Info for Students
Introduction | Getting Started | Course RequirementsResources | Industry Research | FAQs | Search Co-op jobs
Resources
Contents
Resume
Resume Examples: PDF version
A resume is a brief summary of your education, work experience and extracurricular activities. The purpose of a resume is to get an interview, not the job itself. You get the job through the interview process. Most recruiters spend no more than 45 seconds reading a resume, so it should be concise, informative, and well-organized to get information across to the reader. There is no right way to do a resume, but there are several general rules that apply to nearly every situation.
- Undergraduates, unless they have very unusual experience, should have a one-page resume. Graduate students have more flexibility and may have a two-page resume.
- Absolutely no typos or spelling errors!
Before you start
Before you start writing the resume itself, think about your skills, interests and experiences (what kind of work have you done before? Is it related to what you want to do?). Don't panic if your past experiences are totally unrelated to what you want to do for a Co-op job. All experience counts!
Contact Information
- Name, address, phone number and email should appear at the top of your resume - make sure that your voicemail is professional because employers might contact you by phone.
Education
- Degree, major, school's name, location (city, state), anticipated graduation date.
- If you have attended more than one school, put your most recent (UW) first and list in reverse chronological order.
- List the degree you are working towards, e.g., Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.
- You may also include information about coursework, independent study, thesis, dissertation, honors and awards.
- For undergraduates, we recommend you state your GPA (especially if above 3.0). Employers will assume you are hiding something if your GPA is not listed. Graduate students need not provide GPA.
Fellowships, Scholarships, Honors and Awards
- If the scholarship or award doesn't indicate what it is for, you may want to include a brief description.
Experience
- Position title, name of organization, location, dates, brief description of your accomplishments on the job (using action verbs).
- Include volunteer work, internships, clinical experience, teaching or research experience. Thesis research or significant class projects may also be used in this section.
- List in reverse chronological order with most recent first.
Skills
- Include technical skills and computer experience.
- Include foreign language and fluency level, if relevant.
Activities (optional)
- School-related or non-school related activities can go in this section. Emphasize any leadership position held.
- Professional memberships and offices held belong in this section.
Interests
- Be as specific as possible. For example, "travel, music and sports" is too general. Eliminate thi section if you run out of space.
References
- Do not list references on your resume, but do have a separate page that lists three to five academic or employment-related references. Include person's name, job title, company, business address and telephone number. Bring this with you to the interview.
- At the bottom of your resume, you may write "References Available Upon Request" if you prefer. Eliminate this line out if you run out of space.
- Always ask references for permission before including them!
Citizenship Status
- It is suggested that you have proof of citizenship or related materials ready if requested by an employer.
Editing your Resume
Without a doubt, your resume will go through several drafts before you are ready to send it to employers. After you have written a draft, read it through carefully. Ask the following questions:
- Does my resume highlight paid and unpaid experiences, especially the ones related to my field?
- When I described my skills and/or accomplishments on the job, have I used short phrases, rather than full sentences, that begin with action verbs?
- Have I written too much? As an undergraduate, have I kept it to the recommended one page length?
- Are there absolutely no typos and misspellings?
- Is my resume well-organized and easy to read?
After answering these questions, you may need to do another draft. After that, it is recommended that somebody else read your resume and critique it. The Co-op Office staff does have some time to provide feedback or you can attend one of the Center for Career Services workshops on resumes or drop-in to the Center for Career Services for a resume review. Once your resume is finalized, upload it to your eRecruiting account and publish it to a resume book.
List of sample action words
|
|
|
|
Cover Letter Hints for co-op positions
- Keep to one page
- Type the letter
- Sign your name
- It is best to address the letter to a particular person (if you have that information)
- Double check to make sure you have referred to the correct company in the text of your cover letter and the spelling of the company is correct.
- Print out the cover letter on the same paper as your resume
Your Present Address
City, State, Zip
Date
Company Name
Name of Individual (call Co-op Office for information)
Dear Mr./Ms./Dr. : (To Whom It May Concern: if you don't know the name)
In the first paragraph you should tell them how you learned of the position (Co-op Office at the University of Washington, Center for Career Services at UW, Engineering Career Fair at UW, family friend, etc). State the title of the position, if you know it, for which you are applying. You should express your interest in the organization and in the particular field (e.g. chemical engineering). This first paragraph tells the reader why you are writing.
The middle paragraph(s) detail your qualifications. This is a great opportunity to expand on anything within your resume and also to introduce information not available on your resume. This section allows you to sell yourself! Typically one paragraph will outline your educational qualifications. You should state the degree you will be receiving and the date that you expect to attain your degree as well as your educational background. You might also include a list of related courses or expand on projects completed within a course. If you feel that you need to explain your GPA, this would be the appropriate place to handle that.
The next paragraphs outline your work and volunteer experiences related to the job. You definitely want to address skill areas asked for in the job description. For example, if the company would like a person knowledgeable in JAVA, you should tell the reader that you have completed CSE 142, the programming class. You might also provide them with an example of a time that you have used JAVA (a final project, programming for a volunteer organization, etc).
In the final paragraph you conclude your letter by thanking the reader for his/her time and a request for action (e.g., I look forward to hearing from you soon or, please contact me for an interview). Include information that will make it easy for the reader to get in touch with you. For example, I am best reached via email at ________________________ or by phone after 7:00 PM at ( ) _________. You want to make it easy for them to get in touch with you.
Sincerely,
(signature)
Your full name typed
References
Selecting references is very important! Select a person who can speak highly of you, talk about your ability to work in teams or individually, state that you are dependable and reliable OR can speak to your academic abilities and the fact that you showed up to class regularly and participated. It is important that you ask if that person is willing to be a reference for you before adding them to your list. If they agree, day-time contact information goes onto your reference sheet. It is highly recommended that you send your reference a copy of your resume. It is also helpful to communicate with your references if there are specific topics you wish them to cover when they get the phone call. Shown below is an example reference sheet.
SUE STUDENThuskies@u.washington.edu
College Address (until June 12, 2007)
123 McCarty Hall
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
phone number Professor Bill Adams, faculty advisor
Mechanical Engineering
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
(206) 543-1111
billadams@u.washington.edu Ms. Susan James, supervisor
Albertsons
Seattle, WA
(206) 555-1111
susanjames@albertsons.com Ms. Clara Smith, WISE advisor
Associate Director
Women in Science and Engineering
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
(206) 543-2222
csmith@u.washington.edu
Interviewing Tips
- Research Company - find recent articles, search website, find something which intrigues you
- Know Yourself/Resume - Practice telling about each position, project, course, activity on your resume. Focus on Leadership, team work situations, group projects, work experience, and everything which would make you a good fit with the available position.
- Practice Out loud - Practicing questions out loud will assist you in being able to articulate your answers in the interview situation. See below for sample questions
Questions Asked by Employers
- Tell me about yourself.
- Tell me about your coursework. or Why did you select ___________Engineering?
- What classes have you most enjoyed?
- What classes have you disliked?
- What would your past supervisor or professor tell me about you?
- What has been the most difficult situation you've had to deal with?
- Give me three words that best describe you.
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- How do you work under pressure?
- Why do you want to work here?
- What aspects of the internship interest you the most?
- Tell me about your technical skills and how you learned those skills?
- How would you deal with a supervisor who is difficult to work under?
- Do you prefer to work alone or on a team?
- What is your greatest weakness?
- Do you have any actual work experience?
- Describe a situation in which you were successful.
- Tell about a recent goal and what you did to achieve that goal?
- What were your favorite classes? Why?
- Why is your GPA what it is?
- How do you balance competing priorities? Please give me an example.
- Have you held any leadership roles? If so, what were they and what did you learn from these experiences? If not, why not?
- Give me an example of when you had to work as part of a team? What was your role?
- What is the toughest group that you've had to get cooperation from?
- Describe a project or idea that you generated on your own.
- Why should we hire you?
- Can you meet deadlines? Please give me an example.
- Tell me about a time when you performed well in a crisis situation.
- Have you been a member of a group where two other members of the group did not work well together? What did you do to get them to work together?
Technical Questions
