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Week of 4/8: Professional and Career
Development
Welcome to Module 11!
You’ve spent the whole semester building skills that are important for success in doing research at
the University. The goal of this module is to help you showcase those skills as you seek research
positions, apply for graduate schools, or go out into the workforce. This week’s topic is professional
and career development.

GETTING STARTED

One of the most valuable skills you can develop is networking, or making connections with people in
your discipline who can help you expand your skills and experience.

1. If you haven’t already utilized the services of the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR),
(https://our.utah.edu/) this is a perfect time. Their “Getting Started” (https://our.utah.edu/for-
students/getting-started/) link provides several resources for students who are new to undergraduate
research. One of the best ways you can make the most of these options, however, is by Making an
Advising Appointment with the OUR (https://our.utah.edu/for-students/getting-
started/undergraduate-research-advising/)

Other really useful services offered by OUR include, but are not limited to:

a Searchable Database of Current Research Opportunities (https://our.utah.edu/find-a-
research-opportunity/)
research funding through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program
(https://our.utah.edu/urop/) (UROP)
Undergraduate Research Education Series (https://our.utah.edu/events/ures/)

If you haven’t already started working with a mentor, though, that is likely your next step. The OUR
can help you get started on finding a mentor. (https://our.utah.edu/researchadvising/how-to-find-a-
mentor/) Alternatively, if you have some potential mentors in mind (e.g., professors of courses you’ve
taken), you can approach those professors about opportunities to participate in their research. Here’s
some advice from the OUR website on how to go about this.

How to contact a professor who has provided an opportunity in which you are interested: Write a
professional and appropriate email. In that email be CONCISE, courteous, honest, and as specific
as possible about what you are asking of them. Check out their faculty research page and know so
mething about their work before you contact them. Make a specific request of the faculty member—
for example, ask to meet them in person for a lab tour or a conversation about the opportunity t
hey have posted. 

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2. Another avenue for getting involved in research as part of your degree curriculum is the Honors
College (https://honors.utah.edu/about-the-honors-college/) . As with the OUR, the best way to get
started with the Honors College is by Making an Advising Appointment
(https://honors.utah.edu/advising/) . The Honors Advising team can help you understand how honors
would intersect your own Degree Pathway (https://honors.utah.edu/degree-and-course-planner/)
and what the Honors Thesis (https://honors.utah.edu/thesis/) process entails.

3. You can also make connections with researchers in your discipline by attending conferences. Here
at the University of Utah, you can see what kinds of research your peers are doing by attending the
Undergraduate Research Symposium (https://our.utah.edu/education-events/urs/) held every fall
and spring, the Utah Conference for Undergraduate Research (https://our.utah.edu/education-
events/ucur/) , or by attending a regional or national conference in your own discipline (your
professors in your major can help you understand the best ones). You can also attend the National
Conference on Undergraduate Research (https://www.cur.org/what/events/students/ncur/2021/) .

DOCUMENTING YOUR EXPERIENCES

1. Another critical skill that you should develop during your undergraduate research pathway is how
to document your experiences. In many/most fields, professionals document their skills and
experiences with a resume. In academic research circles, however, researchers document their
experiences with a curriculum vita, or CV.

Even if you’re just getting started in the field, you may need a resume to help you represent your
skills to professors with whom you’re interested in working. It may also be important for scholarship
applications, internships, or job applications. If you just Google “resume generator” there are lots of
options out there — some free, and some requiring a fee. Norms for resumes may vary somewhat
from field to field, and formatting is often a matter of personal taste — in general, you should keep

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your style formatting clear and simple. The Writing Center has posted a booklet of Resume
Templates (https://writingcenter.utah.edu/writing-resources/resumesamples.pdf) for different fields
that can be helpful in constructing your own resume. The key for a resume is to keep it short and
sweet – document your education, what jobs you’ve done and where and when, and what skills you
have developed. It’s not necessary to put every single job you’ve ever had on your resume — keep it
relevant for the jobs you are applying for. For example, in my sample resume below, I did NOT
include that I worked in a movie theater concession stand in high school, or that I dressed up in
costumes to do kids’ birthday parties in college.

CVs, on the other hand, can be as long as resumes are short. CVs document jobs and education as
well as grants, awards, publications, presentations, courses taught, and so on. Here’s a copy of my
cv, for comparison’s sake: https://faculty.utah.edu/bytes/curriculumVitae.hml?id=u0341800

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(https://faculty.utah.edu/bytes/curriculumVitae.hml?id=u0341800) (Keep in mind that I’ve been working
in my field for over 20 years, so your CV would be expected to look different when you’re starting out)

2. Although a resume or a CV may document your experiences, they often don’t give the audience a
sense of who YOU are. Why did you get into your field of study, what do you want to do with your
experiences, what unique passions or perspectives do you bring to your discipline? This information
is shared through your personal statement; it’s how you make the impersonal details on your resume
more personal. The U of U Writing Center has a very clear guide for How to Write a Personal
Statement (https://utah.instructure.com/courses/939590/files/156929705?wrap=1) , including the
structure (see below), as well as some do’s and dont’s — click on the link to see the presentation. In
general, your statement should only be 1-2 pages; in my opinion, a single page is better.

3. And finally, when you are applying for a job or an internship or a graduate program, you need to tie
the above information together in a cover letter. The cover letter for one of these applications is a
single page or so and typically indicates:

Who you are
What you’re applying for
BRIEFLY summarizes your relevant experience
BRIEFLY expresses why you are interested in the position
BRIEFLY summarizes what information you have included with your letter

However, cover letters are also important when you’re requesting recommendation letters, which may
be necessary for the above types of applications. When you approach a professor to request a
recommendation letter, you want to do everything you can to help that professor write the best letter
possible. This includes giving them all of the information they need, such as:

Who you are (did you take one of their classes? If so, when? Or what semesters did you work in
their lab?)
What you’re applying for (if it’s a program for graduate school, send them a link to the program
website)

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What your relevant experiences have been (give them a copy of your CV or resume and your
personal statement)
How to submit the letter (is there a person to whom it should be addressed, or a link for submitting
it)
What the application deadline is (the more time you give your professor to write the letter, the
better; 4-6 weeks is ideal)

TRYING IT OUT

The best way to learn how to create a good resume, personal statement, and cover letter is to try it
out and get feedback. For this week’s assignment, you’ll be creating a Recommendation Request
Packet DRAFT (https://utah.instructure.com/courses/939590/assignments/13655700) . You’ll be asked
to draft a sample email cover letter, a resume or CV (your choice), and a personal statement. This
assignment is due at midnight on April 29, and it is worth 15% of your final grade. This assignment is
one of your “takeaway products” from the course that you will have a head start on, and that you can
use and revise as you continue your undergraduate research career.