Resume workshop, ACM-W, Old Dominion University

1. Assistant Professor, Computer Science
@OpenMaze
ACM-W Resume Workshop

2. Joined ODU Fall 2018
Assist. Professor Cal Poly 2016-2018
PhD @ Texas A&M University, 2016
Originally from Sri Lanka
• Neuro-IR, HCI, Machine Learning, Data Science, Digital Library
• http://www.cs.odu.edu/~sampath/
• sampath@cs.odu.edu, (757) 683-7787
• @OpenMaze
• Interned at Berkeley Lab (summer 2009) and KBSL at College
Station (6 months)
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My Journey!!
@OpenMaze

3. Machine
Learing
My Research
Oculomotor
Plant
IRData Analytics
NIRDS
Neuro-Information
Retrieval
&
Data Science
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4. Pop Quiz!
What is the initial amount of time an employer
takes to review an applicant’s resume?
– Answer:
• 15 – 20 seconds minimum
• 45 seconds maximum
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5. Why do you need a resume?
• A marketing tool
– A Resume is a Summary of Your Qualifications
– One way to rise above the competition is to make
sure that your resume is loaded with employer
benefits, not just skills.
• To obtain an interview, not a job
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6. Resume- hidden messages
 Neat
 Well-organized
 Error free
 Professional appearance
 Neat
 Well-organized
 Attention to detail
 Careful & Competent
Resume You
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7. How to find a good template?
• Look for faculty/students in other universities,
find their portfolio pages
• Google Search
– "Facebook Intern Resume pdf"
– Find the right set of keywords to search,
depending on the company, position etc.
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8. Use of Fonts
• Forget substance, this one’s all about style. Of your
resume that is.
• It’s always good to stand out and make a positive
impression. When entering the workforce, you
should strive to be creative, unique and let your
individual skills shine.
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9. Use of Fonts
• The most common font to use is Times New Roman, in black and size
12 points. Don't go lower than 10 points
• Other serif fonts to consider that are easy to read include: Georgie, Bell
MT, Goudy Old Style, Garamond.
– Popular sans serif fonts include: Arial, Tahoma, Century Gothic and Lucida Sans.
– Any of the above fonts would be reasonable for a resume as long as you consistently use
one font only.
• Make your headings and name stand out, think of your resume like a blog
post or newspaper article.
• Make headlines bold, Italicize, CAPITALISE
– Careful when you use underline and URLs
• Try and keep your resume to one page, leave the reader wanting to know
more.
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10. How to structure your template?
Hidden
Table
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11. Establishing a professional identity
● In an attribution-based
economy, your professional
identity / reputation is the
most important thing you
have
● Decide what your name is,
and then stick with it!
○ Consistent Profile across
public portfolios
■ LinkedIn
■ Google Scholar
■ Github
■ Twitter
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12. SECTIONS OF A RESUME
@OpenMaze
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13. The Header
What should be included?
⁺ Name
⁺ Affiliation, Job Title
⁺ Portfolio (web, LinkedIn, GitHub, Twitter, …)
⁺ E-mail address
⁺ Telephone number
Where should contact information go?
– Top of the page
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14. • What should NOT be included?
– Personal address
– Religion
– Any other personal information (Sex, SSN,
Language Skills, Nationality, DL/ID numbers)
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15. Objective Statement
• Purpose
– Communicate the type of position you are
interested in and when you are available
– Use it to summarize your prior employments
• Don't
– Any statements like "forward thinking", "detail-
oriented"…etc.
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16. The Science Of "Patterns"
• Humans are natural pattern recognizers.
– We expect meaning in the patterns we see because,
in a random universe, it takes energy to create
order.
• Use this to your advantage
– Follow a pattern in everywhere, carefully curate it
– Don't deviate from your pattern across sections,
people see the pattern and they looks for that
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17. Education
• Name of Institution
– Include city and state if not part of the title
• Name of your degree and major
– Bachelor of _________ in ___________
• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
• Relevant Courses, GPA, Month Year (Start and End)
• List degrees in reverse chronological order
– Most recent degree is listed first
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18. Education
• Date or expected date of graduation
– Graduation Date: May 2014
– Expected Graduation Date: May 2015
• GPA
– Major or overall at least 3.0
– Round down to the nearest tenth
• 3.0 not 3.062
• GPA: 4.0, Summa Cum Laude
• High School Information
– Do not include after Sophomore year
– Your qualification evolves as you go and drop the least
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19. Technical Skills
• Categorize (Languages, Database…)
• Find every single technical skill you have
– Don't assume anything!
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20. Work Experience
• Use the term "Work experience"
– What is considered experience?
• Full and part-time jobs
• Self-employment
• Volunteer work
• Practicum, field, and cooperative education
– Information to include
• Job Title
• Dates of employment
• Company name
• City & State
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21. Work Experience
• What you did? how you did? using what?
– Max 3 sentences.
– No Paragraphs
– Use action verbs to start each…
• This is where you tie your technical skills
– Include a GitHub link and also list the technical skills
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22. Outreach
• Order by date
– Reverse chronological
• Rank order by importance to the career objective
• Do not say Member of …
• Emphasize your leadership roles
• Spell out the organization’s name:
– Do not use abbreviations or acronyms
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24. Recap: Resume Dos
• Use action verbs
• Use short, concise sentences
• Use #, %, $ amounts
• Keep resume easy to read
• Keep resume about one page
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25. Recap: Resume Don’ts
• Do not use the pronouns such as I, me, my, etc.
• Do not include references
– Don’t say “available upon request”
• Do not clutter your resume with nonessential
information
• Do not make any misrepresentations
• Do not include personal information
– SSN, age, sex, height, weight, marital status,
photograph, hobbies, etc.
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26. Pro Tips
• Have your own portfolio page (not LinkedIn)
– Use StatCounter or Google Analytics
• Communicate and establish relationships whenever
you can!
– You never know the next person you are meeting may be
the CEO of a company!
• Find your peers, friends, alumni in places you want to find
opportunities
– Back door, fast track for resume reviews
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27. Thank you!
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• Web : https://www.cs.odu.edu/~sampath/
• Contact : sampath@cs.odu.edu
• WS-DL : https://ws-dl.cs.odu.edu/ @WebSciDL
• Twitter: @OpenMaze
Questions and Comments
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