About to apply to a few jobs

[makken]

Hey guys,

I'm about to send in applications for a few jobs, was wondering if anyone could look over my resume to make sure I didn't make any mistakes or overlooked something, or have any tips / suggestions on how to make it more appealing.

Here's the body text of it:

OBJECTIVE
Seeking an Engineering position in process design, control, or operation.

EDUCATION
University of California, Davis
Bachelor of Science, Chemical Engineering: December 2007
Elective coursework included:

EMS 160: Thermodynamics of Materials Processes and Phase Stability - Application of thermodynamics to material processing, phase stability, corrosion and oxidation reactions.
ECH 166: Catalysis - Principles of catalysis based on an integration of principles of physical, organic, and inorganic chemistry and chemical kinetics and chemical reaction engineering.
ECN 100: Intermediate Micro Theory - Price and distribution theory under conditions of perfect and imperfect competition. General equilibrium and welfare economics.

EXPERIENCE
California State Water Resources Control Board, Sacramento, CA
Engineering Intern (2004 ? Present)
Engineering Intern to the Leak Prevention Technical Unit of the Underground Storage Tank (UST) Program. Expansion and upkeep of a database for tracking Enhanced Leak Detection (ELD) testing for numerous underground petroleum storage locations throughout California. Updating and maintaining the leak detection equipment and methods website for USTs (LG113). Evaluation of proposed state regulatory leak detection policies.

Associated Students Providing Alternate Publications and Equal Resources, Davis, CA
Publication Distributor (2003 ? 2004)
Streamlined and maintained a distribution system for various minority publications throughout the UC Davis campus. Taught photo editing workshops for publication purposes.

TECHNICAL SKILLS
Utilization of AspenTech Aspen Plus for the purposes of process simulation and design.

Design and use of relational databases to enhance statistical data analysis.

Extensive knowledge and fluency with various PC operating systems and software applications including Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Suite, and MATLAB / Simulink.

REFERENCES
Available Upon Request

Thanks

 

[Dacalo]

Fellow Aggie I see.

Get rid of References: available upon request. It's the most useless thing on the resume yet so many people use it.

 

[SoulAssassin]

Agree with Dacalo and also get rid of the objective. It's the 2nd most useless thing. I usually say go with 2-3 sentences providing an overview of who you are/what you do. Also it seems a little short. I would expand further in your experience section if you can. I would also remove the elective coursework but only if you have enough stuff under your experience/skills sections which you probably don't.

 

[2Xtreme21]

Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
Agree with Dacalo and also get rid of the objective. It's the 2nd most useless thing. I usually say go with 2-3 sentences providing an overview of who you are/what you do. Also it seems a little short. I would expand further in your experience section if you can. I would also remove the elective coursework but only if you have enough stuff under your experience/skills sections which you probably don't.

That depends. An objective statement is wonderful if you're applying to one place-- but the key is, you have to tailor it to that place. It makes your resume seem more personal and businesses can see that you have a genuine interest in x position in their company.

(By tailor I mean: "To obtain a position in department where my whatever skill(s) will help increase company's profitability.")

With that said, you may want to take the extra time to do that to each resume you're sending out to each company. Just handing out a stack of 20 or so resumes is okay, but you'll stand out if yours looks like you took the time and effort to research whatever particular position you're applying for.

 

[SacrosanctFiend]

1.) Horrible objective, tailor it to the specific position you are applying for.
2.) Switch your education and experience. You have, seemingly, equal amounts, and your experience means more than you education.
3.) Get rid of 'References' entirely. It is understood that you will provide references if requested.
4.) Don't explain your 'skills,' list them. Then explain how you utilized them, or acquired them, when listing your duties in your experience section. Also, list them specifically (do not use the word 'various').
5.) Rework your experience section entirely. Maintain one tense throughout (present for aggressive, past for traditional). Don't list what you did; instead, explain how what you did built your skill set and benefited your company (quantitatively is best).

 

[jpeyton]

Pad it a little with a PhD (or two) and a few years of high-level work at an industry leader.