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Resumes for New Grads?
CastrTroy asks: "I recently graduated from the software engineering program at the University of Ottawa. With 4 terms of experience, and good marks, I am still unable to even get interviews for jobs. What makes a good resume? I've gotten some good pointers from people I know, but it just doesn't seem to be working. Is there something that works really well for technically related jobs? What is a good way to include skills that I don't have on-the-job experience with? Some people say 3 pages is too much, while others say their resume is 25 pages. Are there any actual proven methods for writing good resumes, or is it all just hit and miss"
Fluency in Hindi.
There's no time to stop for gas, we're already late.
as short as possible while still highlighting your skills. Remember, recruiters are busy people, and they usually spend a very small amount of time per resume(unless they are interested). Sometimes your resume may even get filtered out by computer.
Your best bet is to make a tight, targeted resume. Flooding monster or hotjobs with generic resumes probably won't get you very far. Find the jobs you think you are most suited for, and go for them! And of course, networkin never hurts either!
Happy hunting!
Keep it simple. And I don't mean cryptic. I mean, it must have a clean layout, nice itemized lists instead of clumsy paragraphs of post-modern crappy descriptions of your work. Of course, this doesn't mean you have to write a list like "tech support, programming in Java, computer mainteinance, bla1, bla2, bla3..." either.
Remember, you have to write something that can give the reader a grasp of who you are in 10 seconds. Otherwise, the whole thing will end up in the trash basket.
- Let me know you read the ad: reference the content of the ad.
- Tell me how you fit the bill: Choose one experience, one skill, or one attribute that meets the at least one of the requirements listed in the ad.
- Express (sincere) interest in the job: try to make it feel like you didn't just respond to this ad because you're desperate for any kind of interview.
- Don't send your cover letter as an attachment! It should be your email body. Really. I won't read an attached cover letter.
Make it easy on the hiring person, and you'll improve your chances on having your resume actually read -- and that is what will get you the interview.Here's what you need to worry about on your resume: Is everything spelled correctly, laid out in a pleasing manner, one or two, three pages tops. In your situation, a resume doesn't matter.
Unless you were involved in some crazy groundbreaking research, went to an extremely prestigious school that will make a mark based on the name (Ivy League, Cal Tech/MIT/etc.), or work on some readily recognizable OSS in your spare time, your resume is about as good as it's going to get provided you follow the rules above.
Now for the fun part: Remember that cliche about "it isn't what you know, it's who you know?" It didn't achieve cliche status without having a bit of truth. Two of my friends graduated last Spring. One had a pretty good GPA and a degree in Chemical Engineering. Hadn't programmed since High School. He's now a consultant with Accenture, doing minor programming work on site for pretty nice cash, considering he's a first year employee. The other day he mentioned how one of the guys he had graduated with had a better GPA, better extra-curriculars, and sends out a shitload of resumes with no result (He was bemoaning the economy). I answered to him that the reason he ended up with that job was that he showed up everytime Accenture came to campus, be it for some random business school speaking engagement, or at career fairs. He came to be known by the guys there. The second friend graduated at the same time with a BS in EE. He spent about 5 months working on getting hired with one of about three different places, and now he works on the ISS at NASA. A third friend did approximately the same thing, and now works for the State Department (I think, long story but I suspect he works for a more clandestine side of the executive branch, but having had relatives in those positions I know he can't tell me if he does).
These guys are not geniuses, they both went to state schools (albeit good ones, and the third went Ivy League, so I consider his example less representative), and they're not the sort who were posting Summa Cum Laude grades at graduation. In short, they're probably just like you.
So what you need to do is this: Take a look at the companies operating in the region in which you want to be hired. Pick two or three good ones, and make sure to read up on corporate (or govt.) culture, benefits, etc. Know them well. Now start finding out ways to make contacts with the people there. Do their developers participate in some SIG around town? Go get to know them. Speak to guys who might be responsible for recommending a new-hire, but make sure you aren't hounding people. A lot of jobs aren't filled in a position->applicant order, but rather the other way around. In other words, a lot of times a team might need another hand, or a particular task that you're well suited at might need an entry-level programming position. The company probably wouldn't actively go and create a job advertisment, post on Monster.com, etc., but if one of the devs says, "hey, there's that guy I remember from the Linux/Graphics/Networking SIG who could probably help us out", the job will be "created".
At the risk of sounding like some crappy self-help speaker, when you're trying to get a job, you're essentially acting a salesperson, and the product you're selling is yourself. Right now, you're basically a commodity product, nothing but a slightly-better-than-average list of achievements on paper. Your job is to provide that extra push, in whatever way you can, to put yourself above commodity status.
Oh yeah, and please ditch that "objective: To obtain a position in..." section. God I wish those things would go away on resumes. Everyone of them is the same canned line that does nothing but take up space better devoted to anything.
Eric Kibbee
.Net and MS SQL Server to develop applications for use by the department employees
716-169 Lees Avenue, Ottawa Ontario, K1S 5M2 Phone: (613) 612-7561 Email: eric@kibbee.ca
PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
A new Software Engineering graduate looking for an introductory software development position. Participated in the co-operative education program, which provided four terms of directly related and progressive experience. A strong team player, as evidenced by excellent grades on the program's major final year team project.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Applied Science, Software Engineering 1999 - 2004
University Of Ottawa
Participated in co-operative education programme
Graduated Magna Cum Laude
EXPERIENCE
Build Manager
Software Engineering Final Project
January - December 2003
Responsibilties
Final year project that was part of the program that followed all the steps of the software development life cycle
Developed on an on-line document management system
Designated role was Build Manager, but also participated in all aspects of the project
Used ASP and Visual Basic with MS Access as a database
Accomplishments
Completed the project on schedule and met all required performance criteria
Achieved a mark of "A" in the course based on customer satisfaction, documentation of the system and quality assurance presentations
Web Developer
Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness (OCIPEP)
May - August 2003
Responsibilties
Responsible for the upkeep and development of new features on the department Intranet site
Used Visual Basic
Accomplishments
Provided a high level of service and consistent performance of the Intranet
Developed new tools such as an employee directory and an events calendar
Web Developer
Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO)
August - December 2002
Responsibilties
Development of a web based financial tracking application
Used ASP with an MS Access database to allow for data entry and retrieval.
A significant portion of the job was to meet with clients and users to obtain new requirements and resolve existing problems
Accomplishments
Project completed on schedule and provided targeted functionality
Web Developer
Environment Canada (EC)
January - April 2002
Responsibilties
Responsible for working on many of EC's Intranet and Extranet web pages
Used JavaScript to create interactive menus for the website
Accomplishments
Completed a major update to the on-line version of the health and safety manual
Developed and implemented a Java based employee training application
Software Developer
Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC)
May - August 2001
Responsibilties
Responsible for reverse engineering an N-tier e-commerce web application
Worked jointly with a second software engineering student on the project
Analyzed the application that used a variety of technologies including ASP, VB, MS IIS, SQL, XML and COM
Accomplishments
The reverse engineering of the application was successfully completed
Developed skills with the above technologies and improved technical writing skills
SKILLS
Web Development - Experienced in web development with HTML, ASP, VB/VB.NET, and PHP
Database Development - Experienced in database development with MS SQL Server, MS Access, and MySQL.
Application Development - Experienced in applications development for both Windows and Linux, in a variety of programming languages including C/C++, Java, Delphi, and Visual Basic
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Whoever reads your resume is going to do so from the perspective of someone who needs X Y and Z, and needs it now. People are looking for a condensed skill section like "PHP, ASP, VB/VB.NET, HTML" (Don't lead with HTML). Your skills section is good, and would be a good leader, though it needs to be less wordy. Give me a list of what you can do. Remember, this list is targeting two peo
The ______ Agenda
Again, I agree. I'm baffled at how many people just stick a generic "goal" at the top of their resume. Something like "Seeking employment in a challenging field, allowing me to further develop my experience and capabilities" is just a bunch of crap. Who the hell doesn't want a job like that?
As a matter of curiosity, what do you expect up there? How do you justify whatever answer you give in light of the fact that it all boils down to "I want the job you are offering" anyhow?
What makes you think you need ANYTHING up there? Why not just leave off the Objective? That goes back to the idea of making your point using as little fluff as possible. If you can't put something really novel there -- and I confess I don't know what that would be -- then just leave it off. It's clutter. Don't just state an objective because everyone else does. This is a resume, not a form. It's your chance to express yourself. There aren't any hard-and-fast rules.
The cover letter I do better with (plenty of experiences to draw from to customize a resume without guilt), as long as I manage to steer clear of the "career goals" issue, but it suffers the same problem: Asking people to talk about "the future" is just begging them to bullshit you, and that includes their hypothetical and malleable-anyways goals. Why not just stick with the past: Where you've worked, what you've accomplished, at most where you are headed right now, and leave vague references to "future goals" alone? Then I don't have to make up absurd rationalizations for "Food and shelter cost money."
Questions about long-term goals are pretty stupid and shouldn't be asked. However, they are somewhat related to a much more important question: why are you interested in working for that company. Presemably, it's because you think working for them would be exciting. So, when people ask you about your future goals, you can talk about what types of projects you'd like to be working on. Or, better still, talk about what you'd like to see the company accomplish and feel like you contributed in no small part to that achievement.
Don't core dump on your resume. A resume is a teaser. Its purpose is to capture interest. Keep it to one page as much as possible. A prospective employer doesn't want to sit there reading your life story when they have a stack of other resumes to go through. Save the details for the interview and, perhaps, a summary of qualifications, which you should have handy when you go to the interview. Targeted resumes are very important. One thing that makes me cringe is seeing people write out these long lists of operating systems, programming langauges, applications, office suites, and the like. Lists like those are meaningless. Instead, under your job experience list, give a short description of what you did and include the relevant OSs/langs/apps/suites. But again, keep it brief and maintain scope. Drop the generic mission statements. A good interviewer will guage how well-rounded you are, so leave those lists off the resume, too. Briefness, specifics, and relevance are what you should concentrate on. Forget the fancy fonts. Keep the layout neat and readable. It's a resume, not a royal proclamation. This has worked very well for me. And remember, be sure you can back up and immediately recollect anything you write on your resume. Think of it this way. Your resume is like the front page of a newspaper, the headlines, the stuff that makes you buy the paper. Interviews and everything else are the rest of the newspaper, the juicy details.