The Nitty Gritty of a Good Resume

Cover letter: Most, if not all, Intel recruiters do not care for cover letters. It doesn’t hurt your chances to have one, but many recruiters do not read them.

Contact Info: The top of your resume should contain your name and updated contact info. These are the channels through which they will contact you for follow-ups. Make sure these are up-to-date so you do not miss any opportunities. I know how frustrating this can be from experience. Your email address is key here and should match the email in your candidate profile—this is the unique field that most candidates are tracked by.

Objective: Some recruiters put more emphasis on this section than others. Still, you should always have one. Just keep it short and simple. Instead of having just one general “[major] engineering student seeking [job/internship]”, be more specific. Specify the business groups or markets you are interested in (client PC, server, mobile, fabrication, etc.); specify the roles you are interested in (design, automation, validation, etc.); and note whether you are looking for an internship or full-time position (recent graduate or experienced). If you’re not sure what business groups or markets, clearly call out what your key skills are, that way a recruiter can determine whether you’re a fit for the roles they are supporting.

• Majo r: If applying online, this lets them know if you are eligible for the posting. It acts as a mass filter. If applying in person, it helps recruiters figure out which jobs you are best suited for.
  

• GPA: Intel has a strict 3.0 (out of 4.0) minimum GPA requirement. The importance of your GPA when compared to other candidates depends on each individual manager, some may want a higher GPA, but it is not the main criteria for many. Still, it definitely does not hurt to have a higher GPA. But as long as you have the minimum, you can be considered for Intel. If you don’t have your GPA on your resume, you’re delaying the process for yourself so make sure it’s listed.
  

• Expected graduation date: This is an often neglected detail that Intel recruiters absolutely require. This lets them know whether you should be applying for an internship or a full-time position. Intel’s policy on college graduate full-time positions is that you can apply within 18 months of your graduation date (before AND after). So even if you are about a year from your graduation and are only seeking internships, they will help you start applying to full-time positions. It’s never too early. except for more than 18 months before you graduate.
  

• Limited Experience : For those with limited technical work experience, especially 1st or 2nd year students, you can add any experience that can help your case. This includes projects and extracurricular activities. Before I had any technical work, I listed one of my odd summer jobs updating a small shop’s computer network and bookkeeping. That along with my work with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) at the University of Florida (UF) definitely helped me.
  

• Use action verbs : When filling out the experience section, you need to list any tasks and responsibilities you had. For each of these, start with an action verb like “coded”, “managed”, “programmed”, “built”, “designed”, etc. These give the impression of greater involvement and responsibility. They also help keep these brief and to the point. Don’t list every responsibility you had but pick the ones that are relevant to the role or support your technical skills or leadership skills.
  

• QUANTIFY ! In order to really impress recruiters and show that you had a significant impact, it is important to show some quantifiable result. Did you save money/time or improve performance/throughput? How much?
  
  
  
  • Example: “Increased validation throughput (~60%) ; reduced test run time by average 1 hour/unit and increased reliability with 20% less downtime”
    
  
  
  • Skills : Are you multilingual? Are you proficient at any useful programming languages? This section should highlight any skills you’ve gained in and out of your school and experience that could set you apart from other applicants.
    
  
  
  • Activities : If you did not list any extracurricular activities under the “Work Experience” section, list them here. You should only really use this space if you were an officer in order to list those positions and your responsibilities.
    
  
  
  • Awards : List any honor roll awards, scholarships, grants, etc. Only list college-related awards, not high school honor roll. Seriously, someone once listed “prom queen”. No.