ICS 139w • Summer Session II 2011 • Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences • UC Irvine
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ICS 139w: Critical Writing
— ASSIGNMENT 1: RESUME AND COVER LETTER —

Assignment Prompt

Write a polished resume and cover letter that you could submit towards a future job. These can be targeted at a job you already applied for, a job you are applying for, or a hypothetical job you may apply for in the future.

A strong resume...

• is no more than 1 page in length
• has items in reverse chronological order
• puts the most important categories at the top
• uses active verbs for duties and responsibilities
• is specific and details
• is consistent in its formating
• is customized to a particular job
• avoids redundant objectives

A strong cover letter...

• is less than a page; 3-4 short paragraphs in length
• supplements the resume
• explains what is and is not on the resume
• adds extra information
• explains why you are awesome and should get the job!
• has addresses at the top
• is addressed to a specific person whenever possible

Resume Resources

• http://www.career.uci.edu/IAmA/Student/Resume%20and%20Cover%20Letter.aspx?IAmA=0
• http://www.career.uci.edu/IAmA/Student/Files/Job%20Search%20Guide.pdf (examples on p17-25; what not to do on p26)
• http://careers.usc.edu/docs/handouts/Resume_Booklet_Small.pdf
• http://career.ucsd.edu/undergraduates/prepar-resume-covlet/resumes.html
• http://career.ucsd.edu/_files/JobSearchHandbook_bookmarked.pdf

Deadline

This assignment is due Tues 08/09 at 11:59pm to the EEE Dropbox.

Scoring Rubric

This assignment will be graded on a pass/no-pass basis--if you turn in polished and edited work, you will receive credit. This is a chance to make sure your resume (which you will need for a future job) is really strong, and to get feedback from a variety of other people.

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Joel Ross, jwross@uci.edu
Last Modified: 2011-08-09 16:29
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