NSBE at Johns Hopkins University

On Wednesday, October 5th, members of the Baltimore Metropolitan Alumni Chapter came to Johns Hopkins to give a presentation about resumes, critique our members’ resumes and help gear our members up to apply for research positions, jobs, and internships. Anthony Patrick (UMD, Civil Engineering background) gave a presentation about resumes.

Here are some notes from the presentation:

What is a resume? A resume is the first look that your future employer has of you. You need to make that person want to get to know you! It needs to pass the 60 second test, meaning that it needs to make an impression on your future employer in that time period. There are different types of resumes and the chronological and functional (which focuses and highlights your skills and accomplishments) resumes are the most common.

Some of the elements of a resume include the objective. An example objective is “seeking a software engineer position with a progressive employer where I can contribute to the development of new technolgies and work with bright, committed people.”

Another element is a positioning statement, which is directed to a specific employer and would be a small taste of what you have to offer to the company.

It is important to include a summary of qualifications and skills, being as specific as possible and tailoring to the job you’re applying to. Make sure you do not say you are “skilled” at a program (for example, skilled in AutoCAD) if you are not in fact skilled in its use. It is perfectly acceptable to say “Basic skills in…” or “Proficient in…”

Under the education section, make sure to include the school you attend!

In the experience section, it is important that you think about what you have been involved in and what will reflect the kind of work you will be doing. Including leadership experience on your resume is very appealing to future employers.

In addition, you can choose to include things such as professional membership and leadership, community activities, computer skills, publications and presentations, relevant certifications, honors and awards (to be used sparingly once you are out of college, but really great for undergraduates), and additional information.

Resume Do’s:

• Your resume should be
• Think action! Each bullet point should begin with a verb and make sure to use action verbs
• Formatting needs to be clear
• Proofread
• Use bullets
• White space is okay
• Make sure you keep your resume current

Resume Don’ts:

• Make sure that the important information that you want employers to see is not hidden.
• Do not include personal information such as age, race, marital or health status
• Don’t use smaller than 10 point font or fonts that are hard to read
• No pronouns, photos
• Use current information, don’t overdo it with the amount of information you choose to include
• Don’t lie

Tailor your resume to highlight the kinds of things the job you are looking for wants. The resume is the first look that your future employer will have of you, so make sure that your resume puts you out there in a positive light! Make sure that it conveys that you are the best person for the job.

Thanks to the BMAC members that came out on a week night to help our members!

If you are looking for more resources to write your resume, feel free to also visit the JHU Resume site.