On resume writing

[_dude_]

Hi guys.

I thought it would be beneficial for most of us if we shared some thoughts, tips, advices on writing resumes for programming/software development jobs: how to get your foot in the door, how to void common pitfalls, what worked for you on your resume, what didn't, what better leave off your resume, and so on. I know there are tons of websites on this stuff, but let's share real industry experience.

What do you think?

[wtd]

I've found that brutal honesty has worked best for me. If you lie or embellish, they'll find out, and if they hire you anyway, you won't want to work for them.

[jbking]

I think I'd have the caution about working with more than a few recruiters simultaneously. Over the years I have had probably about a dozen interviews with recruiters and they vary considerably, as does their level of communication and ability to really do what they say rather than just keep you in the bullpen.

Remember to tailor the resume to a position as sometimes we can wear many hats in one job that only some will be relevant to the next.

Trying to use buzzwords is good but be careful for each bullet point to make sense on the resume as welll as be a talking point in the interview as sometimes that is where the questions will come in the interview.

I think on my first resume I did embellish a little as I didn't do a lot of hard core programming on my Commodore 64 though I did count that as part of my overall experience.

Don't forget that you may find jobs through a university's career services arm as well as the government and those almost useless job boards. I'd call them totally useless but I did get a couple of my jobs through them so they do work some of the time. The other ~40 or so interviews I've had have ranged the gamut from where I felt I totally rocked to where I sucked and I knew it.

A few questions I usually took into the interview involved getting to know the environment, e.g. what IDE, bug tracking, version control, development methodology, company hierarchy, time spent on support as well as on coding, is there flex time, what kinds of technology do you currently use, is there a dress code.

Last but not least, always prepare for a technology to change or possibly be erased. I don't think there are many classic ASP developers but ASP.Net has evolved quite a bit from those 1.0 days.

[Tony]

somewhat relevant -- you don't know that programming language; which fits into wtd's point of brutal honesty.

A bunch of people stuff their CVs with a load of buzz words and technology terms that they've no more than simply heard about... But any competent place where you would actually want to work will see right through it -- see pink box testing

[btiffin]

I suck at resum? writing, always have. Got my first job with the Navy from UofW co-op because I worked on a commercial fishing tug.

From that day forward, every job I've ever had came from knowing the guy that knew the guy that had the job. Even today with online work; you post to boards, build up a repore, and offers come to you.

Perhaps this is my own freak experience, but it is always knowing someone that knows someone that has a job.

So, perhaps tainted, I've looked at resumes as a one page blurb I write as I wish. Summarize some skills and as wtd points out, truthfully summarize your personality and goals.

In short ... be nice to people, do good works and as Tony alludes to, stuff your conversations with a load of buzzwords and hope that someone you are being nice to, thinks of you when they hear from somebody else that a position is opening. Network, and make sure that everyone you know, knows that you are good with the computer things.

And, perhaps more importantly; when "between contracts" be willing to do manual labour or retail or the plethora of other employment available. Old guy snark; If you are heard complaining while carrying rocks at minimum wage, why would someone want to pay you 10 times that much to sit in a chair and think? Or recommend you to the vital link to a career?

Cheers

[_dude_]

wtd, I agree - honesty in a resume is an indicator of competence. Should one be honest about one's lack of working experience in a resume as well? Who wants to hire an inexperienced yet passionate programmer?

[Tony]

inexperienced in terms of what? Paid work experience? A passionate programmer would have plenty of other equivalent experience. For my last resume, my best reference was an open source project, even though I've held paid positions.

[_dude_]

Tony, yes, paid work experience. Participation in an open source project sounds like a pretty good starting point. Thanks.

[wtd]

I have mentioned my experience collaborating with other programmers here on compsci.ca. Communication is absolutely vital, and this place gives you experience. Knowing how to program on a gut level is nothing compared to being able to talk about it intelligently with your peers.