Resumes and Cover Letters

Terms You Should Know

Portfolio: A collection of your work samples, such as projects, papers, or presentations. Portfolios are not just for artists or creatives. Consider your resume to be your portfolio in text form.

Action Verbs: Strong verbs that begin your bullet points (e.g., "Achieved," "Managed," "Developed")

Quantifiable Achievements: Specific accomplishments with measurable results (e.g., "Recruited 35 club members, maintaining an average weekly attendance of 70%").

Skills Section: A section dedicated to listing your technical, soft, and transferable skills.

Keywords: Relevant terms that highlight your skills, experiences, and qualifications. Due to the large number of applicants for jobs in online platforms (Indeed, LinkedIn, Monster, Glassdoor), employers use keyword searches to quickly narrow down their applicant search.

Tailored Resume: A resume customized to each job application, highlighting skills and experiences most relevant to the position.

What is a CV?

CV stands for curriculum vitae. It's latin. Although often used interchangeably with resume, CVs are used in the academic world (of university professors) to mean a more detailed and comprehensive overview of your background. It usually has an academic focus (educational qualifications, research publications, projects and academic achievements) and can be as long as they need to be. 

Resumes, on the other hand, are much shorter (no more than 1-2 pages), and to-the-point to separate themselves from the hundreds of others. Resumes focus more on skills and demonstrating skills.