Resume and Cover Letter Building
Whether you’re applying for a job, internship, or volunteer role, your resume and cover letter are key tools employers use to decide who moves forward to an interview. Because recruiters often spend just 15 to 30 seconds reviewing each resume, it’s essential that your materials are clear, concise, and tailored to show why you’re the best candidate for the job.
Resume
A well-crafted resume is your first opportunity to make a strong impression. It’s a summary of your skills, education, and experience—and a key tool in landing interviews. Use these tips to build a clear, compelling resume that showcases your strengths and sets you up for success:
1. Review the job description
Identify the required and desired skills and qualifications. Look for keywords related to specific experiences or job requirements.
2. Create a list of your accomplishments
Make a list of what you are proud of! Your accomplishments can stem from any prior experience, such as jobs, volunteer work, learning experiences, relevant coursework, or notable projects you have worked on.
3. Identify your relevant skills
Compare your experiences and accomplishments with the desired skills and qualifications of each role. Use this information to emphasize skills that you’ve gained that can be used in the position that you are applying for.
4. Write descriptive action statements
What you say is important, but how you say it can make all the difference. Creating great action statement involves putting together 3 specific things:
1. WHAT did you do? = Action Verb
- Start each statement with an action verb like: taught, created, supervised, collaborated, ensured, implemented, marketed, analyzed, collected, interviewed, inspected, led a team, produced, facilitated, wrote, reviewed, assembled, designed, maintained, calculated, researched, improved, pioneered, resolved, expanded, directed, planned, etc.
- Utilize a variety of verbs to keep the reader interested
- Remember to use appropriate tense for past and present experiences
2. HOW did you do it? = Detailed Description
- Use adjectives and adverbs to describe HOW you accomplished your actions
- Use numbers to quantify things (How many? How often? How much?)
- Be specific about what you did (With who? What tasks?). Utilize specific skill words that are included in job descriptions (including hard skills like “Photoshop” and soft skills like “collaboration”)
3. WHY did it matter? = Impact and Results
- End at least 1 statement per job heading with the impact or outcomes that were a result of your hard work
Example action statements
- Good: Filed and prepared sensitive documents
- Better: Maintained files and efficiently prepared and processed sensitive documents for the management team
- Good: Inserted streaming media and graphics onto a website
- Better: Integrated graphics and streaming media to the company website resulting in a 45% increase in clicks during the first six months
5. Review our resume templates and start building your resume
6. Have your resume reviewed by Career Success
- Submit your resume to receive written feedback
- Visit us during drop-in hours
- Consider using JobScan to ensure your resume is ATS (Applicant Tracking System) friendly.
- Learn more about ATS
- Students can use JobScan for FREE! Fill out the Jobscan Account Request Form to request access.
Sections of the resume
Header
A personalized header is the first section on a resume. This section features key information and should begin with your name as the largest and most visually emphasized text on the page. It should also include your location (City, State), phone number, and email address. You can also add the URL to your LinkedIn profile, a personal website, or portfolio.
Education
The education section will typically come next. For each educational institution, list the full name of the institution (i.e. University of California, Santa Cruz), degree and area of study (i.e. Bachelor of Arts, Sociology) and graduation date (i.e. June 20xx). You can also include your GPA (if above a 3.0), minors, honors, certificates, or relevant coursework.
Experience
Experience can include previous and current employment, internships, projects (academic or personal), research, athletics, involvement with community and campus organizations, volunteering and more. You can have one Experience section or several that are tailored to the position you are applying for.
When listing information within an Experience section, include the full name of the organization, title of your position, location (City, State or Remote), and dates (in the format Month Year – Month Year and to Present for current experiences).
Within an Experience section, make sure your positions are in the order of most recent to least recent.
Next, include 1-5 descriptive action statements in bullet point format. See #4 above for tips on how to write strong action statements.
Skills (optional)
In addition to your education and experience, you likely have several skills that are relevant for the position to which you are applying. A targeted skills section typically contains technical, language or laboratory skills. It can also contain specific abilities or areas of knowledge relevant to the position.
Review our resume templates
Formatting tips
- Font size between 10-12 points
- Standard, easy-to-read font (e.g. Times New Roman, Helvetica, Garamond) and layout
- Margins no smaller than 0.5inch
- Resumé to fit on one page
- Resumes can be 1-2 pages for Master’s students, and 2-3 pages for PhDs and postdocs. Longer resumes may be relevant if you are applying to research positions or within the performing arts. Have you resume reviewed by us if you are not sure.
- Use black font color. If you choose to use color do so sparingly
- Bold, italics, bullets to be used in moderation
- Be consistent with: font size, underlining, spacing, indents, emboldening, date formatting, spelling and your use of punctuation
- Check spelling and grammar; avoid abbreviations and slang.
- Do not use pronouns.
- Use reverse chronological order where appropriate.
Resume/CV/Cover Letter Written Feedback
If you would like written feedback on your Resume, CV, or Cover Letter, start here:
- Submit your document with the Resume/Cover Letter/CV Feedback form. We will review it and provide written feedback within 3 business days. Please do not make an appointment until after you’ve received your written feedback.
- If you have any questions or clarifications about the feedback, feel free to attend our drop in “Ask a Peer” hours (check Drop In Advising calendar), or email CC_Coach@ucsc.edu.
- Once you’ve received feedback, update your resume.
Resume or curriculum vitae (CV)?
For some situations, such as graduate school applications, research, or academic roles, the longer CV format may be preferred.
Find out more about a curriculum vitae (CV)
What is a Curriculum Vitae (CV)
A curriculum vitae, often referred to as a CV, A Curriculum Vitae (CV) provides a comprehensive overview of your scholarly and academic achievements and professional accomplishments.
- A Curriculum Vitae (CV) is the standard document in the US for presenting your qualifications for academic employment.
- A CV provides a comprehensive overview of your academic achievements and professional accomplishments.
- A professional CV is not subject to the brevity and page requirement of resumes and are, in most cases, several pages long.
- Other than research positions or corporate “partnerships” with institutions of higher education, CVs are generally inappropriate for most jobs in the public and private sector in the US.
- Unless a CV is specifically requested, assume all academic positions at four-year universities (and some community colleges) require CVs and all other positions require resumes.
When to use it
It is common to use when applying for:
- Academic and research positions
- Grants, fellowships, and awards
- Some graduate school programs
- Overseas employment and international organization (each country may have a different format for CV’s. Do your research.
Differences between a CV and a Resume
| Resume | CV |
| Industry employment in the U.S. | Academic, research, scientific & international employment |
| Brief synopsis | Detailed summary |
| Goal is to construct a professional identity | Goal is to construct a scholarly identity |
| Do not include references | Include references |
| 1-2 pages max | No page limit |
View resume templates & worksheets
View our worksheets and templates to help you get started.
Cover letter
A cover letter is a one-page, 3-4 paragraph “cover page” for your application and a writing sample for the employer. Your cover letter’s main goal is to convince the hiring manager that hiring you would benefit the organization. Its content must be interesting and grasp the employer’s interest enough to make them want to read your resume. Review our cover letter examples.
- Opening paragraph: Statement of purpose – Open with a captivating introductory sentence, name the position you’re applying for, and how you learned about the position.
- Middle paragraph(s): Explanation of qualifications – Write about why you’re applying to this organization. Include the organization’s purpose and/or goals and how the position relates to them. Explain why you’re a great candidate for the position. List the reasons you’re interested in the position and how your relevant skills will allow you to fulfill the responsibilities in the job description.
- Closing paragraph: Conclusion – Begin with one or two strong lines that summarize your qualifications, thank the reader for their consideration, and express your enthusiasm about meeting with them to discuss the opportunity.
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