4.1 Review of Brian Wang’s Application Package

“Job ID : 122213 F19 Data Science Co-Op 122213B .” UBC Science Co-Op, https://scope.sciencecoop.ubc.ca/myAccount/co-op/postings.html.

·        The job posting was mostly correctly formatted using the MLA.

·        An extra space was added between ‘Job ID’ and the colon ‘:’ in the citation.

·        Citations are generally listed at the end of a document on a separate page with the title ‘Works Cited’ centered on the page.

·        Note the date you accessed this website in the format: month date, year.

·        In addition to the MLA formatting resources in the textbook, I find the site OWL Purdue useful for citation instructions.

·        Includes: contact information, career interests, education, experience, relevant interests, and references

·        Name, email, and phone number provided.

·        Only include UBC Co-op contact information if needed.

·        Include names of people providing you references and their contact information or write ‘references available upon request’ at the end of the resume.

·        Consider moving the note on awards to the last bullet point and putting the last bullet point (about managing the climate stations) first to highlight your work experience (which is more valuable than awards as it demonstrates your skills).

·        Nice use of active words like ‘managed’ and ‘maintained.’

·        List the most recent education first, and include the name of school, year of graduation, degree title.

·        List relevant university courses.

·        Date of graduation provided.

·        Name of institution provided.

·        Nice choice to list relevant courses in the education section to highlight training relevant to the job you are applying for!

·        Consider explaining briefly what ‘Jerico lands’ is (and I think it is spelled ‘Jericho’).

·        Remember to include punctuation at the end of each bullet point (like a period) and ensure it is consistent in other sections of the resume as well.

·        The textbook suggests listing your work experience before education if it related to the job. It suggests listing the most recent jobs first. Indicate if the job was part- or full-time.

·        If your work experience relates directly to the job, list it before education.

·        Include the employer, job title, duration of employment, and number of hours per week.

·        Describe duties performed using active verbs like ‘managed’ and ‘organized.’ Avoid simply stating ‘responsible for__’.

·        Include number of hours per week or if it was full- or part-time.

·        Duties clearly and concisely described using active verbs.

·        Consider reversing the order of tasks so readers read the most complex or technical tasks first. For example, this could be applied to the bullet point ‘Soldered new/extending current wire connections and assisted in re-writing data collection code resulting in an organized experiment setup and readable code for future experiments’ under the ‘Research Technician’ header.

·        Consider listing any interests, hobbies, languages, other special skills, or groups you are a member of that might be of interest to the employer.

·        Nice use of colour to help catch reader’s attention and add an aesthetic touch.

·        Consider decreasing the number of fonts used; keeping it to 1 or 2 is best to maintain a more simple and easy-to-read aesthetic.

·        Consider using a different bullet point than the hyphen to increase the aesthetic appeal.

·        Keep the dates consistent: if you abbreviate ‘Dec.’ then do this for all other months.

·        Ensure that all the dates listed on the right side of the page align. For example, the date ‘May 2019 – Present’ under ‘Work Experience’ needs to be flushed further right.

·        Ensure all the hyphens are the same length. For example, the hyphens are different sizes for ‘July 8 – 18 2019’ (next to ‘Poster Abstract Accepted’) and ‘May 2019 – Present’ (next to USRA Student).

·        Ensure the font size is consistent throughout the headings. For example, the subheading ‘Ecohydrology…’ is 12 point font while the subheading ‘UBC Glaciology…’ is 14 point font.

·        A thorough read through with attention to correct singular/plural is suggested. For example, ‘electrical scheme’ in the last bullet point under ‘Technical Skills’ might need to be made plural: ‘electrical schemes’.

·        Sender’s address, the date, and receiver’s name, position, company, and address are listed at the opening of the letter.

·        Include your mailing address or PO box before the date at the top of the page (unless you are posting this online and want to protect your privacy).

·        List the specific BMO branch you are applying to in Toronto if applicable. If you know the branch, consider finding the name of the hiring manager and listing their name.

·        Add a line space between ‘Toronto’ and ‘Re: Data Scientist’

·        Text split appropriately into small paragraphs.

·        Letter contains introduction, body, and concluding paragraphs.

·        Tone is professional, positive, and appropriately enthusiastic.

·        Spelling and grammar are correct.

·        The letter contains introduction, body, and concluding paragraphs.

·        Tone is professional yet friendly.

·        Concise yet detailed evidence is presented to back up claims of strong work ethic and technical skills.

·        A few cases where attention to grammar is need (these have been specified in the sections below).

·        Up to five lines in length.

·        Includes: the job position, where you heard about the job, identifies you, describes your background.

·        Provides relevant information on academic background and skills pertinent to working as a data scientist.

·        If possible, make the statement ‘I am interested in applying my skills in different technology domains at BMO’ more specific.

·        Precisely describes relevant experiences that qualify you for the position (for example, instead of writing ‘completed several reports’ write ‘completed 5 formal reports’).

·        Relate your background and experience to the needs of the employer.

·        Include evidence to back up your claims to particular skills or capacities (‘show, don’t tell’).

·        Does ‘pandas’ need to be capitalized in the second paragraph?

·        Consider re-writing ‘in working with NASA’s…’ to ‘while working with NASA’s…’ in the second paragraph.

·        When writing ‘taking five courses in my last academic year,’ consider specifying that five courses is a ‘full’ course load since it might not be known to employers who have been out of university for some time.

·        In the third paragraph, consider re-writing ‘and in a tight deadline’ to ‘and on a tight schedule…’

·        In the third paragraph, consider re-writing ‘…reflects my ability to thrive under pressure as a result of efficient time management skills’ to ‘…reflects my ability to thrive under pressure and time management skills.’

·        In the third paragraph, consider re-writing ‘I look forward to continuing challenging myself while working at BMO’ to ‘I look forward to continuing to challenge myself while working at BMO.’

·        In the fourth paragraph, specify what this employment was when you write ‘subsequent employment at UBC.’

·        Consider writing the sentences in paragraph four with a ‘you’ attitude, which means starting the sentences without ‘I’.

·        Reiterate your interest in the position.

·        Offer an actionable next step (like having an in-person or skype interview).

·        Provide contact details (email and phone number) and your availability (for example, ‘weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.’).

·        Appropriate closing salutation (like ‘sincerely’), signature, and typed full-name provided at end of document.

·        Provide contact information and a more specific follow up request, such as a request for an interview.

·        Include your signature between ‘sincerely’ and your typed name.

·        Provides further details such as job posting, job posting citation (in case they want more information), and resume.

·        Formatting consistent with an official letter.

·        Salutations appropriate to your relationship with this person.

·        Opening and closing salutations are sufficiently formal yet warm.

·        Include a copy of the job description to the reference writer.

·        Explains why you are asking them for a reference.

·        Names the content the reference writer should include in their reference letter.

·        Provides specific dates of your work together, for example, the title of the course and the year you attended with this particular professor. (Important as they might want to include these dates in their reference letter!)

·        Examples, if possible, of how you demonstrated these traits in your engagement with this person (this helps jog their memory).