quote:

Originally posted by Durafei LOL.. you better refrain from such statements when talking to me I've been a Java activist for the past 3 years. IMHO it's a much better language than C++, which should've died a long time ago! And don't give me "java is slow" crap, cause 5 years from now on newer computers and newer versions of JVM it will be just as fast as C++.

Unfortunately not too many look that far down the timeline...lol

It's great that the resume is under 2 pages! That is a feat unto itself sometimes.
Most people forget to include how their skills experience translates into work experience but it seems you've got that covered.

I'd axe the Chapters job; it's not relivant and the soft skills section (aka 'People skills'). I only state nixing the soft skills section because you can cover that in one of most important parts of introducing the resume; the cover letter.

Here's a cut and paste of my cover letter:
(Feel free to use it; I stole it from someone too )

quote:

Name Street City, Postal Code Dear XXX, <-- find a name!!!!! very important!!!! I am writing to apply for a position as a [insert position here]. I am a motivated, self-starting individual who works well independently as well as with others. I have strong organisational, analytical, and communicative skills. I understand hardware and software troubleshooting in a support field capacity. I am MCP and A+ certified, and now am currently working towards an MCSA. I am familiar with Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP, all Microsoft Office applications and Email clients. Enclosed is a résumé giving more of my professional qualifications and experience. Moreover, many of my past experiences have involved directly working with people in a fast-paced environment. This has provided me with the ability to address the needs and wants of all company associates. Realising that this summary, as well as my résumé cannot adequately communicate my qualifications in depth, I would appreciate having the opportunity to discuss with you in person, how I could contribute to the team and company. I look forward to meeting you in the future at your earliest convenience. Sincerely, [sig here] Jeff L. Inkster <-- printed name here

Don't underestimate the cover letter and like speedRacer said, find all the info you can find about who your going to be working for.
Find the manger of the dept. you think you'd like to work for and let them know you're doing some research on potential fields of study and ask them questions regards some of the positions they have and their responsibilities. This way, you don't sound like your asking for a job as much as having the gumption of taking control of your future.

Best of luck man!

PS. I just got hired full time @ Alliance Atlantis now! wOO!
Technical Support Analyst - Hardware

___________________
"...End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path...one that we all must take.
The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all change to silver glass...and then you see it...
...white shores...and beyond...the far green country under a swift sunrise."

I just opened my sisters resume and changed the name. Is it an art? yes, it's the art of stealing

quote:

Originally posted by Durafei LOL.. you better refrain from such statements when talking to me I've been a Java activist for the past 3 years. IMHO it's a much better language than C++, which should've died a long time ago! And don't give me "java is slow" crap, cause 5 years from now on newer computers and newer versions of JVM it will be just as fast as C++.

Java makes for beautiful code and decent portability, but some people have problems with the fact that a typical C statement like "scanf" takes about 12 lines to code in Java with all the ridiculous stream, buffering, and tokenizing classes.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Java is a bad language, at all. I'm just saying that it's not the "silver bullet" people tried to make it out to be. People should analyze the specific problem at hand and use whichever one is best, not cling to one language as if it's somehow superior to the rest.

But I digress. I agree with all the cover statements, though some people say one should try to write the cover letter with extra flare - as in, tell a story, show how interesting you are and how this job was your destiny in life - don't go into overt detail about qualifications in the cover letter because, if they're interested, they can read the resume for that.

I don't know if that really works better, it's just an opinion I've heard and again, something that seems to work for some people. Personally, I think every HR person you send to is going to be impressed by a different style of CL, so there's no best way to write it unless you can somehow find out not only about the company you're applying to, but the person who'll be looking over your application.

Just an opinion. Not necessarily yours.

Cover letter is definitely useful. Unfortunately I don't really have time to write all those cover letters. So I just have to stick to no-cover letter

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My Blog: durafei.blogspot.com - Last Update March 23, 2006

Here is the advice i got from my co op.

-your resume should ONLY be ONE page long.

-Any employer will only look at the first page and probably for about 3-10 sec MAX.

-Only put your best experience, showing that you worked for 10 companies means nothing, put the ones you are most proud of and reflect the job you are applying to. for example. No software firm will care about your paper route or your first programming job.

-only put down the important things you did for the company you worked for, not everything because they won't read it.

-you can list your knowledge in 1 or 2 word bullets. like "JAVA, C, C++" instead of "Experienced in programming with Java, C/C++ and Assembly". If the employer wants to know how much you know they will ask, then you tell me them you are asuper star.

Bold certain aspects of your resume that you want the employer to look at.

Take a look at y resume if you wanna see what im talking about... its no updated but it will give you an idea of how to get the most important stuff down in least amount of space

my resume

___________________
I cut my hair...

I disagree that the resume should only be one page, two is fine for a technological job, BUT: if there's no cover letter, perhaps he's right and you might want to make it shorter. Otherwise they may just skim through the first page for a few seconds, unless what they see in those few seconds is REALLY amazing, and what's amazing to Human Resources is probably very different from what's amazing to scientists and engineers.

BTW, Rottweilier's resume is pretty much exactly what I was talking about earlier when I said artistic... it's by no means artsy looking but it definitely would stand out in the pile. Pretty good dude.

Last point, I definitely agree with putting technical skills down as one word. I separate mine into categories but I still wouldn't write full sentences for each skill, it'd take up far too much space.

quote:

Here is the advice i got from my co op. -your resume should ONLY be ONE page long. -Any employer will only look at the first page and probably for about 3-10 sec MAX. -Only put your best experience, showing that you worked for 10 companies means nothing, put the ones you are most proud of and reflect the job you are applying to. for example. No software firm will care about your paper route or your first programming job. -only put down the important things you did for the company you worked for, not everything because they won't read it. -you can list your knowledge in 1 or 2 word bullets. like "JAVA, C, C++" instead of "Experienced in programming with Java, C/C++ and Assembly". If the employer wants to know how much you know they will ask, then you tell me them you are asuper star. Bold certain aspects of your resume that you want the employer to look at. Take a look at y resume if you wanna see what im talking about... its no updated but it will give you an idea of how to get the most important stuff down in least amount of space my resume

I actually have to disagree with all of this. Your resume does look good, but IMHO it needs more detail. Many employers require LOTS of shit in their job descriptions nowadays.. there is no way you can prove that you know all that stuff on one page. Just writing "Illustrator" on your resume is not enough, you have to prove this !
Consider following:
One applicant submits a resume where he says in his skills section "10 years of experience in Illustrator" and then in his Working experience puts down the following "Used my illustrator knowledge to design and publish this newspaper".. or something like that"
another applicant puts in his skills section "Illustrator" and
in his working experience puts down "Designed and published this newspaper"..

Whom would you select?
And it's just one example. Employers are very picky these days! Beware of that ! Days of free money and easy jobs are gone !

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My Blog: durafei.blogspot.com - Last Update March 23, 2006

I think I mentioned this before but nobody seems to believe me, it depends a lot on the specific person who's looking at it. It also depends on how many applications the company gets.

If you're applying to a company that gets 50 resumes a day, and it gets to an HR manager who's been trained to do the "3-second sweep & skim", then in this case you'd be far better off with a resume like Rottweiler's.

If it's a small-to-medium company in a niche market that not too many people take interest in, and they have an HR manager who actually cares about the company and its employees and takes the time to read over the whole thing, you definitely want more detail than that.

This is why the cover letter is so important, it lets you introduce yourself and get your best skills off in a few seconds' worth of reading, but you still attach all the detailed stuff in back in case they become interested.

You never know who you're going to get, though... I hadn't thought of this until now but maybe it would be best to send a "short" resume and cover letter to massive companies like Sony and more detailed stuff to smaller companies. I'll have to think about that... it's about time for me to send mine out anyway...

Heh ya, i argee with Durafei's remark about it lacking detail but my resume and portfolio go hand in hand so in that case it demonstrates where words do not need to be.

Also you can say you know Illustrator, for exmaple. and write just Illustrator under skills and attributes as a heading. if your work experience describes how you use Illustrator everyday, then that that says it for ya.


I was taught that a resume is like putting your foot in the door. You don't have to have it wide open (by packing the resume to the rim) becasue all you have to do is get who ever is reading to be curious and by not telliing them everything, you do that. Granted you have to make sure you fill the requirments but after that the interview becomes crucial and that is were the most work needs to be done.

Ill give the analogy of trying to pick up a girl.

You don't go off ranting about yourself until you first get the girl interesting by doing something small and impactful. that is what your resume has to be, small and impactful.

anyway, thats my input, you do what ever you feel most comfortable with durafei. in the end that is what matter but its good that you get large quatities of input so that you have a range of ideas to pick and choose from. thats teh best way to go.
GOOD LUCK TO YA!

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I cut my hair...