A Poor Example

The example in this section starts with an extreme case of a poor résumé from a junior developer. Hopefully, no real résumé would ever be this bad, but the steps taken to improve such an extreme case are relevant to almost anyone’s résumé. Figure A-1 shows the sample résumé before improvements.

Sell Yourself

Most of this résumé’s problems result from a single fundamental error: Lee wrote his résumé to describe himself, not to get a job. Lee’s résumé is much more an autobiography than it is a sales pitch for him and his skills. This is a common problem. Many people believe their résumé should describe everything they’ve ever done. That way, a potential employer can carefully read all the information and make an informed decision regarding whether to grant an interview. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work this way. Employers have a large number of résumés to evaluate (most of them from people not well qualified for the job) in addition to all their other work. As a result, they spend little time on each résumé they read. Your résumé must be a marketing tool that sells you and convinces an employer that you’re valuable—quickly. When you keep this idea in mind, most of the other problems become self-evident.

Keep It Short

Lee’s résumé has a number of other common problems. One of the biggest is length. Interviewers may receive 50 résumés for an opening. From previous experience, they know that the vast majority of the candidates are probably not appropriate for the job. The interviewer will have time to speak with only four or five of the candidates and so must eliminate 90 percent of the applicants based on their résumés. Interviewers don’t carefully read through each résumé; they quickly scan it to determine whether they can find any reason to keep it.

Interviewers read résumés with the bias of, “How quickly can I eliminate this person?” not with the question of, “What is interesting in this person’s background?” This is an important distinction because you must build your résumé so that you’re hard to reject on basic points like “lacks knowledge of required technology,” or “can’t find a description of programming experience.” Your résumé must look so good that the interviewer both can’t reject you, and can’t possibly risk passing on you. Interviewers won’t wait long to throw out a résumé. If they don’t see anything compelling after 15 or 20 seconds of looking at the résumé’s first page, the résumé won’t make it any further.

Despite the need to make an impression, avoid the temptation to lie or add items you’re unfamiliar with. Inflating your résumé can create a variety of problems. First, many interviewers will ask you about every item on your résumé; if you clearly aren’t familiar with something, it calls your entire résumé into question. Second, if you claim knowledge of a wide variety of technologies outside your experience, an interviewer may not even have to talk to you to figure out that you’re lying. Finally, if you throw in a grab bag of random buzzwords that don’t follow any particular theme, you may appear to be a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. The net result is that your résumé becomes a hindrance to you getting a job, instead of a tool that helps you.

Keep your résumé as short as possible. If you have less than 5 years of experience, one page is sufficient. More experienced job hunters can use two pages. Under no circumstances should any résumé exceed three pages; if it does, you’re writing a curriculum vitae (CV), not a résumé. In the United States, a CV is appropriate primarily for jobs in academia or research, which follow a completely different interview and hiring process than this book describes. Some hiring managers for international positions may expect a lengthier résumé, along the lines of a CV.

List the Right Information

Contentwise, Lee’s résumé is not “buzzword-compliant”—it doesn’t mention technologies by name. This is a big problem because many companies use automated systems that look for certain keywords to flag promising résumés. For example, when a position requires a “Java developer with XML experience,” the system selects all résumés with the words “Java” and “XML.” Other companies file résumés by skills, but the result is the same. Because Lee’s résumé is short on buzzwords, it is unlikely to even make it into the stack of résumés that an interviewer sees. He should list all software products, operating systems, languages, technologies, and methodologies that he has used. He should also list any other relevant topics he has experience with—for example, security algorithms or network protocols. Lee should then categorize his skills by topic, as shown in Figure A-2.

When you list specific products in your résumé, include version numbers to show that you’re up to date with the latest-and-greatest technologies if you have experience with the most recent version of the product. On the other hand, if your experience is with older or outdated versions, it’s better to omit the version numbers. Most version numbers are omitted from the examples shown here because they would be obsolete by the time you read this, but your résumé should be updated much more frequently than a book. Always keep your résumé updated with your most recent experiences.

Be Clear and Concise

Lee’s résumé also needs to be formatted more cleanly. In its current form, it uses too many fonts, formats, and lines. This is generally annoying—some would say it makes his résumé look like a ransom note. It can also cause problems for an automated scanning system. Choose a standard font such as Times New Roman, and stick with it throughout the résumé.

Lee’s content is difficult to read, rambling, and unfocused; it doesn’t describe his contributions and doesn’t sell him as a valuable employee. This is especially true regarding his work experience. First, Lee should reorganize his content into bulleted lists. These are faster to read than descriptions in paragraph form, and they make it easier for an interviewer to absorb more in less time. This increases the chances that Lee’s résumé will be one of the few that the interviewer decides to act on.

Lee’s descriptions should be more focused. His descriptions don’t clearly state exactly what he did. He describes what the team did and the general company focus, but not his role, which is the most important part of selling himself as a good candidate. Each item in his work history should read like a description of his accomplishments in the job, not like a job description for the position. He should also use action verbs such as implemented, designed, programmed, monitored, administered, and architected to describe his contributions. These should describe specific actions, such as “designed database schema for Oracle 13c database and programmed database connectivity using Java threads and JDBC.” When possible, he should quantify his tasks and describe the results of his work. For example, he could write “administered network of 20 Linux machines for Fortune 100 client, resulting in $1 million in revenues annually.” This is a good sell job because it answers the question, “What can you do for me right now?” One caveat is to make sure that any metrics you give are impressive. If your metrics don’t work in your favor, omit them.

Another part of focusing the content is to decide the order in which to list responsibilities for a certain job. Generally, you want to list responsibilities from most impressive to least impressive. However, make sure that you get the main point across first. For example, if you did both sales and development at a job, you may have some impressive sales, some impressive development work, and a few less-impressive sales. If you want to emphasize that you were successful in sales, you should list all your sales work first, followed by all your development work. In addition, make sure your points follow a coherent order. This often means grouping items by topic area, even if it causes them to deviate slightly from a strict ranking by importance.

Many people have trouble selling themselves in their résumés. Often, this happens because they feel that they have to be modest and avoid boasting. Or, some applicants have had negative experiences at work—perhaps even a termination. As a result, many job applicants end up underselling themselves. Don’t lie, but do put the most impressive slant on whatever you have done. Even if you were fired from a job, you probably did some things of value that you can and should promote. Remember, your résumé is your personal advertisement; employers will read it with an understanding of that context. If you have trouble saying nice things about yourself, ask a friend for help.

Relevant Information Only

Lee’s résumé also includes irrelevant items that take up valuable space. One of the first items an interviewer reads about Lee is that he’s a citizen of the United States and was born in Denver. Even though his citizenship or residence status may be important later in the game, when a job offer is about to be made, none of this information will convince an interviewer that he’s the person for the job and just wastes valuable space. (Again, international job applications are different and may require this kind of citizenship information.) Other irrelevant information includes his birthdate, hometown, Social Security number, marital status, hobbies, and travel history—information that his potential employer may be legally prohibited from collecting or asking, doesn’t make him a more attractive candidate, and potentially sets him up for identity theft. This sort of information also expresses a certain non-professional sharing, which could turn off some hiring managers.

Lee’s use of the word “I” is unnecessary because the résumé is obviously about him. He shouldn’t bother to mention references either. Interviewers won’t check references until they’re about to make an offer, so it’s pointless to put them on your résumé. He doesn’t even need to include “References are available upon request” because that’s always implicit. Similarly, a résumé is not the place to mention why he left earlier jobs. This question is likely to come up in interviews, and it’s a good idea to have a strong, positive response prepared, but it doesn’t belong on a résumé. Lee’s middle name should also be omitted unless he usually goes by George David.

Finally, omit any additional information that makes you a less-attractive candidate. For example, don’t put something on your résumé such as “looking for half-time position until graduation in June, and then conversion to full time.” Most interviewers would pass over someone like this and look for someone available full time instead. However, if the interviewer speaks with you and is impressed, it’s a different story (though this is something you should state very early in the conversation, so the interviewer doesn’t think you’re acting in bad faith).

Lee needs to look at his résumé and focus all necessary information to make it as short and useful as possible. Every word must count. For example, he can start with his address information. He should give only one e-mail address and phone number. It’s extremely unusual for a potential employer to contact you via postal mail, so the mailing addresses aren’t necessary, but you may want to include your city, so the company knows your time zone and whether you’re local. Lee also lists too much information about his high school accomplishments. Old awards, accomplishments, or job tasks that are not relevant to your current job search should generally be omitted. Any job that you left more than 10 years ago or is totally unrelated to the job that you’re currently seeking should be mentioned only briefly. For example, Lee goes into too much detail about his work at the ice cream shop and the dining hall. It’s fine to mention this employment, but he won’t get a programming job based on his ice cream scooping ability. He should provide only relevant job data. Lee should also omit the job that he held for 2 months because it will count against him. Finally, Lee’s objective statement doesn’t add anything. Everyone is looking for an “interesting” job with a “dynamic” company. He should omit his objective statement altogether if he is applying directly for a role at a company, and only add an objective statement if he is passing out his resume at a job fair, or on a generic website, and in this case, his objective statement should briefly state what sort of job he wants, such as “software engineer” or “database programmer.” He should also remove his high school, unless that was the highest level of education he completed.

Use Reverse Chronological Ordering

After improving the résumé’s content, Lee needs to decide how to order his information most effectively. One obvious way to do this is chronologically. In this case, Lee would start out with his high school education, then his job at the ice cream shop, then college, and so forth. A reader could easily follow Lee’s experience throughout his life. Even though this is a consistent ordering, it is a poor choice. Always put the most compelling reason for you to be considered for a job first, at the top of the résumé. Interviewers start reading résumés from the top, so you want to put your best, most relevant stuff first, where it can convince the interviewer to read the rest of the résumé. After that first reason, continue to follow a clear and concise organization that spells out your qualifications. The end of the résumé is for the least-impressive information. Your most recent experiences are more relevant than your earliest experiences, so where you do use chronological ordering, put things in reverse order.

In Lee’s case, his most impressive asset is undoubtedly his skills. He has a wide range of relevant skills. He should begin his résumé with these skills. Next, Lee should list either his work history or education. Early in your career you should generally put your education first, especially if you went to an impressive school. Later in your career, put your experience first. In Lee’s case, it’s a toss-up as to whether to list his education or his work experience next. He’s right on the cusp of when he should switch from listing education first to work history first. Lee did graduate from an impressive school not too long ago, and he has held several jobs since then, none of them for very long. Therefore, there’s probably a slight advantage to listing his education before his work history. In Lee’s case, his education is a single item. If he had more than one degree, he would put the most impressive one (usually a postgraduate or university degree) first.

Always Proofread

Lee also needs to proofread his résumé better. For example, he spelled “interesting” as “intresting” and used “spend” when he should have used “spent.” Mistakes make you look careless and unprofessional. Many people stop reading a résumé as soon as they find a single mistake. At the very least, mistakes make you a weaker candidate. The only way to avoid mistakes is to proofread. Proofread over and over and over. Then, let the résumé sit for a while, come back to it, and proofread some more. Printing it out and reading it on paper helps, too. It’s also a good idea to ask a trusted friend to proofread for mistakes. While your friends are reading your résumé, ask whether they think any sections are unclear, have a recommendation on how to improve your résumé, or think you could do a better job selling yourself. Your friends’ reactions may give you a clue about how your résumé will appear to an interviewer.

One final matter concerns printing your résumé. Usually, you will submit your résumé electronically and printing won’t be an issue. If you print out your résumé, there’s no need to use special paper or have your résumé professionally printed. Résumés are often photocopied, scanned, faxed, and written on, making fancy paper and printing a wasted expense. A laser printer and simple white paper will suffice.

An Improved Example

Following all the preceding recommendations, Lee’s improved résumé appears in Figure A-3.

This résumé describes the experiences and skills of the same person, but the presentation is entirely different—now Lee looks like someone worth calling for an interview.

Managers and Senior Developers

Although the same ideas that improved Lee’s résumé will also improve a senior job candidate’s résumé, there are some additional issues to consider. Senior people generally have some management responsibility, and it’s important that their résumés show they are capable of this task. For example, consider the résumé presented in Figure A-4 for a senior manager, Sam White. As you read through his résumé, think about which of the techniques that benefited Lee’s résumé could also be helpful for White.

White’s résumé has the same major problem as Lee’s first résumé. It is an autobiography, not a marketing tool. This structural problem is evident from the beginning, where he gives a brief timeline of his life over the past 30 years. Writing an autobiography is a common problem for senior people with impressive credentials. Many senior people mistakenly believe that if they describe their accomplishments, interviews will follow. In fact, regardless of the applicant’s seniority, the only question going through an interviewer’s mind is “What can you do for me now?” In many ways, focus is even more important for a more senior job because you need to make a greater impression in just as little time.

Many of the specific problems with this résumé are the same as with Lee’s initial résumé. It’s too long—White should cut his résumé to no more than two pages and strive for one and a half. White should also arrange his descriptions in bulleted lists so that they are easier to read.

However, White’s main content problem is that his résumé doesn’t sell him for the sort of job he’s trying to get. White spends a lot of time describing various job tasks that are clearly junior tasks. Senior positions generally require some management and have less emphasis on technical skills. The ability to perform junior tasks won’t get you an interview for a job that requires senior skills. When applying for a senior position, stress your management skills and experience more than your technical skills or achievements in junior positions.

White also needs to show positive results from his past leadership. He should both describe the experience and quantify the result. For example, White’s résumé mentions “management and maintenance of web development effort for both U.S. and Canadian sites.” This is an impressive achievement, but the size of the undertaking is not clear; nor is it clear whether the project was a success. The description in White’s résumé leaves open the possibility that the project was a total failure and he is being forced to resign in disgrace or that the project was trivial and consisted of posting a few documents to a web server. White should quantify the results of his work whenever possible. For example, he could state, “Managed team of 7 in developing and maintaining U.S. and Canadian websites. Sites generate 33 million hits and $15 million annually.”

White is looking for a job that is heavy on project management and lighter on skills. He should deemphasize his “flavor of the month” buzzwords and emphasize his experience. He may even want to eliminate his technology skills inventory to make sure the reader doesn’t think he’s applying for a less-senior position.

White’s revised résumé appears in Figure A-5. Notice how the résumé explains his accomplishments much more clearly and does a much better sell job. White becomes someone who a company couldn’t afford not to interview.

This revamped résumé is a much more effective marketing tool for White.

Tailor the Résumé to the Position

When you send someone your résumé, you usually know something about the job you’re applying for. When you do, you can give yourself an additional advantage by creating a new version of your résumé targeted specifically to that particular job. Remember, your résumé is your advertisement—just as television advertisers run different advertisements of the same product for different audiences, you want to sell yourself in the way that’s going to be most effective for each opening.

Start with the general version of your résumé that you’ve developed using the preceding techniques. Now review your résumé, putting yourself in the position of the hiring manager who will be reading it. Your résumé should already sell you as a great programmer—does it also sell you as the best programmer for this particular position? Some specific things to consider:

• Emphasize the most relevant skills and experience. Items that are irrelevant to one job may be vital to another. Revise your résumé to highlight the things that make you the best candidate for the position.
• Make your objective statement match the job description, if you use one. If your résumé tells the employer that the job you’re looking for is not the one they’re hiring for, you’re not going to get an interview.
• Use the terminology of the job description. If there are multiple synonymous terms for your skills or experience, try to incorporate the terms you see in the job description into your résumé. This way your résumé appears appropriate for the position even to someone in HR who doesn’t understand technology and might otherwise screen it out.

Keeping many versions of your résumé up to date is difficult, so usually the best strategy is to have one general version of your résumé that you keep updated and then adapt this version for each job application on a case-by-case basis. Remember to proofread carefully each time you adapt it! The general version is also useful when you need to provide a résumé but you don’t have information about the position, or the résumé may be used for multiple job openings (such as when working with a headhunter).