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CV/Resume Clinic

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CV/Resume Clinic

Linda Louie, PhD, Career Development Program Manager, Berkeley Lab

Andrew Green, PhD, Associate Director, Berkeley Career Engagement

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7/25/25

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Thank you for being part of today’s CV/resume clinic!

Agenda for Today

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Review a sample document with your group (10 min)

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Review your own document using our checklists (10 min)

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Discussion: Ask questions about your document (10 min)

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Mini-workshop from Andrew Green, Berkeley Career Engagement (15 min)

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Today we’re talking about three types of documents

Academic CV

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Research Resume

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Non-Research Resume

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Andrew’s here to share some tips for two of them!

Academic CV

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Research Resume

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Non-Research Resume

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How is a resume different from a C.V.?

Andrew Green (BCE)

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His smile was gracious and his eyes sage as he took my resume, and began the diagnostic.

"Ah," intoned the eminence, "perhaps you are the victim of a basic misunderstanding. This is a sales document.”

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Too Often Grad Students & PhDs

Deem These Truths to be Self-Evident

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  • Don’t Understand the Logic and Constraints that Hiring Managers Operate Under:

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      • Time is Scarce (5-6 sec scan) - Why are you worth 7?

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      • Your Audience Feels Overburdened

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  • Your Job is to Make it Easy for Them and Alleviate their Concerns

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Differences between a CV and a Resume

  • CV = Accomplishments (output)

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  • Resume = Skills (analytical + soft) and Relevant Experience

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  • Resume is not your biography (inside out)

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  • Your accomplishments do not “Speak for Themselves”

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  • What are you sources of value for a given job?

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  • Power of SPEED DATING

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Sources of Value

  • Am I going to hire you because you spent the last 5 years working on X/ or ???

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  • Different scenarios call for different resumes

PhD

Industry

PhD/Postdoc

Industry

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Berkeley + LBNL Postdocs have a lot of Skills

  • Research
  • Analytical
  • Communication
  • Project Management
  • Teaching/Mentoring
  • Collaborative
  • Interpersonal

But no one outside of academia has any clue about what you’ve done and how it has prepared you to be an effective member of their team.

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Showcasing your Research

COMPUTATIONAL MODELLING RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

 

Postdoctoral Researcher – Lawrence Berkeley National Lab June 2020-present

PI: Roger Boesche

 

    • Utilized advanced techniques in thin film lithography generated novel designs that maximize photovoltaic yields
    • Utilized advanced CSM and LCSM techniques to characterize target molecules
    • Generated fast algorithms programmed in C to analyze experimental data leading to the identification of 4 novel, spatial arrangements
    • Initiated 3 interdisciplinary collaborations (1 multi-site) leading to 4 high impact publications
    • Organized lab start-up, trained 2 graduate students and 3 undergrads, and wrote lab safety protocols
    • Research resulted 5 publications in peer reviewed journals (3 first authored)

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There’s the skills, knowledge, expertise�

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Then there’s how do you make it understandable and relevant to your new target audience?

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    • Draw on the language of the job description

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    • Utilize terminology you’ve learned through:
      • Informational interviews
      • LinkedIin Group blogposts
      • Professional Societies

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So You Need to Articulate & Translate Them

  • From
    • Head TA – Biochemistry 101

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  • To
    • Experience explaining complex concepts to non-expert audiences

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    • Comfortable speaking before large & small groups

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    • Trained in Assessment, Coaching, and Mentoring Skills

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    • Managed team of 9 teaching assistants

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    • Administrative oversight of grade recording for 450 student course

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Your sources of value

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Member - Postdoc Industry Exploration Program (PIEP) Board

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    • As part of five person board, refined guidelines and mission statement for career-related, postdoc program.
    • Performed outreach to over a dozen hiring managers at targeted companies to recruit host sites
    • Collaborated with staff and postdoc peers to organize 8 week speaker series

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But it’s about more than just your skills

How often would someone think?

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  • Plays well with Others?

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  • Excellent Communicator?

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  • Great Leadership Skills?

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  • One of the Most Socially Graceful People I’m Likely to Ever Meet?

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Why does this Matter?

Non-academic work is rarely done in isolation

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What About AI & My Resume?

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●Use it to identify top skills described in the job ad/job title

●Use it to potentially create a draft based on your academic CV and get you started

●Use it to check whether your draft resume has covered the main job duties

HOWEVER, AI generated resumes are inherently

●Generic vs what is distinctive about you (averages vs individual instance)

●Are increasingly recognized as such and therefore often discarded

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Delegate – Graduate Assembly (GA), UC Berkeley�

    • Elected to represent the MCB department in campus governance body

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    • Served on Budget Committee analyzing $125,000 in spending

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    • Analyzed proposals and made allocation recommendations based on GA priorities

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    • Authored report on Career Training Requirements for STEM PhDs

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    • Collaborated in the management of annual GradFest event with 180+ participants

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In Sum – Keys to an effective resume

  • Understand you “speed dating” points

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  • Translate your key skills + accomplishments

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  • What differentiates you from other applicants

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  • Be sure to highlight soft skills

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  • Format the document so it’s “Glance-able”

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What you’ll do today:

Review one type of document

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You chose one of these to focus on today

Academic CV

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Research Resume

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Non-Research Resume

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  1. Review one sample document with your group

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Review using the formatting checklist (#1) and the checklist for your document type.

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  1. What surprises you?
  2. What can you emulate?
  3. What would you do differently?

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2. Review your document using the checklists

Review using the formatting checklist (#1) and the checklist for your document type.

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  1. What are you already doing well?
  2. What do you know you need to change?
  3. What are you unsure about?

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3. Ask questions and support each other

Rotate through your group: Each person has a chance to ask one question about their own document

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  1. Your expert reviewer answers first, then others can chime in
  2. Please share airtime, speak kindly, and listen attentively

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Don’t worry! You don’t have to figure it all out today

  • 1:1 coaching opportunities
  • Answers to FAQs (submitted by you)
  • Today’s slides, checklists, and links to sample documents

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Final Questions?

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Thank you!

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