Career Planning and Preparation

Plan Ahead!

• Before you can think about applying for a job, you have to build your resume
• You also have to decide whether graduate school is an option for you, or will you go directly to the job market

Resume Writing Tips

• Invest the time required to polish and update your resume
  • Your resume should be absolutely perfect
  • It is a prime example of your technical writing skills and will be reviewed for evidence of professionalism, thoroughness and your ability to do methodical, detailed work
• A one-page resume is best, but use two pages if truly necessary
• Make your resume "scanner friendly"
  • Many companies now use electronic scanners to manage applicants' resumes
  • You should produce a plain-text version of your resume that looks unexciting to the human eye, but may be scanned easily and accruately by electronic OCR scanning equipment
  • DO NOT USE: bullets, boldface or underlined text; different font sizes and styles, graphics, photos, colored paper
• Make it easy to reach you
  • Use current address and phone numbers
  • Have an answering machine on the phone numbers you give
• Clearly list your primary academic credentials
• Always list your overall GPA
• List key academic courses and projects
• List your work experience
• Load your resume with "buzz words"
• Highlight your computer skills
• Show evidence of ability to work in a team
• Show evidence of leadership abilities
• Do no waste space on extraneous "personal information"
• Offer other documents in support of your resume
• Have plenty of copies of your resume
• If information changes, submit an updated resume

The University of Arizona's Career Center assists students with job searches, resume preparation and interviewing techniques.

Any of you with a Pre-Veterinary or Premedical intent can be assisted in your preparation for professional schools and applications by the academic advisors in VetSci/Micro as well as the Pre-Med Advising Office.

Also, all faculty and staff at the university have varied areas of expertise and should be considered a source of information and advice. It is helpful if students build relationships with members of the faculty, staff, and other persons that are able to provide meaningful letters of recommendation for applications to advanced schools and future employers.

Here are some links to additional career information you may find useful:

Job and Career Resources

• At the UA
  • Homemade list of careers to whet your appetite
  • Careers With Animals (provides overview and specific advice about various careers that include working with animals)
  • Employment Opportunities for College Graduates in the U.S. Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources System
• Some great external sites
  • http://www.sciencejobs.com offers "... best jobs available in a variety of sectors, regions, and disciplines, both in the US and across the whole world!"
  • Biospace Jobs.com offers job postings by companies
  • http://www.bioview.com is a comprehensive biotechnology/pharmaceutical employment site with thousands of job listings in all disciplines, including research, development, regulatory affairs, clinical research, quality assurance/quality control, validation, and manufacturing/production. The site also contains a fully-searchable resume database where candidates can place their resumes for review by industry professionals, a BioJob Search Agent and career resources and links, company information and industry news.
• If this wealth of information is not getting you going into the right direction please stop by in the Resource Center in VetSci/Micro #202 and talk to an advisor.