SPUG: Giving up on computer jobs & usefulness of placement fi rms

[Umar Cheema]

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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