Topic: let's talk about resumes

I am working on updating my resume and would like to get a little input.

Currently I have on my resume a lot of voulenteer work. Mostly about web sites that I've done and such on the side. How do you guy's and gal's list web sites that you have done but are no longer on line? I really don't want to just let them go but I don't have links anymore to some of them.

When you list the sites that you've done, what should just be a guarentee as to what you used to do the site? XHTML, CSS, Photoshop...
and what should be listed as to what was used?

Right now I have the layout of my resume as :

Objective

Programming Languages

Platforms

Software



Volunteer Work History



Work Experience



Education

That has been the basis of how I have always layed out my resume but and begining to wonder if that is the best way.

Just wanted some inmate 2cents on what they do with their resume and such.

Thanks in advance!

Later,

C:\



(Edited by CPrompt on 05-11-2006 03:46)

I keep screenshots and list the company name that I did the work for.

Currently my resume is talored towards web app programming so I have left all off the websites I have worked on off and concentrate on the web app experience and making sure I have all the appropriate buzz words in there.

Dan @ Code Town

Well, this is the difference between a resume and a portfolio. If you're a designer/developer then you should maintain a portfolio seperate to your resume in an easily accessible website, and make sure this is clearly indicated in your resume. My resume, personally (which is turning out to be quite successful so far) goes like this:

Objective

Skill summary (including the operting ystems, servers, network services, technologies, programming languages and applications I'm proficient in)

Education

Work Experience

Hobbies/volunteer work (limit the volunteer ones down, seriously... some is good, but you can show them too many. Three should do it, and make sure they're relevant to the area you're applying for)

References (even if it's stating that they're available upon request, you sohuld always have a references section)

That works for me, quite well. Speaking of such, I have an interview tomorrow.


Justice 4 Pat Richard

Its unnecessary to list all jobs you've done on your printed resume. I'd limit my listings to the five most current sites online (or most impressive), include a brief description of what I did, then provide a link to my portfolio. Unless its a real impressive site, I wouldn't even bother listing offline work on your portfolio. Instead of linking directly to the site, provide screen shots. Most importantly, make sure you're only listing clients you're on good terms with.

Some more points:

- Don't bother separating your volunteer work from what you were paid to do. Its all the same to potential clients so it should be all the same to you.
- Don't bother including information about programing languages, platforms, or software used if you're going to hand this resume out to potential clients. If you're going to list a bunch of words your employer has never seen, you might as well not list it.
- If your software section is made up of industry standard software, drop the section entirely.
- Don't bother handing out resumes to potential clients. They'll be much more impressed with a CD ROM.

These three: Programming Languages, Platforms, Software could easily be lumped into one section named "Skills" or something of that ilk.

You want to keep your resume to one page (two at the absolute most). Be clear and succinct. Your resume doesn't need to be a laundry list of everything you've ever done in your life, it just needs to have enough detail to pique the interest of a potential employer so they will contact you for more information.

:::11oh1:::

good info. Thanks for this.

quote:

---

krets said:

These three: Programming Languages, Platforms, Software could easily be lumped into one section named "Skills" or something of that ilk.

---

That is the one thing that is confusing to me on the side of how to lay it out. Even if I label it as "Skills" and lump them together, I still would like to seperate them some how. But yeah, I do agree that it doesn't need to be a laundry list. It was at first when I was trying to get into the world of "IT" so to speak. But I've been here for a little while now and have some good stuff under my belt

Thanks again for the info so far.

Later,

C:\

See, I would just have a section called "Skills" and list everything I wanted an employer to consider. Then, in my cover letter I would address their specific requirements as far as the individual technologies they use.

:::11oh1:::

cool! I think my resume is starting to look and read a lot better. This resume is not really for clients as more for a company. So, the resume, I feel, needs to somewhat list things like what programming languages I have experience with and what tool sets and platforms I am comfortable working on.

Thanks for all the help!

Later,

C:\

Unless you're fairly fresh out of school I'd go:

Objective:
Experience:

Anything else.

BTW be careful with listing your programming skills, I've recently been hiring and involved in the hiring process for several programming positions and we will grill you mercilessly on any language you put on your resume. If you want to express some language you have worked with but may not be extremely talented, doing something like:
Expert: Java, HTML CSS
Knowledgeable: Perl, XML
Learning: Python, Ruby.

You can do all your skills like that and it will give you outs. I recently had a guy in with PHP on his resume because he'd changed some variables names once. Didn't know the difference between include and require. ( Common PHP question ).

If your level on something is in doubt do a web search for job interview quesions on the language most you'll find are on there.



.:[ Never resist a perfect moment ]:.

thanks bit! good point and one that i have in there. I originaly put that in there because I wanted them to know that I was "eager to learn" more or less.

I certainly would not someone to give me a big test on php. I can do some stuff with it and can get around in it fairly well, but no expert at all. But I do know the difference between include and require

Later,

C:\