Quote:
Originally Posted by tercet
daveT- Thanks for some of the tips, I was stuck on how to do the skills/technologies sections, Ill try adding them to the top. When listing them you think it would be a good idea to list no more then 10 skills/technologies that are my best I would guess?
Javascript is what I was working on the most over the last 2-3 months, angular, more jquery etc.
As well I will adjust some of the brief descriptions of my job history.
No offense taken lol, I realize I need some help.
I wouldn't know the exact number that is acceptable as I'm not in the tech industry. I am trying to get in, and my measure is: "If I was asked how I used said program or language, would I be able to describe a non-trivial situation where I used it." For example, while I *can* use C, x86, and JavaScript, I can't speak much about how I used these languages for much more than trivial learning and toy programs, so they don't go on my resume. I think it helps that I have Clojure there, so employers generally assume that I have other language knowledge, which is true, but I suspect that I don't put them there because I am simply not interested in other languages, which is false.
My advice isn't really geared toward getting into a tech job, my advice is geared towards making your resume stand out from a pile of 100 resumes.
First, and this is incredibly counter-intuitive, don't try to be creative with your resume. Go find a template and follow it. You'd be surprised at how many people get creative with their resume and how often it burns their chances. I can only think of one instance where creativity was a benefit to the job-seeker. Actually, it hurt his chances because it was clear he was too talented for my company, so we didn't call him in based on the assumption that he'd want too much money.
"Creative" things that hurt include:
-- Adding a photo. Are you applying to be a model? Are you
trying to open me up to a discrimination lawsuit?
-- Vertical timelines graphics. Just don't.
-- The abilities meter you have wastes a lot of valuable real-estate.
-- Long paragraphs. Just use bullets. I have to rush through dozens of resumes in a single morning. If can't scan it and get the point, I'm tossing it to the side. I probably only read the skills, the date of the last two places someone has worked, and the first bullet point of each job. If I'm interested, I'll read more. This is no different than reading the first 2 paragraphs of a book and deciding if you want to read more. Yeah, it sucks for the author since it may be an awesome book, but that's the way things work. I guess this is no different that designing a webpage for scanning, which is how people read websites anyways.
What I'm looking for are two things, and both of these should be somewhat demonstrable in your resume:
1- Do you have the foundations to do the job? I have a very difficult job with and odd mix of abilities. I ask myself if the applicant has to learn. It is presumptuous for any applicant to assume that he or she will be at 100% within a month of starting. When I see resumes tailored to what the applicant thinks the job is about, I get nervous.
Since I don't expect people to actually have the knowledge needed to do my job, I have to look for someone that is "good enough." It is good to remember that no employer can find Mr Perfect, as defined as "has everything needed to be valuable from day one." When you apply to a position, you aren't applying to do a job, you are applying because you believe that you are a valuable investment for the company. Do you have what it takes to learn the job better than 90% of the other applicants? If the answer is no, then the resume is trashed.
2- After I have decided to read more, I ask: "Are you being honest?" This is more difficult figure out from reading a resume, but there are many little signs that set off my alarm bells. Don't pad things. Don't use a bunch of market-speak. I don't care about that. I just want the straight dope. And for the love of life, please don't write a bunch of filler to get to N bullets. If your job description only fills one bullet, don't rewrite things in a different way to fill into two more bullets. That is irritating.
Finally, when you are in the interview, be prepared to defend anything you have written on your resume. Be completely honest, because at some point, I'll pull out my sophistication stick, and without being a jerk, destroy you. The resume gets you in the door: don't set yourself up to look silly. If I get the impression from your resume that I will make you look silly, I toss it aside.
I'll be the first to admit that I make a lot of mistakes as a hiring person, so you can take a lot of this with a grain of salt. I'm only breaking down how I go from 100 resumes to one hire. It isn't a perfect process by any measure. This is why I phone screen, don't interview candidates alone, then test the candidate before making a decision. Basically, each candidate has to receive a "yes" from both of us, but on rare occasion, one of us will over-ride the other.
The two-interviewer thing brings up something else. At our company, I make the initial phone calls and then decide to set up the interview. It seems like other companies have one person set up the interview, and then I am face-to-face with two different people. I suppose this is used as a ploy to ensure that I'm not trying to impress the person I feel is important. Oddly, everyone who ever sat at our table and focused on the other interviewer more than me. He generally asks the standard questions while I sort of try to sell the candidate on the job while asking ambiguous questions.
Finally, be prepared for testing. If you can do a phone screen, I'm assuming that you will do fine on a test. I can't count how many times I've phone screened and been impressed in an interview only to see the candidate choke on very basic tests. This leads back to being honest on the resume. If you are going to pad, do so judiciously.
I have decent success getting feelers from my resume, so I suppose I have a solid resume. The interview stage is where I struggle a bit.
