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CV Tips for Software Developers?
drylight asks: "When writing a CV, what do people find to be an effective format that gets possible employer's attention and/or the desired job? Is Keeping things short, preferable or will two or more pages be acceptable? Is a complete work history desired, or would a list of applications and projects that you've been involved in a better idea? Any links to online examples of good CVs would be greatly appreciated. What are some other tips on how to get someone's attention when applying for a job?"
First of all, my qualifications- between October 2001 and December 2003, I spent 26 months out of work. I got a LOT of experience writing resumes, CVs, and filling out job applications in that time. Here are my statistics:
2600 total job applications filed.
1475- 2 page resumes tuned to the job description in the advert, with cover letter.
200 1-page resumes tuned to the job description in the advert, with cover letter.
845 general purpose 6-page resumes with all experience and skills on them (3 pages worth of skillsets + 10 years of experience)
80 applications for fast food jobs.
Out of that, I recieved 15 interviews and one job offer- all on either the applications for fast food jobs, or on the 2 page resumes.
And now for the joke- decide now, do you want an exciting career or stability? And a hint if you decide on stability- student loans within the last 20 years in your credit report mean that you are no longer qualified to be a fry cook.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
Focus on the achievements you've made, not strictly the tools used. For example, don't tell them that you wrote a 1000 line perl script using bazillions of modules, rather tell them that you fixed a problem the company had for years which boosted sales/productivity/profits using a perl script you wrote. You can be trained in tools, life experience and achievements are what set you apart from other people.
Damien
1)Build CV in html
2)use lots of tags
3) ????
4 Job!
**Note blink tags do not work when CV is printed on paper.
1.) Popup books - everybody loves them
The first page can be a little cutout of you in a suit and tie with a smile on your face. Then another with you hunched over a keyboard with the moon in the background. Make a little tab that causes your arms to pound on a keyboard.
2.) Lifelike puppet - CEOs love these.
Fully posable so they can imagine how well you'll dance at their command.
3.) Lie like a dog
Going for an entry level coder position? Make sure you meet the requirement in the job ad. Like having an MBA, 10 years risk analysis experience, and another decade of experience in all the latest programming languages/frameworks. Say you have all that and you'll surely land that $20,000/yr job tweaking the color scheme on their website!
What's a CV? Sounds like a resume, but context suggests it's somewhat different ...
Yes, read the minds of potential employers. It's great for interviews too. Anything else is just a shot in the dark.
Poor writing is bad for your image. Learn how to place the commas:
"Is Keeping things short preferable, or will two or more pages be acceptable?"
Not knowing exactly what skills particular employers are looking for, I have always had trouble finding a good size balance. So now I use both!
http://www.hubick.com/resume/HubickResume.html
I use html title attributes you can click on for detail about a particular project I have done, or skill category. All the information is included in the single emailable html document. You can also print it out, though that will lose the popups, hence the encouragement at the start for people to view the online version.
Come to think of it the ones who smiled the most and expressed their limits got jobs. Some who said they were experts in everything weren't called back.
Just taking your example: 2,520 resumes = 1 job. That's a .03% (NOT 3%) success rate. I think I'd much rather spend my time using other techniques.
Yeah, right.
In general it all depends on where you apply. Different companies will have a different focus and preference. It also changes a lot from country to country.
I applied for and found jobs in Austria, Australia and Canada. I have a base resume (short version) and a detailed curriculum vitae (long version). Normally I submit a custom tailored version of the resume with the stuff that is interesting for the employer and a custom made letter accompnaying the resume.
This gets the attention. In the letter I mention that my CV is available online in case they want more information and of course I am more than happy to tell them more in person ;-)
And of course... everything is up to date all the time ;-)
Oh and btw. spelling and grammar and proper layout are very important.
From a tool set point of view I use LaTeX and from that produce HTML, PDF, PS, OO and RTF. Once set up it is pretty easy that way.
I've posted some fairly lengthy comments on this subject on Slashdot before; go ahead and search my old posts if you want.
Here are a few quick tips for now:
Hopefully that's some useful food for thought, but there are plenty of advice pages out there -- some much better than others, so go for the advice that's popular on most or all sites, and don't lend so much weight to one site's pet idea.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
What programmer can resist overoptimization? Here it goes:
> Is Keeping things short preferable, or will two or more pages be acceptable?
The most obvious error is the extra capitalization of Keeping. After fixing that simple bug:
> Is keeping things short preferable, or will two or more pages be acceptable?
Know your API. The english language has a wonderful word for "two or more" that ensures you don't have too many "or"s. This also removes the need for a comma:
> Is keeping things short preferable or will several pages be acceptable?
Making it obvious that the advice is for "you" saves the reader a few brain cycles:
> Should I keep things short or in several pages?
If the first part is true, then the second part is necessarily false. This useful fact allows further contraction and removes a syntax ambiguity between "things" and "pages" that helps brain compiler writers keep their parser simple:
> Should I keep things short?
If you keep "things" short, some people may want to reuse the question for other "things":
> Should things be short?
There. Only 23 characters instead of the original 76. This 70% reduction in size will save brain space and processing power that could be used to write another resume.
http://www.usenix.org/publications/login/2000-7/fe atures/resume.html
I don't know, I enjoy seeing all the 'extras' you get when someone sends you a .doc CV. Usually told you all kinds of things that weren't apparent from just the text.
...but if you're sending out that many resumes with such bad results, I have to suspect you're doing something wrong. Have you ever had somebody review your resume for you? People are not objective about their own writing.
Most of Slashdot's readers have never heard of the Curriculum Vitae. In the U.S., it's usually called a Resume. Slashdot editors really need to pay more attention to the "WTF is a ..." factor.
Looking for a job is a full time job. Once you find a job, applying for that job is a full time job for a week, or at max 2 weeks.
You can get the job if:
a) you're enthusiastic,
b) it's the right job for you,
c) you're the right person for the job.
If any of these aren't satisfied, you're wasting your time. All your questions are irrelevant, once you figure out a, b & c. Looking for a job is to satisy b, then while applying for it is to tell the employer that c is satisfied.
Some specifics that helped me:
Don't ever use email. Emails are in reality nothing more than a stream of bytes temporarily rendered (by an unknown mail app) on glowing dots of phosphor/LEDs.
Have email, but don't use a free one. If it has to be free, make sure it's obscure and says something positive about you, like yourname@yourclub.etc
Don't use agencies.
Don't even think about trying to make a generic CV to throw at 100's of companies, they won't be interested. You can have a generic structure, but the content has to specific.
Don't lie.
If you think you need to figure out how to make lame things sound good, you need to stop thinking they're lame.
Buy a B/W laser printer to print your CV on to *ultra-extra-hi-bright* white 140gsm paper.
For your specific questions, as a manager I'd usually expect a 2-3 page CV. Educational history needs to be in there, but the more important stuff varies with the type of job. If I'm hiring a programmer, I'm interested in specific technical skills (10 years .NOT etc.) more than what the skills have been used for.
If I'm hiring for a fuzzier job, e.g. project manager, I'm looking for explanations of work that I can understand - that means that I need to understand what the difference was between the start and end of the project, and what part you had in achieving it - sounds obvious, but most "fuzzy" CVs don't have that and in consequence they are very difficult for me to read.
Notwithstanding that, do include the relevant buzzwords for your area - you need them to get past the filters at the recruitment consultant.
True you are over qualified as a fry cook, but that isn't the only fast food job around. They need managers too. Truth is if I had stuck with fast food as a career, instead of gone to college, I would be making more money today, 7 years after I graduated with a CS degree! Sometimes I'm tempted to go back, I still have contacts there, and there is one fringe benefit over computer jobs: not only do you work with beautiful girls, but they have to talk to you! (They are often too young to date, but at least you see them)
Fry cooks don't make much money. Management does pretty good. There are down sides of course. The hours are terrible (hope you don't have plans for lunch Saturday). All the free "food" you can clog your heart with. (though you are on your feet, so you get more activity than being at a desk)
Most jobs won't look at you unless you claim 5 years of .net. That alone weeds out all the honest guys who don't exaggerate.
I sent out a fair number of resumes myself (I would guess several hundred) over the past three years, but most of the success I had in getting interviews came from a different source: the copies of my resume that I had posted on various internet job sites.
I still think that actively applying to various positions is better than not sending out resumes at all, since exposure is everything if you're trying to attract attention to yourself, but my own experience that doesn't result in very many positive responses.
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
If you don't know the specific environments and tools that they're using, they aren't interested.
I found that a resume that didn't at least mention a list of tools obtained very few responses, and some of the best interviews I had were the result of a specific language or software package I had listed on my resume.
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
As this article describes, resumes are largely useless. You're better off networking and trying to trick your way into speaking to an actual technical manager than worrying much about your resume -- beyond the obvious points of keeping it as targeted and brief as possible.
Fuck this is funny shit!!
MOD PARENT UP!!!!!
First of all, I always use high-quality paper, like for example parchment made from dried human skin. I find that if you dry it with some violets, it has a nice fragrance, which H.R. droids really seem to appreciate.
Next up, when writing your resume, do NOT let the blood coagulate. One time, I only got halfway through the experience section when I found my pen gumming up! So, it's a good idea to wet your pen by jamming it in your NEXT victim while he's still alive. This also tends to lighten the mood a little; resumes are pretty stressful to write.
Once you're writing, it helps to throw in some playful alternative spellings like "CompUUTre" and "Jaaahhhva". It'll throw the recruiting H.R. person off balance slightly, and make them wonder about your state of mind. Excellent motivator! Remember, you want to put your best foot forward. Sometimes I put in a chart with a jagged line rising up and to the right; the y axis is marked "My foot" and the x axis is marked "your ass", after a charming video on the Red Vs. Blue site. That Sarge is such a card! I think he would agree that this is a good motivator for H.R.
Finally, make sure to include as much mayhem in your experience section as possible. If you've got entries involving going postal in a large organization, include them! High body counts are a plus, particularly if you started in the H.R. office.
Ah, I remember when I was young, and interviewing... I visited five companies, two of which still existed afterwards! Sigh. Oh, to be young again...
Farewell! It's been a fine buncha years!
As a bit of a side note, you can write your resume/CV in XML using the XML Resume Project and then easily generate PDF, HTML, or plain text from a single source document. You can even tag elements with keywords and then automatically generate targeted resumes for different audiences.
(Note: I'm a developer on the project.)
--Bruce
There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Hear me out.
A resume or a CV is just one of many tools you'll employ in getting a job. It serves one and only one purpose, at least in American business: to get the attention of the hiring manager. Resumes won't get you jobs. If you're lucky, though, they'll get you interviews. And that's the goal at this stage.
To that end, it should be truthful, "impactful", and readable. It should say enough to convince the reader that you might be worth talking to. It shouldn't overwhelm them, and it needs to both be short enough to keep them awake and have enough information to make you attractive.
If you're submitting resumes online, remember that most web-based HR systems will both print it out and dump the text into a searchable database. So make it look nice, but also include key terms. Don't list every language and piece of hardware you've ever used - that's a dead giveaway that you haven't got any real experience, you'll look like every newly-minted Bachelor of Computer Science.
And yes, keep it to two pages, plus a custom-to-the-job cover letter.
Next week on "Ask Slashdot": "How should I act in a job interview?"
Bah! Jobs suck. I just go out in the evening and give random guys blowjobs - better paid, plus I can decide how much I work and when.
I am now in the process of buying my second own appartement, and I'm only 22.
Ok, I'll bite. Here's mine: HTML primary version or PDF edition.
I get unsolicited mail from people impressed by it, and asking if they can use the same format. Feel free (I retain all rights to the text, of course).
I also just got a new job, so I'm doing something right (although it could be despite the CV, heh).
My CV guidelines:
I'm using an old MS Word version that has been modified a gazzilion times and things are really getting messy.
Anybody?
"jobs suck" ... "I give blowjobs"....
sounds recursive.
1) One page for job history ...
2) One page for certifications
3)
4) Profit!!!
Dead right - a good CV gets you an interview, not a job. I know it sounds obvious, but make sure it's spelt correctly (or spelled if you're from the US I guess) uses correct grammar and is "readable" - not just a list of bullet points or a "stream of conciousness". Although I haven't written one for many years (too lazy to change jobs) I've read through plenty of other people's and know exactly what will get canned after the first read. Keep it simple, and make it read like it was written by a human. It'll get read by one - and they're thinking, along with whether you could do the job or not, "could I work with this person over the next X years?". However, as the parent said, that's the point of the interview. As has been said elsewhere, concentrate on achievements rather than a blow-by-blow account of every project you've ever worked on. Also, once you've written "the perfect CV" don't let any agency you deal with marmalise it. If they're going to reformat anything, make sure you get to approve anything before it goes out.
The answer to this depends on where you are in your career, and what kind of qualifications that you have.
If you're coming straight out of school with a relatively vanilla degree (math, CS, etc) you should be able to do one page. Talk about your coursework and skills, but emphasize any research or work experience. You're trying to stand out from a stack of similarly vanilla right-out-of-school resumes. The goal of the resume isn't to get you the job - it is to convince someone that it is worth his or her time to interview you.
If you are a few years (or decades) on in your career, a few more pages detailing work experience can be helpful. Remember, though, that resume review is often viewed as a chore. If yours is too long, it will show that you can't express yourself concisely.
That said, there are always exceptions. If you want to quote liberally from your Nobel or Fields citation, feel free to go long. If you want to go into boring depth about your high-school science fair project, you had better either have a Wes^h^h^hIntel win or be under 20.
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
I use Yahoo! Hotjobs for my CV. And although I would be found in searches quite, usually I wouldn't get employer views.
Then I saw some stupid deal that HotJobs had with a proffesional CV writers, ResumeEdge.com, and looked at the example work they had. I didn't pay them, just looked at their samples.
And just by moving my Award section - I only ever got one - and my publications section - only a mention in Wired Online and ACM Queue - to the top of the page I got a job offer the next day.
I have a nice job now, but it was just amazing.
So try looking at the resume writers sites and learn from there sample work. And most importantly put yourself in the shoes of the employer, what do you think they think is important; your skills - sure; your experience - probably; how much money they can make if they hire you - absolutely!!!
'I am become Shiva, destroyer of worlds'