Thread

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit, but I’ve never had to write a resume before. Now that I have decided to get out of the Air Force - I definitely need to get one going.

My plan is to release a few open source applications while deployed (to help boost the resume), continue fleshing it out until November, as well as completely redesign/rework my blog as a portfolio and “hire me as a freelancer” destination. In November, when I return from Kuwait, I will start my official job search - looking to start work in April-May of 2009.

So, feel free to download my resume and give me some helpful tips. I’ve already received a few from some others (that have yet to have been implemented in this version). Any tips you can give on the resume, boosting the resume (I have until November, remember), and cover letters would be much appreciated.

Resume:// Michael Wales [PDF]

I dont understand the point of the desired salary part.

From their point of view, if you don’t know how much they will pay you. They like you and think you have the skills. Would they not see that and think we were going to offer more but he’d settle for that.

First thing I would say is, far too long and far to complex. Rule of thumb is 2 pages max. I know you have a lot to say but a CV is to get your foot in the door, you want it short to the point. If I was wanting to employee someone I wouldn’t want to read an essay. When you get in then in the interview is the time to go into the further details.

Also another small thing, the column on the left, its a nice design idea, but you waste so much page space with it. You have lost 1/3 of the document, I don’t know what employees are like in the US but I know in the UK its all right to put at the bottom “References available on request” saves room.

I dont understand the point of the desired salary part.
I quite like the desired salary bit, it shows you know how much you think your worth, if you don’t think very much of yourself and don’t put on what you expect, how do you expect them to know how much to pay for your skills.

Also one more thing, If you have to go into a lot of details for the experience, I would put the skills at the top. Reason for this is they will quickly see if you fit the bill and if interested read on. If its just a load of text they won’t be bothered to read it to see if you do meet the bill.

Well that’s what I think, just one more thing please please make sure you tailor the cover letter for the job, so many people don’t and it just looks so very bad.

One more thing, with the skills you have put on some how many years experience. Why have you not done it on all of them. Its a simple thing but may improve your chances of selection over another CV.

off topic..but how do you like kuwait? i don’t know if you get to go to kuwait city but it’s damn beautiful

Great suggestions guys.

I know it is way to long - what would you recommend for each of my positions? Just a quick breakdown of skills used, responsibilities, etc?

The years experience, and a few others, are just oversights on my part - they’ll definitely be corrected. The benefit of having you guys look it over - you help me catch that sort of stuff. 😊

Yes, something maybe along the lines of a quick brief description of what you had to do, and how you did it. I know that’s what you have done but its just a bit heavy is all I thought.

you need to separate your cover letter from the resume

Here’s a copy of my resume (which I’m typographically proud of), if you want a reference, this got me a couple of interview.

Personally I think its a very good CV, you will find that no matter how good a CV is people will always find flaws it tends to be a matter of preference.  I will often tailor my CV to individual companies if not sent thorough an agency, it shows you have taken care to apply for a position.

An idea, you could put some hyper links in your CV if you are sending electronic copies to people. As you are a great contributor to these forums this would also be a good reference site.

I like your CV jTaby, to the point, all the information I would want to know about.

I have been a freelancer for the past year and a half.  I have never shown anyone (nor has anyone asked) for a resume.  I’m glad I never put much work into it.

That is not to say it won’t happen eventually though and it is good to be prepared.  You might take a look at LinkedIn.  The profile is in resume format and you can export it as a PDF.  If someone were to ask me for my resume, that is what I would send.  😉

I second the LinkedIn recommendation. I use it, and love it. I always prefer to send a link to my profile rather than a resume, but I’ll generally send both.

Also, I use emurse.com for my resume. It makes it so much easier to keep my resume up to date, and you can download it in many different formants.

Regarding “desired salary”. Very bad idea IMO. Salary negotiations is a very important part of interviewing. If you tell them right off the bat what you want, there’s no chance you’ll get a penny more, even if they might have offered it. You want to see what they think you’re worth first. It’s hard, I know. But there are some good articles out there on the topic. http://www.negotiations.com/articles/geeks-earning-more/

I think it’s generally better not to include references by default. And don’t put “Reverences available upon request” either. They already know that 😊

It would be good to make your resume more “scanable”. I agree that the “Skills” section should go at the top, below “Objective”. It’s like designing a website. You only have but a few seconds to capture attention.

Job descriptions should always focus on accomplishments, not responsibilities.

Great job BTW Michael! I’m sure you’ll have no problem getting a good job.

It seems to be some mixing and matching of terms and things here:

1. Resume = 1 page summary of your most relevant skills for the job/position at hand. It may be beneficial to have more than one version to best target the job description. Think OO or modular here. A footer or similar offering the full CV on request further highlights the emphasis on this being only the short version.

2. CV = Literally the story of your life (told in a rather boring list). This is the one you hand over at the interview or perhaps enclose along with the resume in the application package. Upside: you in all your glory. Downside: no one bothers to read it all and may miss all the best parts after a superficial first glance. Which brings us to:

3. Cover letter = The sales pitch. In addition to the blah, blah, blah, your cover letter MUST point to the items in your resume that are most relevant. This is your chance to influence the reading of your skills. Another benefit of using a resume as a first impression, rather than a lengthy CV, is that the edited version allows you to subtract stuff that a potential employer may initially get hung up on for one reason or another.

IDEA: Maybe there is room for a custom resume program in CI? I imagine tags/categories where you simply check the boxes for every job-specific version and output a PDF of the shortlist. This way your education, skills and experience are modular down to the atom level and every job application can be right on target. The employer gets their questions (what they ask for in the ad) answered in the most compact form possible and you get to show off some useful skills. Graphic designers are obsessed with the look of their resume; this is the programmer’s equivalent. Not a difficult program to write and, not least, a timesaver in a job hunt.

Michael, look at that, maybe you’ll find some ideas here:
http://tutorialblog.org/the-importance-of-a-simple-online-resume-free-template/