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Hi i searched TL for older posts but i didn't find much information.
I have a bit of information on google, but i wanted to ask TL if they have had any experiences writing a CV and general advice to give a fellow undergraduate.
I will be writing my CV into this blog and editing it in, probably will be done in an hour.
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated, thanks.
+ Show Spoiler [The email i sent a few seconds ago] +Hi, my name is Nam Tran. I am a sophomore with a GPA above 3.0
I am very interested doing any undergraduate research, i am also willing and available for much more then ten hours a week if needed.
I will reply with another email in about an hour with my CV.
Thanks for your time.
+ Show Spoiler [their email] +Hi, everyone,
-edited out- is looking for two undergraduate research assistants. Please read his email below. If you meet the requirements and are interested, please email your CV/resume (PDF or WordDoc attachment) to -edited out-. Please write in the subject line: “Undergraduate research position”.
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Can you send e-mails out to students (sophomores and juniors) who may want to work in our labs for ten hours per week during this semester? They may be able to continue into the spring semester if they perform well. I need students with GPA above 3.0. Also, I need people with good lab skills. Need a CV and an e-mail from the interested students.
The projects:
1. Microbial fuel cell producing electricity from renewable resources.
2. Bioaccumulation of oil (gulf-oil) using algae
Thanks.
+ Show Spoiler [my essay in progress] +
Nam Tran
phone and both emails edited out
Courses
- Calculus I
- Calculus II
- Physics I
- Physics I Laboratory
- Chemistry I
- Chemistry I Laboratory
- Chemistry II
- Chemistry II Laboratory
- English Composition
- Intro to Chemical engineering
- Engineering Analysis
(Currently enrolled in)
- Calculus III
- Physics II
- Physics II Laboratory
- Organic chemistry I
- Organic Chemistry I Laboratory
- Chemical processing
Work experience
-Examined shipments for microbial presence while working at Burger King. Also received customer orders, made sure the workplace was in satisfactory condition, and took inventory of supplies and incoming shipments.
-Organized bills and customer receipts, returned business calls, in charge of scheduling appointments with customers at my aunt’s furniture store.
Lab experience
In addition to my undergraduate lab courses, I am
- Very comfortable working in a lab environment, using band saws, power drills, glue guns, and various woodshop equipment in high school Robotics.
-Very meticulous in measuring data, for example, I would measure and create the designs first in AutoCAD. Then I used a T-square, a ruler, along with several printed out AutoCAD designs to ensure accuracy by measuring the exact places to cut and also to save expenses on material cost.
Hobbies
I am very committed to anything i start
- High school robotics i was very active, leader/task manager.
- Classical guitar for 3 years, self-taught.
- Cello for 7 years, middle school and high school orchestra
Miscellaneous
- I am Vietnamese, and fluent in Spanish
- I check my emails every hour, every day.
- Took 11th place in a Robotics competition held here at Texas Tech during my high school year
References
-Available on request
  
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Switzerland812 Posts
Put as much into it as you can, fill out societies that you have been/are a part of, list ALL of your qualification and ALL of your previous jobs, try to get references from anywhere and don't forget ALL experience is good experience. Remember to list your skills and even hobbies.
The idea is to just fill it out with as much stuff as you possibly can. You can 'big up' your accomplishment but remember not to do it too much because you can get caught in a nasty place if your lucky enough to get an interview.
Your CV should be almost like a personal essay of your accomplishments and thus should be treated as such.
Hope this helps, Regards
Gfox.
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<random research assistantship with xyz grad student working with abc professor>
years of service
ideal tasks (not actual)
ex. "Analyzed the effects of microbes and anti-microbial agents on sand-derived surfaces"
not: "Cleaned the windows."'
<random job vaguely involving some sort of research>
years of service
ideal tasks (not actual)
ex. "Handled and prepared caustic substances for use by efg superior"
not: "Made coffee for my boss."
<random paper that someone else wrote that you happened to be in>
real authors
journal it was in/year
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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
List the lab experience you have, and any coursework that would have given you skills useful in that lab setting.
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Never done any prior research nor do i know any graduate students working fwith professors off the top of my head
, previous jobs were doing dishes working in fast food resturants and literally making coffee - filing papers- answering calls Q_Q (although i could make something up(?) not sure what u'r implying here)
okay
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@deadhaji
classes
calculus I
calculus II
Physics I
Chem I
Chem II
English Composition
Intro to Chemical engineering
Engineering Analysis
Currently enrolled in
Calc III
Physics II
O-chem I
Chemical processing
previous labs
physics lab
chemistry I + II lab
high school AP labs? D:
labs currently in
physics II lab
O-chem lab
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On September 03 2010 07:59 HeavOnEarth wrote:
Never done any prior research nor do i know any graduate students working fwith professors off the top of my head
, previous jobs were doing dishes working in fast food resturants and literally making coffee - filing papers- answering calls Q_Q (although i could make something up(?) not sure what u'r implying here)
okay
Try and find something about your job that relates to the task at hand and drag it out even if you did maybe for 3 minutes out of your entire job. In this case, since it involves microbes, if you did some food testing you could drag that out, i.e. "Examined shipments for microbial presence" just to show you know a little bit of BS microbiology.
i should also say that the fact that you have no biology coursework at all in this instance is going to hurt your chances severely.
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Look up CV formats and follow them. They are pretty standard. Include a cover letter.
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I was in robotics in high school, did some coding and AutoCAD and woodshop kinda stuff
relevent?
Do i really list hobbies?
classical guitar, cello, tenor/base vocalist (choir/orchestra) would be good ones?
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On September 03 2010 08:02 Caller wrote:Show nested quote +On September 03 2010 07:59 HeavOnEarth wrote:
Never done any prior research nor do i know any graduate students working fwith professors off the top of my head
, previous jobs were doing dishes working in fast food resturants and literally making coffee - filing papers- answering calls Q_Q (although i could make something up(?) not sure what u'r implying here)
okay
Try and find something about your job that relates to the task at hand and drag it out even if you did maybe for 3 minutes out of your entire job. In this case, since it involves microbes, if you did some food testing you could drag that out, i.e. "Examined shipments for microbial presence" just to show you know a little bit of BS microbiology. i should also say that the fact that you have no biology coursework at all in this instance is going to hurt your chances severely.
fuckk nooo T_T
quick tell me a fancy joke only a biology major would get Q_Q;
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On September 03 2010 08:04 HeavOnEarth wrote:Show nested quote +On September 03 2010 08:02 Caller wrote:On September 03 2010 07:59 HeavOnEarth wrote:
Never done any prior research nor do i know any graduate students working fwith professors off the top of my head
, previous jobs were doing dishes working in fast food resturants and literally making coffee - filing papers- answering calls Q_Q (although i could make something up(?) not sure what u'r implying here)
okay
Try and find something about your job that relates to the task at hand and drag it out even if you did maybe for 3 minutes out of your entire job. In this case, since it involves microbes, if you did some food testing you could drag that out, i.e. "Examined shipments for microbial presence" just to show you know a little bit of BS microbiology. i should also say that the fact that you have no biology coursework at all in this instance is going to hurt your chances severely. fuckk nooo T_T quick tell me a fancy joke only a biology major would get Q_Q;
how the hell would i know i'm an econ major
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Switzerland812 Posts
If i was presented with 2 candidates, one who had washed dishes and made coffee and another who had done nothing I would take the one who had done those jobs in a heartbeat.
Don't make something up but use some creative licence.
E.G When I was doing an internship at C.E.R.N (European center for nuclear research) I referred to (photocopying of technical documented as "Digitization of technical documents pertaining to the LHC project" you can see the appeal of the latter.[Naturally this wasn't all I was doing :p]) The main thing is, the more you can list the better, just try and make people want to take a second look at your application.
Gfox.
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@caller
thanks for your help , definitely going to say i examined shipments for microbial prescence.
Lol. brilliant.
I suppose ill try to drag something out about wood with robotics and make up some more stuff like this. Sounds real good. thanks
Also the part about not having biology experience, this email was directed specifically at chemical engineering majors , which biology isn't req. for so i think i should be okay
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Should i include I'm Vietnamese and fluent in Spanish or is that weird
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@gfox
thanks 
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With my high school robotics i was very active, kind of a leader/task manager, and definately very confortable in a lab setting, using band saws, power drills, glue guns, various woodshop equipment.
Also, very meticulous in measuring data
For example, I would measure and design them first in autocad, and then use a t-square+ ruler with my printed out autocad design to cut and create wood pieces.
im probably going to sell it as "good lab experience" but im not exactly sure how to put it.
We actually won regional/county one year and come to this very university for state where we took 11th out of 200, with several universities coming in from europe, etc., i wasn't one of the head guy at the moment but it was definately awesome.
Also, should this be in an essay kind of format.. or more of a list?
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idk which univ you are at, but i recommend contacting prof with an email, showing interest in his research and asking him good questions about it
and then asking him to meet with you in a person then you can bring the issue up of working in his lab
this is how i approached it for my researches
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On September 03 2010 08:38 phosphorylation wrote:
idk which univ you are at, but i recommend contacting prof with an email, showing interest in his research and asking him good questions about it
and then asking him to meet with you in a person then you can bring the issue up of working in his lab
this is how i approached it for my researches
Ok, thanks. I will ask him some questions when i submit my CV
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ur cover letter is not good enough. i will help u write it, dont worry
Hi, my name is Nam T.M. Tran.
I am a sophomore with a GPA above 3.0. I am very interested doing any undergraduate research, I am also willing and available for much more than 200 hours per week if needed.
But you may say, but Nam, isn't there only 168 hours in a week? Well, you may have noticed I have Physics I and Physics II on my schedule. In these classes I have developed a machine that can bend time and space. Thus, I can work for up to 2000 hours per week depending on the amount of dilithium I can obtain to power my device.
I will reply with another email in about an hour with my CV. Thanks for your time.
P.S. My middle initials stand for "The Man"
u will get the job 100%
edit: ur welcome
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On September 03 2010 09:02 baller wrote:ur cover letter is not good enough. i will help u write it, dont worry Show nested quote +Hi, my name is Nam T.M. Tran.
I am a sophomore with a GPA above 3.0. I am very interested doing any undergraduate research, I am also willing and available for much more than 200 hours per week if needed.
But you may say, but Nam, isn't there only 168 hours in a week? Well, you may have noticed I have Physics I and Physics II on my schedule. In these classes I have developed a machine that can bend time and space. Thus, I can work for up to 2000 hours per week depending on the amount of dilithium I can obtain to power my device.
I will reply with another email in about an hour with my CV. Thanks for your time.
P.S. My middle initials stand for "The Man" u will get the job 100% edit: ur welcome
wow thanks you're such a baller.
i would actually post something like this to a few professors i know(you're not serious right?)
, but i dont know the guy at all. best to be safe and not baller.
I wish i could be as baller as you, though.
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On September 03 2010 09:04 HeavOnEarth wrote:Show nested quote +On September 03 2010 09:02 baller wrote:ur cover letter is not good enough. i will help u write it, dont worry Hi, my name is Nam T.M. Tran.
I am a sophomore with a GPA above 3.0. I am very interested doing any undergraduate research, I am also willing and available for much more than 200 hours per week if needed.
But you may say, but Nam, isn't there only 168 hours in a week? Well, you may have noticed I have Physics I and Physics II on my schedule. In these classes I have developed a machine that can bend time and space. Thus, I can work for up to 2000 hours per week depending on the amount of dilithium I can obtain to power my device.
Please check the e-mail I sent one hour ago with my CV. Thanks for your time.
P.S. My middle initials stand for "The Man" u will get the job 100% edit: ur welcome wow thanks you're such a baller. i would actually post something like this to a few professors i know( you're not serious right?) , but i dont know the guy at all. best to be safe and not baller. I wish i could be as baller as you, though.
I think the bolded changes would make the entire thing more believable.
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I don't think you should worry about a CV. Even the request for one, at the undergraduate level, seems a bit ridiculous; there's almost no way for you to have accumulated any research/publication/award experience, which is what a CV is all about. I say: make a resume for future use for jobs and the like, and just use that. There's going to be virtually no difference anyway.
In regard to your CV, I have a lot of bones to pick with it. Don't like the list of classes (prof would know from your major/year), how you describe your previous lab experience/"measuring" experience. A lot of this stuff seems superfluous to me, like you saying how you're always committed to what you start. Personally, I think the list of stuff should say it for you; saying yourself sort of takes away from the message (it's counter intuitive but I find it works from personal experience).
Overall, I think you'd be better off just doing a cover letter-ish sort of email. State how you found out about the position, why your qualified, and how you hope to hear back. It's much more personal, and I think it would resonate with the professor better.
Anyways, I'm currently a Chem E major as well (I think? Why else would you be taking Intro to Chem E?) and I'm doing undergrad research at UC Berkeley. I also did undergrad research at UC Davis, where I transferred from. Good luck!
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On September 03 2010 09:56 milikan wrote:
I don't think you should worry about a CV. Even the request for one, at the undergraduate level, seems a bit ridiculous; there's almost no way for you to have accumulated any research/publication/award experience, which is what a CV is all about. I say: make a resume for future use for jobs and the like, and just use that. There's going to be virtually no difference anyway.
In regard to your CV, I have a lot of bones to pick with it. Don't like the list of classes (prof would know from your major/year), how you describe your previous lab experience/"measuring" experience. A lot of this stuff seems superfluous to me, like you saying how you're always committed to what you start. Personally, I think the list of stuff should say it for you; saying yourself sort of takes away from the message (it's counter intuitive but I find it works from personal experience).
Overall, I think you'd be better off just doing a cover letter-ish sort of email. State how you found out about the position, why your qualified, and how you hope to hear back. It's much more personal, and I think it would resonate with the professor better.
Anyways, I'm currently a Chem E major as well (I think? Why else would you be taking Intro to Chem E?) and I'm doing undergrad research at UC Berkeley. I also did undergrad research at UC Davis, where I transferred from. Good luck!
I wasn't going to list classes at first but someone suggested it,
looking back i definitely get what ur saying about "im commited to what i start or w/e" it sounds stupid
sadly it has been sent D: T_T
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On September 03 2010 09:35 Jopz wrote:Show nested quote +On September 03 2010 09:04 HeavOnEarth wrote:On September 03 2010 09:02 baller wrote:ur cover letter is not good enough. i will help u write it, dont worry Hi, my name is Nam T.M. Tran.
I am a sophomore with a GPA above 3.0. I am very interested doing any undergraduate research, I am also willing and available for much more than 200 hours per week if needed.
But you may say, but Nam, isn't there only 168 hours in a week? Well, you may have noticed I have Physics I and Physics II on my schedule. In these classes I have developed a machine that can bend time and space. Thus, I can work for up to 2000 hours per week depending on the amount of dilithium I can obtain to power my device.
Please check the e-mail I sent one hour ago with my CV. Thanks for your time.
P.S. My middle initials stand for "The Man" u will get the job 100% edit: ur welcome wow thanks you're such a baller. i would actually post something like this to a few professors i know( you're not serious right?) , but i dont know the guy at all. best to be safe and not baller. I wish i could be as baller as you, though. I think the bolded changes would make the entire thing more believable.
lol wow i like it
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Edit: I reread your qualifications ... and I think if you read up on the research being done in the research openings and met up with the PIs (primary investigators) to talk about research, you'll have a decent enough chance. There is no need to pretend you have all this experience. But you need to make sure you let them know you are willing to learn any techniques that will be used. If you have quantitative analysis skills that'll help as well. Reading up on a particular lab's research shows them you're serious about doing research ... I (and I think a lot of other ppl who worked in the research lab) hate reading dry scientific papers. But it really impresses others (and flatters them) if you can talk about their published papers.
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On September 03 2010 11:43 lac29 wrote:
Edit: I reread your qualifications ... and I think if you read up on the research being done in the research openings and met up with the PIs (primary investigators) to talk about research, you'll have a decent enough chance. There is no need to pretend you have all this experience. But you need to make sure you let them know you are willing to learn any techniques that will be used. If you have quantitative analysis skills that'll help as well. Reading up on a particular lab's research shows them you're serious about doing research ... I (and I think a lot of other ppl who worked in the research lab) hate reading dry scientific papers. But it really impresses others (and flatters them) if you can talk about their published papers.
agreed with a lot of what this guy says
definitely make sure you do that if you get the interview. also helpful if your just spamming profs for research; it really helps if you include a little tidbit showing you know what their researching and that your interested.
reading the papers is a whole nother level IMO. i think the level/depth/technicality in research papers are way too much for an undergrad. the PI i worked under would have weekly meetings where the entire group of post docs, grad students, undergrad and PI would go over the paper and try to understand the entire damn thing as a group. if you can understand the entire paper in its entirety, i think youd be picked up as a grad student. =P
PS polymer/organic photovoltaics ftw baby
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On September 03 2010 11:43 lac29 wrote:
Edit: I reread your qualifications ... and I think if you read up on the research being done in the research openings and met up with the PIs (primary investigators) to talk about research, you'll have a decent enough chance. There is no need to pretend you have all this experience. But you need to make sure you let them know you are willing to learn any techniques that will be used. If you have quantitative analysis skills that'll help as well. Reading up on a particular lab's research shows them you're serious about doing research ... I (and I think a lot of other ppl who worked in the research lab) hate reading dry scientific papers. But it really impresses others (and flatters them) if you can talk about their published papers.
I think this is great advice. Another important thing to remember is not to get discouraged if you don't get this one position. I had to apply to like 50 different labs to get the lab position I'm about to start (even though I think I'm well qualified). Also, I got all of my lab positions during undergrad by blind emailing professors. lac29 is right, though, it helps to mention in an email that you are interested in what the lab does and maybe you read something interesting of theirs and would like to learn more. Then ask if they would be willing to meet with you. Good luck! Keep us updated.
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EPT
