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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.) 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!
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?"
Know what happens with your resume when it's submitted digitally? A HR person prints off a bunch of copies. One's usually stored in permament records, the others passed out to those doing the hiring. Chance of someone that matters ever seeing it in a digital format? Fat.
The paperless office is a myth, and the paperless hiring process is just pure fantasy.
No Comment.
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.
I agree, printing is to be expected, and is just fine by me. In that case, you still get the standard one page version you would have had with a conventional approach. This is purely an *augmentation* for if you do view it in a browser.
If I make it past the first screening, to the point where they are thinking about calling for an interview - they can slap my URL from the top of the page into their browser and find out all about me if they want. Will they? Who knows. My current employer did though, and it helped.
For the most part, it is... CV is the abbreviation for the latin phrase curricula vitae. The term is more commonly used in Europe (especially the UK), rather than the more pedestrian (and French) sounding resumé.
Those who complain about affect & effect on
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.
...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.
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.
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!
In fact, in France, we use the term "CV" and not résumé.