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Building a Powerful Résumé & SOP

Surabhi Bhargava | Shubham Singhal

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About Us

Shubham Singhal

Software Engineer, Meta Platforms

Previously at Microsoft�Columbia University | IIIT Delhi

Surabhi Bhargava

Sr. ML Engineer, Adobe

Previously at PayPal

Columbia University | IIT Guwahati�

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How to get started?

What to write?

How to get feedback?

What’s relevant and what’s not?

What format to follow?

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What is this workshop about?

What are they and why they are important?

Best practices and tips for creating Resume and SOP

Examples and templates

Getting Feedback

Q&A

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Résumé

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Document for interviews & admissions

Showcasing your experience

Reflection

of your accomplishments

Representation of your skills

Summary �of your education

Résumé

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Path to a Powerful Résumé

Brainstorm

Write - Format - Revise - Repeat

Make it role specific

Identify transferable skills

Get feedback

In this slide we will talk about the different steps involved in the journey of creating a powerful resume.

The first step in this process is to Brainstorm

BRAINSTORM

Think about your experiences and accomplishments, both past and present. These may include different projects – academic or professional, internship experiences, research work and so on.

Once you have compiled these, the next step is to identify the transferable skills you have acquired.

Transferable skills – skills that can be applied broadly in a domain. For example, in CS, knowing Python can be relevant for many positions. Similarly, Java or Machine Learning.

In the next step, we need to make the resume role specific. i.e. Identify projects that are more relevant to a role. Or skills that are more in line with the position that you are applying to. Also a resume for an industrial job position is going to be different from a research position or college admissions, so we need to pick the content and formatting accordingly. We will talk more about this in the later slides.

Based on these steps, you now should have most of the content available. We now need to figure out the best way to present it, to make it stand out. The next two steps are going to have many iterations or writing, formatting, getting feedback and incorporating it. We can’t emphasize enough how important it is to gather feedback and polish your resume through multiple revisions. Due to lack of time or hesitation in sharing resume with others, we often tend to skip these steps, but they can offer really valuable insights about how we can improve our resume.

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Length

Font

Layout

Content

Industry: 1 page
Academia: 1-2 pages

Margin: 1 Inch
Use space optimally
Divide in logical sections
Follow reverse chronology
Use PDF format only

Include contact information
Show “What”, “How”, “Impact”
Talk numbers
Start bullets with Action verbs
Maximum 3 bullet points
Highlight key information
Eliminate typos and repetitions
Highlight research work, publications (if relevant)

Size: 10–12
Keep consistent font style
Preferred: Times New Roman
Keywords: Use bold, underlining, and italics

Content and Formatting

Let’s look a bit into formatting styles and content building

Length:

Typically an industrial resume is a one pager.

Since academic resumes are more detailed, they tend to be longer and can be about 2 pages long.

Layout

In terms of the layout, it’s better to have a margin of 1inch

It is important to use space optimally. Depending upon the content you have, you need to put together the content to avoid both empty spaces and over-crowding

Having your projects divided into multiple sections as Professional Experience, Academic Project and Research work, helps the recruiters and hiring managers navigate your resume more easily

Follow reverse chronology and show your most recent work at the top

It is important to submit resumes in a PDF format only as it locks in the formatting and styling so that it remains the same irrespective of where it is opened

Font:

Try to keep the font size for the content between 10-12 and remains consistent throughout. The title and section headings may be larger or bold for better readability

Important keywords should stand out and can be made noticeable by underlining, italics or bold.

The content of your resume should include:

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Content & Formatting��Deep Dive

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1. Contact Information

Name

Contact Number

Email

Website

Address

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2. Education

GPA

Program

Thesis related details

Expected Year of Graduation

Name of School/College with location

Coursework

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3. Skills

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4. Experience – Professional/Research/Projects

Use action verbs

Easy to read

Highlight keywords & phrases

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5. Publications

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6. Awards and Accomplishments

Award Title

What it’s for?

Year

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Resume walkthrough

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Statement of Purpose �(SOP)

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Interests & What’s next

Filling up gaps

Chance to cover up gaps in your profile – Scores/GPA etc.

Your interests and what would you like to do next?

Value Proposition

How will you add value to the program you are applying to?

Your Story

Showcasing Experience

What makes you unique?

Professional/academic experience with learnings and impact

Answering ‘Why’

Why this degree, course and university?

Statement of �Purpose

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Getting Started

Why do I want this degree?
What are my expectations for this degree?
What courses or program features excite me the most?
Where do I want this degree to take me, professionally and personally?
How will my unique professional and personal experiences add value to the program?

Brainstorm your Ideas

Introduction:

A brief introduction of yourself & your background with the motivation of the application
An attention-grabbing hook

Body:

Relevant experiences, learnings & accomplishments
Professional goals relevant to the program

Conclusion:

Why you’re interested & what you bring to the table
Illustrate how your experiences and interests align with what the school has to offer

Develop an outline

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First draft

More details than needed
Can be refined and edited
Far from the final version

Kth Iteration

Fit in 2 pages
Less is often more; articulate your main points strongly and get rid of any “clutter.”
Provide stories instead of statements
Demonstrate everything by example
Show impact and learnings
Share numbers

Nth Iteration

Walk away and come back later with a fresh set of eyes
Proof-read
Eliminate typos
Get feedback

N-1 Iteration

Emphasize everything from a positive perspective
Showcase perseverance despite obstacles
Tie everything together with continuity and focus

�

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Content & Formatting��Deep Dive

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1. Title

Name

Program Information

Basic Personal Information – all pages

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2. The Opening Act

What intrigued you?

About You

Goal and program details

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What intrigued you?

About You

Goal and program details

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What intrigued you?

About You

Goal and program details

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3. Body

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4. Conclusion

What interests you?

Good fit?

Alignment with the university program/research

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What interests you?

Good fit?

Alignment with the university program/research

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Q&A

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