilitator, worked directly with international students adjusting to life at UW

Bullet point:

What the employer wants:

• Public speaking skills

Evidence I have it

• Research presentations in courses, at brown bags, defense, conferences, etc.
• Tutorials as a TA

Bullet point:

What the employer wants:

• Oral and written communication skills

Evidence I have it

• Successful grant applications
• Publications in academic journals

Bullet point:

What the employer wants:

• Problem solving skills

Evidence I have it

• Helped students develop their problem solving skills

Bullet point:

What the employer wants:

• Demonstrated initiative in developing new and improved services to meet the challenging needs of students and staff

What the employer wants:

• Ability to facilitate strong relationships with community partners

Evidence I have it

• Built relationships with industry partners on various projects

Bullet point:

What the employer wants:

• Organization and project management

Evidence I have it:

• Managed multiple research projects as grad student (balanced this with courses, teaching, extracurricular commitments, etc.)

Bullet point:

What the employer wants:

• Self-confident, outgoing, personally engaging

Evidence I have it:

• Outgoing and enthusiastic personality evident through my interactions with students

Bullet point:

Good Résumé:

Navid put the “Education” section immediately following the “Summary of Qualifications” section.

Great Résumé:

Navid moved “Education” to the second page of his resume so that “Relevant Experience” immediately follows “Summary of Qualifications”.

Rationale

Navid moved “Education” further down on his résumé because the skills he used to earn his degrees are more important to highlight than the actual credentials. Further to this point, although the job description asks for a Master’s degree, Navid knows that he is not automatically qualified (or overqualified) for this position just because he has a PhD. Navid realizes that he needs to provide evidence of the relevant skills he developed throughout his education. This evidence can be found under his role as a Doctoral Researcher and within his “Relevant Projects” section — both of which appear before the “Education” section.

Good Résumé:

Navid wrote the first point of his “Summary of Qualifications” as follows:

• Extensive experience in a university environment, including supporting first year students in transition

Great Résumé:

Navid added the amount of experience he has in a university environment to the beginning of this first point. It now reads as follows:

• 3+ years of experience in a university environment, including supporting first year students in transition

Rationale

Because the job description states that XYZ University is seeking someone with “2 to 3 years of university (or related) experience” Navid wants to clearly indicate that he meets this key qualification. He recognizes that it’s a good strategy to start with a strong, quantified experience bullet in the “Summary of Qualifications” section and to frame his experience in such a way as to map it onto the job description.

Good Résumé:

Navid wrote the second point of his “Summary of Qualifications” as follows:

• Exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to actively engage students from various backgrounds

Great Résumé:

Navid added additional information to the end of this second bullet in the “Summary of Qualifications” section. The point now reads as follows:

• Exceptional interpersonal skills and ability to actively engage students from various backgrounds as evidenced by winning student-nominated Teaching Assistant Award

Rationale

By adding that he won a student-nominated Teaching Assistant Award, Navid provides the employer with direct evidence that he is well-liked and able to connect with students. This statement also indicates to the employer where he/she can find additional evidence in support of the claim that Navid has exceptional interpersonal skills (i.e., under his Teaching Assistant role).

Good Résumé:

Under his role as a Doctoral Researcher, Navid put the following bullet point first:

• Independently wrote two successful grant applications; awarded $50,000 of research funding

Great Résumé:

Under his role as a Doctoral Researcher, Navid reordered his bullet points. “Independently wrote two...” is now the fourth bullet rather than the first.

Rationale

By moving this point further down under his Doctoral Researcher role, Navid is able to highlight his experience supervising students as well as his collaboration and presentation skills before drawing attention to his written communication skills. Based on the job description, Navid believes these skills are more central to the role than written communication. Navid knows that it’s important to strategically organize his résumé so the most relevant information appears first.

Good Résumé:

Navid worded the fifth bullet point under Doctoral Researcher as follows:

• Presented at an international conference

Great Résumé:

Navid added more information to this bullet point to highlight the impact of his actions. It now reads as follows:

• Presented at an international conference and was subsequently invited by one of the attendees to give a lecture at their institution as part of a guest speaker series

Rationale

Rather than simply listing that he presented at a conference, Navid has identified the positive outcome that stemmed from this action. By adding that his presentation resulted in an invitation to present again, Navid provides tangible evidence of his ability to successfully engage an audience.

Good Résumé:

Navid worded the second bullet point under his Teaching Assistant experience as follows:

• Gave weekly tutorials to undergraduate students on various engineering topics

Great Résumé:

Navid refined his wording choice for this bullet point and added additional information. It now reads as follows:

• Presented complex concepts in a clear, concise manner for up to 30 students during weekly tutorials using PowerPoint slides and interactive activities

Rationale

Navid changed the verb in this bullet point from “gave” to “presented” because the latter is a strong, action-oriented verb that is clearly associated with a skill set that Navid made claims about in his “Summary of Qualifications” — namely, communication skills. He also explained how he presented the information using PowerPoint slides and interactive activities to refer to his computer proficiency and to highlight his engagement with students.

Good Résumé:

Under his International Orientation Facilitator role, Navid described his experience using the following two bullets:

• Enthusiastically encouraged student participation and engagement in social activities by facilitating personal connections among participants
• Facilitated discussions and information sharing (in English and Farsi) with students regarding cross-cultural living and learning by establishing a respectful environment for open conversation

Great Résumé:

Slightly altering these two bullets, Navid highlighted that he worked specifically with first year students:

• Enthusiastically encouraged first year student participation and engagement in social activities by facilitating personal connections among participants
• Facilitated discussions and information sharing (in English and Farsi) with first year students regarding cross-cultural living and learning by establishing a respectful environment for open conversation

Rationale

By specifying that he worked with first year students and not just students in general, Navid is able to demonstrate greater alignment between his experience and what the employer is looking for. The job description explicitly states that supporting first year students is a critical component of the Student Success Centre’s programming.

Good Résumé:

Under Navid’s first relevant project, he described his data analysis evidence as follows:

• Analyzed the probability of occurrence of extreme events such as floods (~100 year duration), rainfall, etc. using stochastic differential equations for predicting the probability of occurrence of such events

Great Résumé:

Navid altered this bullet point to make it less technical and content specific. It now reads as follows:

• Analyzed data using quantitative analysis techniques to predict outcomes

Rationale

Navid removed the specific content information from this bullet point because it is not relevant to the position. Including extraneous technical details that are not meaningful to the employer distracts from Navid’s argument and makes it weaker. However, by describing his data analysis skills in more general terms (e.g., “quantitative analysis techniques”, “predict outcomes”), Navid focuses on the most applicable aspects of his knowledge for this particular job.

Good Résumé:

Under his “Activities and Interests” section, Navid listed his role as a Graduate Student Representative as well as his interest in yoga, chess and trivia.

Great Résumé:

Navid reformatted his “Activities and Interests” section and added more information. He specified his role in the various activities, the name of the organizing body and the dates he was involved in the activity.

Rationale

By adding additional contextual information and reformatting this section, Navid maintains the same professional formatting that appears in the rest of the résumé rather than having a list of activities and interests that appears like a brief afterthought at the end of the document.