Cleveland State University EEC 414/503, ESC 720 Writing in Electrical and Computer Engineering

Cleveland State UniversityEEC 414/503, ESC 720Writing in Electrical and Computer Engineering Lecture 12 – Job Applications Dan Simon

The Perfect Job Candidate National Association of Colleges and Employers (2009) • Good GPA • Good communication skills • Strong work ethic • Ability to work with a team • Initiative • Leadership experience • Relevant work experience

Job Applications • Looking for a Job • Resumes • Cover Letters • Interviews

1. Looking for a job • Career Services Center • Professional recruiter • Want ads (magazines, IEEE Spectrum, newspapers) • Company web site • Personal contacts (networking) • Conferences

2. Resumes • Keep it short: less is more • One page if no work experience • Two pages if lots of work experience • There are exceptions, depending on the job • Recruiters might take only a few seconds to scan your resume! • Your resume can direct readers to your web page for more details about your background

2. Resumes • Visual appeal is extremely important • At least one-inch margins • High-quality printer • Clean and clear organization (white space) • Carefully placed page breaks (if any) • Be honest, but not exhaustive (e.g., GPA) • Reverse chronological order • No typographical or grammatical errors!

Bad Resume • Not enough white space • Same font throughout • No indentation • Career goal not listed • Skills not listed • Not enough contact info

Good Resume • White space • Various fonts,but not too many • Indentation • Career goal • Skills list • Contact information • Reverse chronological order

Bad page break in the middle of a paragraph The last paragraph may be too long

Good page break between paragraphs Also note the use of a footer for a multiple-page resume. The footer includes the date.

2. Resumes Career Goals • Emphasize what you can do for the employer, not what the employer can do for you • Seeking position with flexible hours where I can use my creative circuit design skills • Seeking challenging circuit design position with future management opportunities • Seeking position where I can use circuit design skills to solve challenging analog problems • Seeking position where I can solve challenging analog problems in a team environment

2. Resumes • Include key-words that can be scanned • Power electronics, FPGA, PSpice, MATLAB, embedded systems, … • Avoid abbreviations and undefined acronyms • Cleveland State University, not CSU • Define acronyms

2. Resumes • No personal information (hobbies, age, marital status, salary, etc.) – however, some outside activities may be relevant • Volunteer fire fighter • Volunteer work as reporter for campus newspaper • Vice President of student branch of IEEE

2. Resumes • Do not provide reference information • Employers will ask you for references if needed • If you do provide reference information: • Get reference’s permission first • Ask those who know your work best, and will give you the best reference • Give the opportunity to gracefully decline

2. Resumes • Use general writing skills – for example, write in the active voice, not in the passive voice • Participated in $9 million FPGA network. Project was completed on time and under budget. • Responsible for $9 million FPGA network. Completed project on time and under budget. • Note that resumes may be written using incomplete sentences, as above – but be consistent

2. Resumes • Be specific, but not too specific • Designed pneumatic controller using a Microchip PIC16F877-20/P with the CCS C compiler • Wrote C-based pneumatic controller using a Microchip microcontroller • Developed ADRC controller for SMPS under unbalanced operating conditions • Developed nonlinear controller for power converter

2. Resumes • Certain skills are especially valuable to employers, and are worth emphasizing • Communication skills • Management • Teaching and training • Teamwork • Make sure when emailing resumes that the format is readable (avoid MS Word, make sure fonts are embedded in PDF)

3. Cover Letters • Include a one-page letter with your resume • Each cover letter must be specific • No mass mailings • Not “To Whom it May Concern” • Address your letter to a specific person – make a phone call or send an email to get info if necessary • Emphasize past performance and specific results • No typographicical errors, or, grammatical errors, or sppelling errors!

3. Cover Letters • Now is the time to “drop names” • Your colleague, Dr. Smith, encouraged me to send you my resume. • My experience as Albert Einstein’s lab assistant has prepared me for a productive career in flux capacitor design. • I look forward to using the technical writing skills that I gained under Dr. Simon’s teaching.

3. Cover Letters • Balance confidence with willingness to help • As Dr. Einstein’s lab assistant, I single-handedly revolutionized the field of physics. • I will do anything to help your company! Please, please, please hire me! • Dr. Einstein gave me a lot of freedom in his lab, and acknowledged my contributions in several of his publications.

3. Cover Letters • Four-paragraph example from Markel • Introductory paragraph • Education paragraph • Past performance paragraph • Concluding paragraph • See Chapter 15 in Markel for examples

3. Cover Letters 3(a) Introductory paragraph • What position are you interested in? • How did you hear about the job or company? • Lead in to the “education” and “past performance” paragraphs

3. Cover Letters 3(a) Introductory paragraph Last February I spoke with one of your recruiters, Bill Wilkins, at a career fair at Cleveland State University. He mentioned that you will be hiring several entry-level electrical engineers this summer in your Time Machine Division. I will be graduating with an MSEE degree this May, and am interested in a position where I can use my skills in flux capacitor design.

3. Cover Letters 3(b) Education paragraph • What aspect of your education qualifies you for this job? • What skills and knowledge did you acquire? • What extracurricular activities are related to this job? • Don’t list course numbers! List course names!

3. Cover Letters 3(b) Education paragraph I presently have a 3.99 GPA at Cleveland State University. My thesis topic is related to the application of biogeography-based optimization to flux capacitor design. While at CSU, I published 19 journal papers, 12 books, and received 16 patents. I also took a technical writing course from world-renowned writing expert Dan Simon.

3. Cover Letters 3(c) Past performance paragraph • What specific things did you accomplish? • How did your previous employment prepare you for this job?

3. Cover Letters 3(c) Past performance paragraph Last summer I interned at NASA, where I developed a new astronaut training program. The program that I developed is saving NASA $17 million annually. I also managed the Flux Capacitor Lab at CSU. In this position I was responsible for web site maintenance and for ensuring that the lab passed monthly safety inspections. As a volunteer for the IEEE, I organized a student conference that was attended by over 500 engineering students.

3. Cover Letters 3(d) Concluding paragraph • Mention your enclosed/attached resume • Polite request for an interview • Be confident and persistent, but not pushy • Contact information

3. Cover Letters 3(d) Concluding paragraph The enclosed resume provides more details about my training and experience. I would appreciate an opportunity to meet with you and discuss how my skills can help your company. Thank you for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon. Sincerely, Dan Simon 216-687-5407 d.j.simon@csuohio.edu

4. Job Applications • Looking for a Job • Resumes • Cover Letters • Interviews

4. Job Interviews • Your cover letter and resume will never get you a job, no matter how good they are • It is the interview that gets you the job

4. Job Interviews • Study and prepare ahead of time • What are common interview questions? • What can you learn about the company? • What questions can you ask the interviewer? • Arrive on time, but not too early • Err on the side of over-dressing • Think about body language • A job interview is not the right time for humor

4. Job Interviews • Don’t worry about a follow-up letter unless you have not heard from the interviewer for two weeks or more • Remind them about the interview you had • Resend your resume • Restate your availability • If you decide not to accept an offer, or withdraw your candidacy, write a specific and polite letter – don’t burn any bridges

Acknowledgments • Technical Communication, by Mike Markel (Chapter 15) • A Guide to Writing as an Engineer, by David Beer and David McMurrey (Chapter 10) • Pocket Book of Technical Writing, by Leo Finkelstein (Chapter 19) • “The perfect job candidate,” www.careercornerstone.org

Cleveland State University EEC 414/503, ESC 720 Writing in Electrical and Computer Engineering