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Student Services

Resume Help

1. Resume Creation Links   5. Resume Critique/Review
2. Resume Examples   6. Online Resumes
3. Resume Articles   7. Keywords
4. Curriculum Vitae (CV)  


It is important to have someone at the Internship and Career Center review your resume! You are likely competing with others who have had professional resume reviews. Remember, resume review is free at the ICC!

For resume review, make an appointment or bring your resume to office hours. See our schedule, or call the main desk (530) 752-2855.

More often than not, you'll need an effective resume to land that career job.

Many web sites, including Aggie Job Link, allow you to post your resume electronically. When creating a resume for posting on various job boards, consider confidentiality first. Use your email address as the way to contact you; don't list your home address and phone number. On the Aggie Job Link system, you may post your resume to individual listings.

New: 2008-2009 Career Resource Manual (pdf)

Resume Creation Links
  1. ICC Career Resource Manual On Line: (pdf file, requires Acrobat Reader.) Contains resume and Curriculum Vitae, The Scanner-Friendly Resume, Power Verbs for Your Resume and Letters for Your Career Search.

  2. Resume Writing Presentation (ppt. PowerPoint file. Requires MS Internet Explorer, the Microsoft PowerPoint program, or MS PowerPoint Viewer) An on-line version of the ICC Resume Writing workshop, walks you through the creation of your resume.

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Resume Examples
  1. The Career Resource Manual (pdf) - contains excellent resume samples in various formats.

  2. The Career & Graduate Study Resource Room houses over 1,000 career-related books. Access these books by visiting room 215 South Hall.
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Resume Articles
  1. Rockport Institute How To Write a Masterpiece of a Resume

  2. Showcase Your "Home Run" Accomplishments by William S. Frank. Career Lab, The Career Advisor. Excellent article with concrete, practical suggestions.

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Curriculum Vitae (CV)

A curriculum vitae (CV) is a record of academic achievement. It typically includes things like publications, presentations, and teaching experience. A CV is used primarily by those in academic and higher education positions. CV's can be used for non-academic positions, particularly lab research positions among others - in these cases a CV is often the document of choice. In European countries, the term CV is used to replace what Americans refer to as a resume.

  1. The Career Resource Manual (pdf) contains guidelines on preparing an effective CV as well as sample CVs and advanced degree resume.

  2. Workshops on writing CVs are offered quarterly by the ICC.

  3. Curriculum Vitae + Cover letters - more resources

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Resume Critique/Review
  1. The Internship and Career Center offers free resume critiques for UC Davis students and alumni. Please call (530)752-2855, or visit the office to learn more about office hours and appointment availability.

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Online Resumes
  1. Resumes submitted online frequently get imported into a database known as an Applicant Tracking System or Hiring Management System. This includes resumes posted to employer sites and Internet resume banks. Your resume will usually not be seen until it has been retrieved from the database using keyword searching techniques. Many of these resume systems request a Text version of your resume. The Text version is designed to be “read” by a computer in addition to eventually being screened by human readers.
  2. The following links contain instructions on how to create a Text version of your resume and how to make sure you include the right keywords. Keywords are search words and terms that the employer puts into their Applicant Tracking System in order to retrieve resumes that most closely match the position description. The more keywords your resume contains, the more likely your resume will be seen. When searches are done, resumes are returned in rank order – those with the highest number of keywords and/or the best quality of keywords are the resumes that get seen.
    http://www.careerperfect.com/content/resume-writing-help-ascii-resume-tips/ http://www.resumeperfect.com/resumes1.htm
  3. Some employers are still using the term “scannable” resumes. Scannable resumes are simply older technology. A Text resume can be used whenever a scannable resume is requested.
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Optimize your Resume with Keywords
Regardless of how a resume is being submitted, it must be keyword rich to be effective.
Keywords and phrases reflect skills and experience necessary for the type of position and industry you are targeting. While an effective resume will include action verbs (e.g., develop, negotiate, analyze) for a human reviewer, keywords and phrases will play a crucial role when technology is used to select candidates.
Following are a few examples of keywords:
  • Job Titles
Software Engineer, Purchasing Agent, Marketing Manager, Controller, Administrative Assistant, Account Manager, Program Director
  • Skills and Job Responsibilities
Systems Analysis, Application Prototyping, Rapid Application Development (RAD), Market Research, Strategic Planning, New Product Launch, Cost Variance Reports (CVR), Data Entry, Accounts Payable and Receivable (AP/AR)
  • Education or Certification
Certified Network Administrator, CNA, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Certified Public Accountant, CPA, Six Sigma Black Belt
  • Acronyms and Industry Terminology
TCP/IP, C++, RAD; MRPII, Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Excel, Computer Assisted Audit Techniques, Computer Aided Audit Tools (CAATS), Computer Assisted Audit Tools and Techniques (CAATTs)
After resumes are scanned into applicant tracking systems, they will be searched and ranked. A hiring manager decides which keywords best identify the skills needed in a candidate for a particular position; typically the reviewer will have several keywords that are mandatory, and others that are desirable. Based upon those keywords, the system performs a search.
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reviewed: 2009/07/24 by nk