How To Write a Resume and a Cover Letter -

BeanDiesel

Academic Projects

If you have industry experience, here抯 where you wanna put it. If you don抰, put your work experience later, so that you can highlight your projects that have more to do with the career you抮e trying to pursue.

So, since I had never worked as an engineer per se at the time, I put my Academic Projects first. I抦 sure you have done lots and lots of projects during your (more or less) 4 years of college, but you needn抰 list them all. In fact, you shouldn抰. If you have plenty, list 3 or 4 that have the most relevance to the job you抮e applying. Don抰 list too few and elaborate too much. You抣l have the chance to elaborate some more during the interview, and most likely than not, they抣l make you elaborate them. But don抰 list too many and elaborate too little. Before you get the interview, they抣l want to skim through your resume first. If they can抰 have a picture of what you did in your projects, you may not get short listed for the interview.

Now let抯 look at my selections. My choices are not all on CAD and stress analysis (check my objective, that抯 the kind of job I was applying for). It抯 a bit deeper than that. My first one is of course on computer-based stress analysis. But the other two are not. Why did I even list them?

Let me try to explain my rationale for each entry (read carefully so that you can get the idea of my overall goal in this section).

The first project listed is of course on computer-based stress analysis, which is obviously relevant to the job I was applying for. So this one is a must. Right after the project title, I mention my position. As a research assistant, my job was to assist a PhD candidate in Biology to find out the method of applying Mechanical Engineering tools for his research. So that alone shows that I can be an effective assistant. If asked during the interview, I can also elaborate that such method is still very new to Biology and Paleontology, so I actually did a cross-discipline research and rely on my fundamental knowledge in my field to integrate engineering, dentistry and 3D model processor software packages to achieve the goal. When the method was prepared, I advised the person on how to simulate the loads and make sense of the analysis output to see how and what that hyena ate 7-million years ago. I also have a recommendation letter from the supervising professor to prove that I did it well.

The second project has very little to do with stress analysis, in fact, no stress analysis performed. Before I explain the project, notice that I mention on it that I did the project individually. This shows that I can work independently or with minimal supervision effectively. Now back to the project information. This is the project that I am most proud of. For this project, I had to learn from scratch how to code a microcontroller in assembly language. And then I抣l have to learn how to construct a relatively complex digital circuit which can survive noisy environment. And then I抣l have to integrate it with the launcher, that I also have to fix. All those in 2 months (along with 4 other classes), and it outperformed previous designs by a lot. So this project is a combination of computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering. So this is a good chance for me to demonstrate that I am capable of learning something new, quickly, even by myself, and produce quality result. And I received an award from our engineering school for this to prove my point. (I can also add in the interview that I was hired as a Teaching Assistant because the supervising professor was highly satisfied).

Now the third project has very little to do with engineering. It is actually a project for our advanced writing class. My position as a team leader, obviously shows that I can lead. I can also add in the interview that I took charge at the first sign of group morale decline and saved it right on. Now for this project, we had a real client to work with. That shows that I have the experience of dealing with and satisfying clients. I also masterminded the design concepts, and that抯 creativity. At the end of the project, our group gave a very awesome presentation, despite the fact that half of us had poor English pronunciation. The client was very satisfied, and our presentation recording was used by the next semester抯 class as an example. That shows that I can speak in professional business environment.


See how only 3 projects can speak volume about yourself. Of course you won抰 have to chance to say them all in detail on your resume, but it抯 about your interview too. Again, almost every interviewer I met made me explain my projects. So, choose wisely. Make sure you have at least one project that is relevant to the job you抮e applying, if you have it of course. Otherwise, just pick your top three, as close as possible to the job description.

Also, the way I did mine, I chose to list them chronologically. If you do that, do it for the rest of your resume. Put the most recent one first. And notice that I had three bullets for each entry. That should be enough for you to explain your project in brief. If not, try to condense them, discard something if you have to. Also, 3 bullets for each makes the section look more uniform. Hay it抯 about the look too, you want your resume to look nice.

Oh shoot, I thought I was done, but not yet. One more thing. Begin each project explanation with a verb, power verb. Check out this link for list of useful power verbs
http://www.jobskills.info/resume_edge/power_verb.htm
Try to make the tenses uniform. I used simple past tense throughout. And don抰 put period (.) at the end of your bullet entries, because they抮e not supposed to be complete sentences.

bcozofu

aku dulu jenuh memikio camner nk wat resume.......
at last.......
alhamdulillah......
berjaye jugakss........

juwaini

Originally posted by bcozofu at 19-4-2007 05:32 PM
aku dulu jenuh memikio camner nk wat resume.......
at last.......
alhamdulillah......
berjaye jugakss........

berjaya buat resume ke berjaya dapat keje?
u budak usm kan? course apa?
kalau malu nak mengglamerkan diri di sini, PM pun boleh..

BeanDiesel

Originally posted by bcozofu at 4/19/07 01:32 AM
aku dulu jenuh memikio camner nk wat resume.......
at last.......
alhamdulillah......
berjaye jugakss........

share it with us, so that we can offer constructive criticisms on it, if you want. once you submit it to the employer you can't really fix it anymore. so I'm always for revieweing resumes thoroughly.

[ Last edited by  BeanDiesel at 19-4-2007 11:05 AM ]

dexa

i reviewed part of your resumes -
i didnt read it all -

one thing i want to share with you and other forum members -
the best  -  resume - will be the shortest resumes
but filled with exact experience related -

i've been doing hundreds of resumes  ranging from
engineers to  maid / tea lady  to drivers --
and most of the resumes that i did - were requested
by the employers / the companies -  with specific
requirement they needed  

suffice it to say - they prefer to have a shorter resumes -

the courses you took in the university are not required to put
in your resumes -

your skills -- if you are applying for programmer -
put the important skills that you acquire -

i.e  java, oracle, c++   etc - rather than list all unnecessary
items -

i shall continue after some more thots -
or if there're any questions regarding resumes that
i can help with  -

BeanDiesel

Originally posted by dexa at 4/20/07 03:44 PM
one thing i want to share with you and other forum members -
the best  -  resume - will be the shortest resumes
but filled with exact experience related -

I too believe that it is recommended to have a concise resume. But in my opinion, the shortest isn't necessarily the best. I mean, if your resume is only half a page long, to me it looks like you dont have much to say about yourself. but of course you don't want to write yours with 1cm margine, single spacing thoroughout, typed in 8pt fonts, filling the whole page either. you've got to find the balance.

I've seen several resumes that are more than a page long, but they are usually big shots, like applicants for CEO, VP or provost positions, to name a few. But I think that's justified, because I'm sure the people who'll make the decision to hire them will pay a lot of attention on it, and they want people with vast experience.  There not that many who are really qualified for those positions too, so there are not that many resume for them to scrutinize, unlike the positions that we recent graduates are looking for.

So for recent graduates, I think one full page is enough. I'm aware that employers will look at hundreds, maybe thousands of resumes to find the right person, and they dont want to spend perhaps more than 20seconds on each resume on their first screening. That's why the orginization of the resume is important. You'll have to make the stuff they might be looking for easily accessible. That's where your section titles and divisions come in handy. If for example the employer can't spot your computer skills the first second she looks at yours because the font you use to mark the section doesn't look any different from the content of your resume, you may not make the cut.

But from what I know, they don't just look through the pile of resumes once and decide who they're gonna interview. They'll probably look through the resumes that made the first cut more carefully, and select the best few from them. So I think in the second screening, if they can't get more information about you than they did the first time they saw your resume (during the first screening), yours may not stand out and be among the ones called for an interview.

And like I said before, I've never been in an interview in which the interviewer didn't want to know in more detail about the stuff I put on my resume. Sometimes they'd talk about every single thing I put in there, so that they could learn more about me, more than they could from a single piece of paper and their imiginations alone. In some interviews (usually with engineers, as opposed to HR people), the majority of the interview is based on my resume. Sometimes they just don't have too many prescribed mandatory questions to ask. I remember one interviewer who just skipped a bunch of questions that he had on his sheet, and asked the rest quickly just because he had to fill in something, and proceeded with my resume for the rest of the interview. And it was good for me that he was more enthusiastic when asking me about what I put on my resume, and it eventually got me a second interview. If I had too little on my resume, he may have ended up asking too little and being less interested in me for his company.

the courses you took in the university are not required to put
in your resumes -

You're right. As for mine I was pretty ambivalent whether or not to keep it. from what I read some say that if you're a recent graduate with no industry experience, and you took useful classes that are not common core subjects, list them. I already had it on mine when I reviewed my resume with the advisors and industry representatives that participated in the resume critique session I mentioned before, and I asked them if they'd cut the section if they were in my position. They said they wouldn't. So I didn't delete mine (although like I explained above I used to have 10 instead of those 8).

Oh but I have to thank my list for one thing though. One of the critics was a representative from Qualcomm, a company that doesn't hire that many Mechanical Engineers. She noticed that I listed "Introduction to MEMS" as one of my coursework, and she said that Qualcomm has been involved in that technology (which I wasn't aware of). She liked my resume and she told me to email it to her so that she would pass it to MEMS people in her company (she's there not to be like a recruiter in a career fair so she didn't have to do it, but she's willing to do it anyway, which is good). Now that's an opportunity that you want to get a lot of. You see, if an insider to personally submit your resume for you because he/she likes it, usually yours won't end up in the pile that hasn't made the first cut yet. At least it's as good as if you've made the first cut, because normally the person who finally receives it knows that yours has been seen and liked by one his colleagues, and his colleague is not gonna harm her own reputation by recommending him a poor resume.

Back to course list, I'm still abivalent whether or not to recommend it to most people (although I won't have to worry about it on mine anymore). If there was one stuff that I had to remove from my resume, it would be that.

your skills -- if you are applying for programmer -
put the important skills that you acquire -

i.e  java, oracle, c++   etc - rather than list all unnecessary
items -

Definitely. That's something that none of you guys should ever ever forget to include.

But if the job advertisement mentions Java, C++ and MySQL for example, don't only list those. If that's a position for a computer programmer, list other stuff that any decent computer programmer should know. Like Basic or other languages or tools that you guys are supposed to know. Add also computer programming related software/language that you know that average computer programmer may not know or be as good at. You may want to list what they're looking for first, but don't neglect the other relevant stuff. I don't think it hurts, unless for example you list Cakewalk Pro Audio, Guitar Pro and Finale when you know that the career you're pursuing has almost nothing to do with music. Now that's redundant and irrelevant.
What you want is to make yourself appear as more complete Computer Programmer. Hay if you and another candidate have equal qualifications, except that you list a few extra programming languages or tools that you know, you may have the upper hand. Those stuff may be beneficial to them occassionally.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To conclude, like I mentioned before, what I'm saying is just my opinion. Some of the things I said may work for you, some may not, it's up to you guys to think about it and decide for yourself. I obviously have very little experience with Malaysian employers so I do not know what they tend to prefer (I only heard that they prefer to see your picture on your resume, but that's all I know). On the other hand I've tried that very resume (just the resume and nothing else when applying), in two occassions with Malaysian employers: UPM and Petronas. Luckily it worked with them too; I got an offer to continue my studies until PhD in an American University of my choice under UPM program, and I received 2 job offers from Petronas as a Mechanical Engineer. I guess that shows that at least some of the stuff I recommend may work in Malaysia, but it's up to you to figure out which one it is and integrate it with the advice from others such as Dexa and the rest, who obviously have more experience with Malaysian employers. Good luck (and work hard on it, ya can't get it done overnight).

dexa

i surely hope that for those who are looking
to write a good resume - or to find some advise
about it -- refer to this post --

i thank you bd - for a very precise explanation

it is appreciated and i am sure many will find it
very useful and help them thru to find some jobs
that they applied -

zueusoff

Kepada sesiapa yang takde idea langsung macamana nak tulis resume dan cover letter boleh lah melawat Jabatan Tenaga Kerja diseluruh negara (dulu Jabatan Tenaga Rakyat), kat sana diaorang ada bagi perkhidmatan tentang kerjaya, macamana nak tulis resume, nak gi temuduga, nak pilih kerjaya yang sesuai, undang-undang buruh (Akta Kerja 1955) dll.

ej177

guys..saya baru graduate end of 2006 dan skng bekerja scra kontrak, smpi ujung jun ni(kontrak 6 bulan)..so i'm not fresh gaduate rite?
so dlm resume tu i suppose to state my current job..n describe what i have been done..
tp mane yg patut di dahulukan either work experience or education..kalau keje ms cuti semester tu nk letak tak..
at the same time saya ade pegang jwtn as pembantu felo hostel (cm warden gak la) so leh ke tulis dlm work experience tuh..
curriculum tu pnting ke...nk tulis dr skola or ms uni je..
kat education tu prlu ke state subjek yg diambil or final year projek..
byk lak soalan eh..actually kite da bc your info..tp cm konpius lg sbb kite dah keje tp kontrak n kejap je..
what is da differenet btween fresh graduate n non-fresh..
thanks 4 ur advices..klu prlu i'l send mine then uol can comment n corret me if i get wrong..tq

strike_freedom

Kalau resume berkenaan Prepress Printing plate or contact film maker kat mana nak carik yea kawan2?

dexa

strike can try cari kat resume link -
contoh resume --
and try find out that specific job --

good luck -

strike_freedom

kalau visualiser artist tu dlm resume nak letak ayat2 apa eek dlm sub topik RESPONSIBILITY under topik EXPERIENCES yee. Harap sapa2 yg boleh membantu dlm hal ni amat2 dihargai. Sekian TQ.

Originally posted by strike_freedom at 22-5-2007 03:00 PM
Kalau resume berkenaan Prepress Printing plate or contact film maker kat mana nak carik yea kawan2?

modified sikit part job description tuh








DARSITA gemar buat sex cara berdiri tonggeng dan mengadap pc.
sambil terima tusukan btg dari belakang, tangan DARSITA boleh capai mouse
untuk kunci thread. Canggih kan. 2 in 1.

Nara_Gaara

Hai bean, aku amek contoh resume ko sbg 1st resume aku. Cuma x pasti tu font apa. Aku wat tnr je. Thanx anyway. Harap x marah aku ciplak.

pinkjambu

nak buat resume baru lah...bosann tgk resume lama aku...

BeanDiesel

Originally posted by Nara_Gaara at 7/2/07 07:28 AM
Hai bean, aku amek contoh resume ko sbg 1st resume aku. Cuma x pasti tu font apa. Aku wat tnr je. Thanx anyway. Harap x marah aku ciplak.

sorry lambat reply.

Font tu? Hmm, entah tak ingat. I can't access the file actually, because it's in my computer that's currently down. So I don't remember what it was.
Actually that resume was built from a template, when I first started, years back. The font is the only feature of the template that survives, everything else was entirely modified.

[ Last edited by  BeanDiesel at 17-8-2007 04:57 PM ]

BeanDiesel

One thing that I want to address to job seekers who's looking for a job in Malaysia, make sure you design your resume for A4 paper. More often than not your default paper size for a word document is Letter. That's not the standard paper size for office use in Malaysia. Even if you don't change it, your resume may still print on an A4 paper. But it may not look exactly as designed. When you design your resume, you want to make sure that it looks the way it will come out from your printer, and the employers' printers. You want to always know how much page margin you have and all. So, make sure you change the page setting to A4.

dexa

actually most of  the resume sending in malaysia
from job seekers  are using A4
at least most the one i received

unless they printed from  jobstreet their own resume -
and most companies prefer microsoft words A4 resume
to jobstreet's --

thanks for pointing it out bd -

BeanDiesel

Originally posted by dexa at 8/23/07 05:48 AM
actually most of  the resume sending in malaysia
from job seekers  are using A4
at least most the one i received

unless they printed from  jobstreet their own resume -
and most companies p ...

I'm sure that most often than not the hard copies that you received are printed on A4 papers, since that's the standard paper used there. Regular printers will print it out on A4, regardless of the size of paper on which the document is designed. Likewise, I can have my printer automatically print out an A4 document on a Letter paper. But to get the best result, it is best to design it on the same type of paper it's intended for. The reason is, A4 and Letter have different aspect ratio. When it comes to resume, appearance does matter, even if not too much.

Well to me if you are really particular about the appearance detail of your resume, you might want to do what I suggested. You really can't go wrong with it, and it's very simple. That way you can be sure that everything would be very well proportioned, exactly as it appears on the screen. Especially if you're sending it electronically, there is a better chance that your resume will be printed out the way it should by someone who receives it.

Let me show you guys a visual example of what could happen. The following document is designed for Letter sized paper, but printed out on both Letter and A4 paper (it's actually a simulation using Adobe Pdf, I don't have a real A4 paper. And sorry I don't have a Word file of my resume right, so I'm using a page of my philosophy paper.).
The one on the left is how it should look like if printed on a Letter paper.  On the right is an A4 version.   
Now the document is designed so that the margins at the top and the sides are the same. But look what happens when it's printed on the wrong paper. The top and bottom margins look too big. See the printer does that so that it could keep the same number of lines on the page. You don't want this to happen especially if you're printing a resume.
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/2185/samplels6.gif

Lady_Anne

kalo nk mintak keje bhgn web design o graphic design cmne ekk resume yg rase nye appropiate la ngan keje yg kt nk mintak nih..? esp yg takder pengalaman n br abih blajo
ada contoh tak..?

haa ada lg satu kt musykil....
apa beza CV,Cover letter n resume..
i mean maybe dr segi format dia b'beza ker..

[ Last edited by  Lady_Anne at 19-11-2007 09:16 PM ]