Our company is still hiring java and .NOT programmer. Because all the hiring information are open, I got a chance to go through most of them.
There are still many problems with the resume. And I found my resume is still one of the best.
So I will give some suggestions on how to prepare your resume.
(Sorry, I can only type English in office)
gdgd : 2006-12-11#2
Important: Do not put any part of your resume in boxes or tables, it scans into an unreadable mess, causing delays that put you at a disadvantage. Headers and footers disappear when scanned. Background shading cannot be copied or faxed properly.
If you want to send your resume to an agency, please do what they ask.
gdgd : 2006-12-11#3
Also most content in this thread is written by an IT independent recuriter.
Contact Information: Name, Address, Phone, home email, hotmail email All of the TOP of the first page, not in a box or header so as not to cause delays.
Name: Write your name as it is said, bold but not all caps, not in italics.
Address: We cannot include you in a search unless we have your full address. Put it at the top of the first page (only).
Postal Codes: There are no hyphens in Canadian postal codes. There is a space between the two sets of three characters. Correct postal code format: M4Y 2W1.
Phone:Put your home phone, not just a cell. To avoid appearing eccentric, use dashes, not dots, in phone numbers. To enable us to import into our database, use this format: 416-123-4567
Email: Include both your home email and your Hotmail if any. Email should not be in caps!
The author comments: (funny but true) Using other formats may cause delays while we fix them. No Garamond font, it is hard to read. No cute email addresses or aliases, or silly, too-personal websites, please. Left-justify your resume. Centre-justifying it can create a problem with scanning.
gdgd : 2006-12-11#8
Career Objective:
・ A simple Career Objective can be very helpful to the screener. ・ It should be in the resume, not in the cover letter, which will probably be discarded before reaching the screener. It should tell the company what you can do for them, not the other way around. ・ It should be brief, just one or two sentences, and say specifically (not vaguely) what kind of job you want or could do, so that the screener does not have to try to guess. ・ Think carefully about what to say here. * Avoid the words “progressive”, “challenging”, and “dynamic” which are trite to the point of being meaningless. Do not say you are a "team player" or other over-used phrases.
Examples of how NOT to do this: 1. “To work for a major corporation” (doesn’t specify a position.) 2. “To learn and grow in my career through company education” (Don’t tell the company what they can do for you, they want to know what you can do for them.)
Examples of GOOD Career Objectives: 1. “To be an IT manager for an electronics manufacturer.” 2. “To be VP of Sales in computer software or networking solutions.” "To be a Systems Engineer for a software developer in the Toronto area."
gdgd : 2006-12-13#9
Professional skills:
・ In point form or short, simple, concise paragraphs ・ No boxes, no charts, no fancy formatting, no shading behind lettering, they are too hard to read and do not import, scan or fax well. Columns may or may not scan well. ・ To avoid clutter, you do not need to put the software version number. ・ Do not list word processors, email, fax applications, browsers, or anti-virus programs in skills, everybody knows these.
gdgd : 2006-12-13#10
Education: (Put education near the top of your resume, we want to see that first.)
・ Name of school, location of school, what you studied. Be sure to include dates ・ Other training or courses. School projects do not belong under Employment Experience; they are part of your education history. Coop work may go under work history with the word (Coop) in brackets. ・ What you plan to study next. (Work-related education only.)
gdgd : 2006-12-13#11
Very Important part!
Employment Experience: (chronological, most recent job first) (All positions should be clearly marked as contract/permanent/part-time/coop/etc. in brackets.)
Dates (including months) Company (City or Country) URL Job Title (note: 1997-1998 could be 2 years or 2 months, make sure the months are there.) One line stating the business of the company
Big Systems Company designs and manufactures software. This info is important!
(see next post.....)
gdgd : 2006-12-13#12
In point form (using small conservative bullets) ・ Title of person(s) to whom you reported. Do not include the person’s name. ・ Duties and responsibilities (briefly!) ・ Achievements (briefly!)
(Repeat for each employment.)
Note:
・ If it was a co-op or contract job, put that in brackets after your title. Do not make the screener try to guess why you worked only 3 months somewhere. ・ If you have worked on a project as a volunteer, or worked at your school for no pay, or did intern work, please indicate as such under Volunteer Experience, do not put it under Work Experience.
(see next post....)
gdgd : 2006-12-13#13
Volunteer Work:All unpaid volunteer work belongs here, not in your work experience. Full-time volunteer work may count as a job and go under Work History, clearly marked as volunteer work.
Affiliations:Professional activities/designations, only if related to education or employment.
gdgd : 2006-12-15#14
Cover Letters
Cover letters are a nuisance to recruiters. They are never sent to clients. If used at all, they should not repeat the same information that is already in the resume or contain information that should really be in the resume. If it is in the resume it should NOT be in the cover letter. All important information should be in the resume, especially address and phone numbers. Many recruiters prefer not to have any cover letter at all, we will figure it out, don’t worry. Assume that the cover letter will be discarded without being read.
The cover letter (if any) and the resume should be 2 separate docs. Do not combine them in one doc, or we will have to spend our time trying to remove the cover letter from the resume.
Cover letters (if any) should be brief, one sentence may be enough, and included in the body of the email, not as a separate doc. Personalised but not too intimate, (Dear Mr. or Ms.---, never Dear Firstname)
Your email cover letter if any should contain some of the points below. Keep it BRIEF, the screener will appreciate that you are respecting his time.
・ Mention of which job you are applying for, or if you are sending the resume on spec ・ Mention of where you saw the ad if any, or mention of how you got the recruiter’s name, or the name of the person who referred you. ・ Salary requirements or range or present compensation. ・ Location requirements, or when you expect to be moving to Toronto if not already here. ・ Preferences re permanent or contract work ・ Other special requirements if any. ・ A polite invitation to review the resume.
gdgd : 2006-12-15#15
Some other tricks:
Chronological only: To gain the screener’s favourable attention, resumes must be chronological (NEVER functional), easy to read, easy to understand, complete (no gaps in time), not longer than 2 pages, conservatively formatted, and have correct spelling and grammar.
Length of Resume: Please respect our time. Resumes should be CONCISE and BRIEF! 2-3 pages long is best. In the case of some contractors resumes may be longer, but no resume should contain work history more than 10 years old. Soft skills, e.g. "team player", or “can learn fast” should be omitted. If we need more information we will ask you. References should be on one further separate page.
Location, location, location: Put your full address at the TOP. If you live in Sudbury and are applying for a job in Toronto, we are going to wonder how you plan to get to work in the morning. Do not send us a resume until you are settled in the Toronto area, we cannot handle relocation.
Naming your Resume Doc: We have to file your resume so we can find it again. Don't call your resume Resume.docor anything else which is meaningless to the screener. Call it Lastname, Firstname.doc, for example Smith, John.doc. No underscores.
Email Subject Line: When sending your resume by email, always put your full name in the subject line, also your occupation or the job you are applying for. This will help the screener. For example, “Mary Jones, Sr. C++ Programmer, Toronto” or “Mary Jones for English Help Desk”. Avoid silly or arrogant messages in the subject line of an email.
gdgd : 2006-12-15#16
The last post:
Honesty and Clarity: Do not say anything on a resume that is misleading, vague, or not true. Clarify anything that may be questioned before it is questioned. For example, if you worked for a computer school as a volunteer, do not try to make it appear that you were employed there. If it was co-op or contract work (hourly rate), say so. Don’t annoy the screener by making your resume difficult to understand. Don’t omit jobs, if you did them you are stuck with them.
Thank you!