[TriLUG] looking for resume writer/improver

[Joseph Mack NA3T]

On Sun, 23 Jan 2011, Matt Flyer wrote:

> Third it needs to communicate to the hiring manager that 
> you have the skill set to do the job.
.
.
> One point that I have always tried to remember above all 
> else is that the person who reads it is going to be 
> pressed for time.

These two statements crystallise the problem.

How do you not insult the reader, without risking leaving 
out things that they may be looking for?

You could leave out the old stuff, on the basis that no-one 
uses that technology now, but you solved the problem of the 
moment with the tools available then, showing that you can 
solve today's problems today.

Presumably what to leave out is obvious to the hiring 
person, but will all resume reader's find the same points 
superfluous? I don't know.

When I started teaching, I quickly saw what examiner's 
looked for and it wasn't what I thought when I was a 
student. The work that you put hours or days into, gets at 
the most a couple of minutes from the examiner. I would 
decide that say 6 points needed to be addressed, even if 
they were of greatly different importance. Then I'd look for 
the 6 points - they'd all have to be there and each would 
have to be explained, the more important ones needing more 
explanation. When I was a student, I would often ignore the 
minor points. After a year of teaching, I decided that to 
get good grades, you should first teach the subject.

If this is the case for resumes as well, I expect the only 
people who know what to leave in/leave out are the people 
who read a lot of resumes.

Joe
-- 
Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
jmack (at) wm7d (dot) net - azimuthal equidistant map
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