SPUG: Giving up on computer jobs & usefulness of placement fi rms
Umar Cheema
umar at drizzle.com
Wed Aug 13 12:26:08 CDT 2003
Over the years I have received constructive criticism and fair appraisal
on the content of my resume. Here're a few facts/tips that I have gathered
based on my experience:
- The notion of first impression has a pretty heavy value in this area.
Especially during the times when managers/others receive massive amount
of resumes. Generally they would glance at your first page, registering
some familiar looking words, etc into their memory, then they'll turn the
page over and glance at the second page to get an idea of how long it is,
and then flip back to the first page. So the trick is to capture their
attention in the first glance and at the same time make sure your resume
fits at the most in two pages. From what I have heard and seen, an ideal
resume would be about a page and a half. This gives them the notion that
it's not too long and cramped with every little thing you have ever done,
and at the same time you have done enough that you had to go over to the
second page.
- Saying too much in too little is an art. Regardless of the format,
style and length of your resume, when it comes to the hiring manager
leaning back on his/her chair and going through each line, content is all
that matters. Of course it's a combination of factors but even if your
first impression, style and length take you to the next step, it's your
content that'll further your chances. Is it better to try to fit all the
relevant and important informtion in one carefully worded paragraph as
oppose to two slightly wordier paragraphs? Absolutely.
- The command on the language does give you an advantage over other
candidates. I remember a couple of years ago I was going through a resume
of a friend and I enjoyed reading it. I read every sentence and
appreciated the simplicity and an excellent choice of words in almost
every sentence. The trick is to look at the paragraph you just wrote at
least three times and try to restructure it in a better way everytime. And
when you think it's looking great, restructure it one more time.
- It's important to tailor your resume to the taste of your prospective
employer. If I am applying for a Perl job I would make sure that they
notice words like Perl, Unix, XML, OOP, HTML, Linux, Apache in their first
glance. That would ensure that after they have glanced over your second
page, they would come back to see what you have actually done in those
areas. Similarly, if I am applying for a QA job, I would totally rearrange
my skills just so they notice words like White Box, Black Box, Regression
Analysis, Development Life Cycles, etc before they flip to the second
page.
- Personal skills and extra-curricular activities can become a deciding
factor when two different candidates successfully pass the initial
screening. Considering the economy and the umemployment rate it's pretty
safe to assume that there will be many candidates who possess technical
skills very similar to yours. Then it's the job of your resume to convince
the hiring managers that even though all these five candidates have a very
similar set of skills and experience, you're the one that will best fit
within their culture and environment. Personal skills usually include
standard stuff such as works well under pressure, ability to handle
and manage multiple tasks, leadership skills, etc. A good set of person
skills starts with a very specific and appropriate skill/talent that is
extremely relevant to the job you are applying for. This can be
accomodated by doing some research on the job you are very serious about
applying to. Try to get a feel of extactly what they're looking for and
then look under your hat of skills and try to make a solid bridge between
the two. If you don't have any relevant personal skill, then pick one from
the standard/universal ones that will make you stand out. Then simply
push(@skills, $thisSkill).
Hope this can be useful to some along with other useful tips/suggestions
from others on the list.
Umar
On Wed, 13 Aug 2003, Rodney Doe wrote:
> Would it be useful to discuss those of us who provide input into the hiring
> process have rejected candidates in the past? What fatal errors have we
> seen on résumés? What went wrong with interviews?
>
> I recall a particular perusal of a stack of applications, when a company
> president and I encountered an application with a cover letter signed with
> the pseudonym 'Boromir the Weird'. The president saw the signature,
> chuckled, and promptly dropped the application into the recycle basket
> without even a glance at Boromir's esteemed qualifications. While this is
> an extreme case, perhaps the generation of a list of fatal flaws and
> positive points might add some value.
>
> I love to see:
> - A one page résumé. This indicates to me that the person can summarize
> details and think abstractly.
>
> I hate to see:
> - Spelling errors.
> - Grammatical errors.
> - Five page résumés, crammed with acronyms and insignificant details.
>
>
>
> Rodney B. Doe, P.E.
> Senior Software Engineer
> Micro Encoder Inc.
> www.microen.com
>
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