• Who am I?
• Where am I going?
• How will I get there?

1. Tips for creating a successful resume

• Do design your descriptions to focus on your accomplishments, using action verbs to clearly indicate the skills you've used. See Sample Action Verb list on page four.
• Do try quantifying results in your descriptions, such as "Created marketing campaign that increased club membership by 25%."
• Do keep your resume brief enough to fit on one page (or two pages if your experience is extensive). Academic CVs are often two pages or longer.
• Do print your resume on good quality bond paper, either white or conservative tones. If printed on plain computer paper, copy onto good quality bond paper.
• Do accompany your resume with a cover letter in most cases.
• Do have others look over your resume for content and grammar. Career Counselors and Peer Counselors are available at the CDC to critique your resume during same day appointments.

• Don't make your margins and font size too small: margins no smaller than one inch and font size no smaller than 10 point.
• Don't include personal pronouns (e.g. I, me, we).
• Don't include personal information, physical characteristics, or photographs on your resume. However, individuals from other countries may include these on their resumes.
• Don't include the last line: "References available upon request" (see Sample Reference List).

• It is more appropriate for freshmen and sophomores to include high school experiences. However, important high school experiences that have some relevance to your job objective may be appropriate for upper classmen.
• For International Students it is sometimes a disadvantage to include your non-immigrant visa status or permanent address (if outside the U.S.) on your resume. Usually your visa status should be discussed later during the interview. If you have obtained permanent residency or U.S. citizenship, it might be to your advantage to list the information on your resume.

• There is no single way to format your resume. The format you choose should present your strengths clearly.

• This format is most familiar to employers and most commonly used by Stanford students. This style of resume presents your experience and education in reverse chronological sequence, starting with the most recent. Date, job title, organization's name, location and a description of your activities are listed as part of the experience section. This format is simple, straightforward, and especially useful for anyone with a history of directly relevant experience.

2. Tips for creating an effective Cover letter

• Collect your thoughts. Your ideas may not come out logically or sequentially, but write them down. Don't judge and evaluate, simply collect them.
• Spend time on your letter. As the adage goes, "With part-time effort, you get part-time results."
• Write a draft, let it cool off overnight, and then rewrite if necessary.
• Use a strong close, e.g. "After you have had an opportunity to review this letter, I will call you"
• Avoid weak endings such as "I look forward to your reply" or "Please call me at your earliest convenience."
• Limit your letter to one page; a letter is an opportunity to sell, so say something about you, while also focusing on the needs of the employer. Write the way you talk. It should be well-worded, concise, and controlled in the use of the pronoun "I".
• While a general cover letter can be used, best results come from personalizing each letter to fit the specific circumstances, position, or organization.
• Ask for opinions, advice, and feedback from friends, a counselor, or someone in the profession Check spelling and grammar.
• Avoid cluttered desktop publishing. Business letters should look conservative. If you want to be creative, do so in your choice of words. If should be aesthetically appealing with careful attention to spacing and format. Use letter-quality printer paper or high quality bond paper. Stick with white, ivory, or off-white.
• Remember to sign it personally and include your telephone number and e-mail address.
• Don't use someone else's letter and if you are using the same letter for several companies, remember to change the name in the body of your letter.
• Devise a system to keep track of the follow-up steps you will take and the responses you receive. Most students have found that binders or file folders for organizing the job search and its correspondence are essential.
• Follow-up, follow-up. People will call you, but you'll improve your odds dramatically if you follow up your letters with a phone call.
• Don't mark letters "personal and confidential" unless there is a solid reason why a secretary or an administrative assistant can't open them. If your letter is persuasive enough, it will get through.

3. 30 Second scan of resume

4. A typical resume

Your Name
Current Address
Telephone number
Cell phone number (if applicable)
Email address
Web page address (if pertinent)
Permanent Address
and Telephone number
This section, while not required, is helpful as it tells the employer, at a glance, the type of position you are seeking. The objective can include the specific position you are seeking, skills you wish to use on the job, field or organization type by which you wish to be employed, or a combination of all of the above.

• A position as an editorial assistant.
• Electrical engineering internship.
• To obtain a position in finance.
• A program coordinator position in a community organization working with youth.
• Seeking a position in museum administration requiring strong writing skills and a background in art history.
• To apply decision and systems analysis to strategic planning in the telecommunications industry.

• This section should include:
• Name of the degree-granting institutions; List most recent first.
• Degree received and major
• Graduation date or projected graduation date, or dates of attendance if a degree was not completed
• Overseas academic experience

• Any minors, specialization or focus areas
• Courses relevant to the position for which you are applying
• Honors and GPA (if they are a strong selling point). Indicate GPA based on a 4.0 scale.
• Senior research/honors thesis title and brief description
• Freshmen and sophomores can include high school

• This is a summary of experience and/or accomplishments. List most recent experience first. You should include:
• Title of the position
• Name of the organization and location (city and state)
• Dates, including month and year
• Descriptions of responsibilities beginning with action verbs (avoid phrases such as "duties included")
• Believable, verifiable accomplishments
• Paid jobs, internships, volunteer community service, extracurricular projects involving leadership or teamwork.

• You may choose to divide your experience into two or more sections. Possible section headers might include Research Experience, Teaching Experience, Leadership Experience, Volunteer Experience or Relevant Experience.
• Additional Information
• This section could include computer skills, languages, volunteer work, sports, and interests. If one of these areas is relevant to the job, however, you may choose to put it in the "Experience" section. You may also choose to use more specific section headers such as
• Skills
• Activities
• Interests
• Honors and Awards

• Why did you choose to attend Stanford?
• What are some of the greatest personal challenges you have faced during your lifetime?
• What motivates you?

• What skills or personal qualities do you possess that will help make you successful in today's job market?
• Tell me about yourself (ask what type of information the employer is looking for, skills? personal background?).
• What special skills do you possess that would make you stand out from other candidates?
• Describe a frustrating or challenging experience you've encountered and tell me how you dealt with it.
• Discuss some of your past leadership/teamwork roles and your accomplishments in them.

• Who was the most difficult person you have ever dealt with, and how did you handle the situation?
• Can you think of a specific situation that reflects your ability to show initiative? Describe it.
• What is your greatest weakness, what have you done to try to overcome it?

• What are your long range career goals and how are you preparing to achieve them?
• Why are you interested in this industry/occupation?
• Why do you want to work for our organization?
• What do you see yourself doing in three to five years?

• Please describe your most rewarding college experience.
• If you could relive your college experience, what would you do differently?

• What factors influenced your choice of a major?
• What were your favorite and least favorite courses?
• What is your grade point average and how do you feel about this?
• Are you satisfied with your academic accomplishments?
• What courses gave you the most difficulty?
• How has your coursework prepared you for this position?

• What did you enjoy most about your most recent job experience?
• Please elaborate on your most relevant work experience.
• What do you see as your major strengths as they apply to this position?

• What else would you like us to know about you?
• Of what accomplishment are you most proud?

• Why did you select our organization with which to interview?
• What attracts you to this industry?
• What do you know about our organization?
• Why do you think you'd like working for our organization?

• When comparing one company offer to another, what factors will be important to you besides starting salary?
• What salary range are you expecting? (If possible, you may want to state that you are more interested in the content of the position at this point and would be happy to discuss salary when an offer is presented).

• These questions seldom have right or wrong answers. Even though the questions may not seem to be job-related, employers may try to determine your confidence and creativity through your answers.
• If you could be any fruit which would you choose and why?
• Think about your favorite product. Now think up five better names for it.
• Tell me a story.
• How would the world be different if you had never been born?

• What is it about this organization that attracted you in the first place and has kept you there?
• How would you describe your organization's style of management?
• How will industry trends affect this organization within the next 3-5 years?
• How does the organization define a successful individual?
• What is the method of feedback/evaluation used by this organization?
• What do you see as your organization's strengths and weaknesses?

• Can you describe recent projects on which a person in my position has worked?
• What is the common career path for people entering the organization in this position?
• How are people trained or brought up to speed with regard to their responsibilities?
• What type of person tends to be successful in this position?
• What type of person are you looking for?
• How and when is performance evaluated?