Translating Your

CredentialsAndrew Green, PhD

UC Berkeley

Science is often accused of having

killed off God, Philosophy, our sense

of WonderBut

There is magic in the world

• It transforms

mundane and

inanimate

objects

into

The Stuff of Life

Now I’m not calling grad students, PhDs, and postdocs inanimate objects,

but sometimes your documents need some help bringing you to life.

The specific focus of tonight’s presentation is the resume and cover letter.

But its really about the broader challenge of

how you translate your skills, interests,

and experience into a package that readily conveys your appeal to potential employers.

I’m a hiring manager or a member of a

hiring committee.

• My job is to narrow down the list invitees

• Am I going to devote a whole afternoon to the task?

• What am I interested in? What is my mental checklist?

• Most documents I see are written from the inside out.

• You want your resume and cover letter to be written

as a response to what your audience cares most

about

How do you do this?

• Speed Dating

• Understand the sources of your value (project vs.

skills)

• Break down your contributions

• Translate your credentials

• Anticipate their key concerns; Showing not telling

• Speak to the question, “Why are you here?”

Speed Dating

• We live in an age of short attention spans

• What are the 3 things you want me to know about

you before I decide whether your application is

worth more of my time.

• Not sure?Have a friend interrogate you

The source of your value• 1st Question I ask

• Break down your roles and functions; have a friend interrogate you.

Postdoc – University of California, BerkeleyPI: Sam Castaneda, Rocket Science lab• Use Monte Carlo simulations programmed in C to calculate the impact of non-stochastic turbulence in re-entry

trajectories• Develop fast algorithms to analyze postdoc funding in the year 2020 given a range of values associated with

different rates of health insurance premiums increases.• Initiated inter-disciplinary, multi-site collaboration to analyze x• Led team in the creation and implementation of new lab safety protocols• Served as liaison to outside vendors• Trained and mentored 3 undergraduates and 2 graduate students• Selected to give presentations at 5 major, scientific conferences• Deliver presentations on Rocket Science to lay audiences at Cal Day and during visits to local area Middle

Schools• Serve as member of the PIEP Advisory Board

o Perform outreach to companies as potential host siteso Organize 8 week speaker serieso Pay off speakers from VSPA slush fund

Translate your credentials

• TA Bio 1A

• GSR vs Editorial Assistant

Anticipate their key concerns; Showing not

telling

• Do you play well with others?

• Can you multi-task?

• Can you make recommendations in the basis of

partial data?

Speak to the question:“Why are you here?”

How does this translate into your Cover Letter?

• Speed dating paragraph

• Not a laundry list taken from your resume, Rather reflects an implicit dialogue between you and your audience that makes it easy for them to project you in your new role.

Not what you’ve done, rather how it has prepared you for the challenge of …

• Allows for the most critical information to be easily assimilated

If your interested in a non-bench role (MF)

• What do you want them to know about you?

• How do you convey skills in administration, project

management, communication, etc.

• Don’t tell, show.

“Well, I sent that 5-page academic-smelling cv couple months ago to one

of the people/organizations in DC I'm trying to break into (USAID type

stuff), and at that time the person was friendly, but said things like, `To be

honest, if someone with a B.A. walked in my door, but they had 5 years

experience volunteering at an HIV center, and we had a job, I'd give it to

them before you…’

“Last week I sent her one of the new, improved 2-page cv's you helped

me with, and she emailed me saying how "impressive," etc. I am, and

how if they had a job she'd hire me right away

“Thanks again, I'll keep you posted…”

CV =>Resume: Translating your Credentials

Andrew E. Green

11 Winchester Road

New London, CT 06320

(860) 439-2011

PERSONAL

Born: February 13, 1958 in Providence, Rhode Island

U.S. Citizen

Married

EDUCATION

Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley,

December 1993 (Political Science)

M.A. University of California, Berkeley,

May 1987 (Political Science)

B.A. Occidental College, Los Angeles, California

June 1980 (Economics)

DISSERTATION

Creating Comparative Advantage in a Changing International System: The Development of the

South Korean Automobile Industry

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Assistant Professor, tenure-track, Connecticut College, Government Department (beginning Fall

1991). Teaching courses in International Relations, Japanese Politics, The Political Economy of

the Pacific Rim, International Political Economy, and Methodology.

CV => Resume: Making It Easy for

Your Overburdened Audience

• Organizationo What Three Things Should Your Audience Know After the First 5 Seconds?

• Clarityo Selective Use of Bolding & Indents

• Consistencyo Avoid Speed Bumps

CV => Resume• A Targeted, Focused Instrument

• Reflects the Job Description

• Concise

• Emphasizing Concrete Experience, Skills, and Accomplishments

• Functional versus Chronological

• Creativity is Rarely a Virtue

The Four Basic Resume Formats

• Chronological

• Functional

• Hybrid

• Highlights of Qualifications

Specific Guidelines

• Start with a Master File

• Don’t Assert; Demonstrate

• Be Concrete and Quantify Wherever Possible

• Translate the Experience

• Emphasize What “You” Did and Accomplished

Specific Guidelines• Don’t Undersell Yourself

• Format and Order are Dictated by Relevance

• You are Never a PhD Candidate

• Edit Ruthlessly; Leave Plenty of White Space

• Never Smaller than 10 Point

• It Speaks for You

Review

• Form Matters as much as Content

• Make it Easy for your Overburdened Audience

• What Format Bests Matches my Credentials to their Requirements

• Three Second Test

This seems like a lot of work,

why bother?

• It’s about more than creating a document

• It a process of pulling from your extensive inventory of

skills and experiences

• Focusing the readers attention on the specific sub-set of

the above most relevent to their needs/decision

• Translating and delivering that information in a clear and

concise manner (whether in a cover letter, a resume, a

LinkedIn profile, etc.) that helps them project you into

the role for which you have applied

I see a lot of this

Sleepy & Clichéd

Lets make it bright and energetic

Questions?