Resumes & Cover Letters For Master’s Students

OFFICE OF CAREER SERVICESGSAS: Resumes and Cover LettersGSAS: Graduate Student Information DUYDUG 8QLYHUVLW\ DUYDUG &ROOHJH DQG *UDGXDWH 6FKRRO RI UWV DQG 6FLHQFHV 'XQVWHU 6WUHHW &DPEULGJH 0 7HOHSKRQH ZZZ RFV IDV KDUYDUG HGXResumes &Cover Letters forMaster’s Studentswww.ocs.fas.harvard.edu

2020 Harvard UniversityAll rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way without the express writtenpermission of the Harvard University Faculty of Arts & Sciences Office of Career Services.8/20Office of Career ServicesHarvard UniversityFaculty of Arts & SciencesCambridge, MA 02138Phone: (617) 495-2595www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu

Resumes and Cover LettersFor Master’s StudentsWhat is the purpose of a resume?A resume is a brief, informative summary of your abilities, education, and experience. It should highlight your strongestassets and skills, and differentiate you from other candidates seeking similar positions. Although it alone will not get you ajob or internship, a good resume is an important step toward obtaining an interview. Be sure to tailor your resume to the typeof position you are seeking. This does not mean that all of your work history must relate directly, but your resume shouldreflect the kind of skills the employer values.I’m planning on applying to several different types of jobs. Will I be expected to write different resumes for eachone?As always, it is important to think about your reader. Let’s say you are receiving a master’s degree in data science and areapplying for quantitative positions in investment banks and generalist positions in big consulting firms. You will want totarget each resume to the specific employer. For example, investment banks will be interested in your quantitative analysisskills, so you will want to be clear how you developed those skills in the course of your degree or internship experiences.Consulting firms will be concerned with how you’ve developed leadership and teamwork skills; in that case, you might wantto include more information about your involvement with student groups, volunteer work, or internships that may haveallowed you to develop these skills.A friend of mine, who is in business school, told me I need to have a one page resume. Is that true?For most master’s degree candidates, it is typical to have a one page resume. Having a two page resume may send a signalthat you’re “overqualified” or otherwise not fitting the mold of a typical candidate for entry to mid-level jobs. Normally twopage resumes are acceptable if you are advanced in your career, have years of experience, or have a PhD. For BA/BS,MA/MS, and MBA candidates, a one-page resume is the norm. When in doubt, ask one of the GSAS advisers.Are there formatting guidelines I should keep in mind?Stick to a common font like Times New Roman or Ariel, and avoid text boxes, underlining, or shading. Font size should bebetween 10 and 12 point, and kept consistent throughout the document. Margins should be equal all the way around thepage, and should be at least three quarters of an inch in size.Can someone at OCS review my resume?Yes. Each semester the GSAS advisers hold weekly drop-in hours for students interested in having their resumes critiqued.Students may also have their resumes reviewed as part of an advising appointment with a GSAS staff member (to schedulean appointment, visit the OCS website and follow the directions on Crimson Careers).Am I eligible for the Campus Interview Program at Harvard? How does it work?Master’s candidates in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences are able to search for and apply to many campus interviewprogram jobs and internships. However, students should be aware that the Campus Interview Program is primarily for entrylevel hiring of undergraduates. Employers will indicate in their job description and requirements section whether or not theyare willing to receive applications from GSAS master's students. In order to participate, all students must complete anorientation session on an annual basis to become familiar with the software used to handle the logistics of the program.These sessions can be found on the OCS website under the “Events” tab. Remember 80% of jobs are found throughnetworking, so be sure to check out our Building Professiona l Connections handout for more tips.1

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RESUME #1: Tobin is seeking a position in fundraising and program coordination at a non-profitorganization. You will notice he focuses on fundraising, strategic thinking, research and grant management.Tobin Fatin54 Dunster Street Cambridge, MA 02138 801-555-5555xxxx@harvard.eduEDUCATIONHarvard UniversityCambridge, MAMA, Middle Eastern StudiesMay 2019MA Thesis: “Dancing Through the House of Many Mansions: Dabkeh in Contemporary Lebanon”Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) Foreign Language & Area Studies recipient, CMES Summer Grant recipientUniversity of NevadaBA, Middle Eastern Studies, History, International Studies; Minor in ArabicMagna cum laude, Golden Key Scholar, Winner of Memorial Paper CompetitionLas Vegas, NVMay 2015EXPERIENCEThe ADC Discrimination CommitteeWashington, DCDevelopment & Special Projects CoordinatorFebruary 2018 - Present Established fundraising goals, planned and administered quarterly fundraising campaigns, identified potentialsponsors and managed terms of support. Developed organization’s strategic plan and annual objectives with president. Executed entire plan. Facilitated outreach efforts with 30 high school, college, government and non-profit groups; developed andoversaw ADC’s monthly educational lecture series. Solicited donations by drafting proposals/appeals, maintained correspondence and negotiated terms of support. Managed and reviewed grant phases, and directed grant writer by communicating organizational needs. Oversaw Internship Program by reviewing applications, interviewing and selecting applicants, managing interntasks/complaints, and arranging intern orientation/field trips/brown bags.The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP)Washington, DCResearch Intern for the Program on Arab PoliticsJune - September 2017 Drafted research memoranda for interviews and publications on subjects including human rights abuses in Syria,rise of opposition groups in Syria, and parliamentary elections in Egypt and Tunisia. Monitored key regional political developments such as the rise of the Ennahda Party and ISIS.Washington, DCFoundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD)May - August 2017Intern for the Center for the Study of Terrorist Radicalization (CSTR) Performed research for appearances and publications on subjects including: NGOs in Somalia, economic andpolitical instability in North and East Africa, radicalization in the Horn of Africa, and domestic counter-terrorismefforts. Reviewed and edited materials for Daveed Gartenstein-Ross’ publication Bin Laden’s Legacy.Harvard University, Lecturer in Departments of Government & EconomicsCambridge, MAJuly 2016 - July 2017Research Assistant Revised articles on topics including: identity formation, sectarianism, resource sharing groups and secularism. Reviewed and edited manuscript entitled: The Unmaking of Nation-States: Case Studies from the Middle East.SKILLSLanguage: Levantine Arabic, Fluent; Modern Standard Arabic, Advanced; Persian, IntermediateComputer: Raiser’s Edge, WordPress3

RESUME #2: Jose is applying for a data science position at a top tech firm. Since Jose’s most relevantexperience comes from his coursework, he includes details on his projects in his experience section. Thespecific and detailed descriptions are appropriate given the technical nature of the jobs he is applying to.JOSE ROBERTS54 Dunster Street Cambridge, MA 02138(773) 999-4103 joseroberts@harvard.eduEDUCATIONHarvard UniversityCambridge, MAMaster of Science in Data ScienceExpected May 2020Cumulative GPA: 3.83 /4.00 Honors: 2018 Recipient of Harper Educational Foundation Scholarship Relevant Coursework: Stochastic Optimization, Data Science I, Systems Development for Computational ScienceUniversity of Notre DameNotre Dame, INBachelor of Science in MathematicsSpring 2017Cumulative GPA: 3.90 /4.00 Honors: The GE Prize for Excellence in Mathematics (2017), University of Notre Dame Mathematics Scholar (2015) Relevant Coursework: Probability Theory, Stochastic Modeling, Real Analysis, Numerical Analysis, Data Mining,Abstract Algebra, Differential Equations, Mathematical StatisticsPROJECT & RESEARCH EXPERIENCEHarvard UniversityCambridge, MASpotify Song Recommendation ProjectFall 2019 Trained random forest model to impute missing genre labels in Spotify’s song database (119,064 songs) Built recommendation system using cosine similarity to choose similar songs added to a given playlistHarvard University, Data Science Capstone ProjectCambridge, MASentiment Analysis of Radiology ReportsFall 2019 Built NLP tool for detection of presence/absence of medical conditions in 20M free-text medical reports deployedvia LSTMs in Keras. Achieved precision and recall levels of current industry standard of rule-based negations detections approaches.University of Notre DameNotre Dame, INApplications of Brownian Motion in FinanceSummer 2016 - Spring 2017 Applied Markov chains and random walks in Black-Scholes formula and geometric Brownian motion in Finance Presented results to audience of 20 at annual mathematics meeting.University of Notre Dame, Department of MathematicsNotre Dame, INCourse Participant, Analysis on NBA Real Plus-Minus for 2014-2015 Regular SeasonsSpring 2016 Applied multiple regression to examine relationship between players’ performances and numerical variables. Built Python package implementing automatic differentiation.LEADERSHIPHarvard Square Homeless ShelterVolunteer Serve food to 50 homeless on a monthly basis. Prepare food, set up tables and greet attendeesCambridge, MAApril 2018-presentBeijing, ChinaPeking University Chapter, Forum for American/Chinese Exchange at Notre DameDecember 2016 - December 2017Co-officer Organized 2012 China Conference at Peking University, attended by 40 representatives from U.S. and ChinaSKILLS & INTERESTS Programming: Python (numpy, pandas, scikit-learn, pytorch), SQL, R, Bloomberg Terminal, MATLAB, Latex Language: Fluent in Korean and Chinese4