[Tejas@perioimpl]

On a related note, go through this thread as well:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...terview-2.html

[khan_sultan]

My 2 cents:

#1: Please write your resume/CV yourself. Don't get it written by someone else. I come across many such instances day-in-day-out and within 2 minutes you can make out that the resume is not written by the person you are interviewing. And on further probing, they admit it also.

#2: You really want to be creative and stand out? Here are some ideas. I bet, that if I were to get a resume like the ones mentioned here, I would hire them right away.

OT: Am actually looking for 2 world class graphic designers :-)

http://forrst-production.s3.amazonaw...png?1296924317

DANIEL STARR - CURRICULUM VITAE on the Behance Network

MY RESUME by ~darthkix on deviantART

More ideas here:
Land Your Dream Job With 25 Innovative Resume Ideas

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Don't get it written by someone else. I come across many such instances day-in-day-out and within 2 minutes you can make out that the resume is not written by the person you are interviewing.

Can you share those ^^ finer points with examples? That would be helpful.

Spike

[vina]

I go through a dozen resumes in an average week, and here are my likes and dislikes (for what it is worth) from the point of view of a recruiting manager:

1. A resume should be the right length.
   • Now right length doesn't mean 10 pages (almost the only guy I know who can get away with that is a professor at Cambridge whose name comes up every year as a candidate for a Nobel prize) - nobody has the kind of time to go through that.
   • Disregard 1-page advice, it is very fashionable and comes from people who either don't hire much or don't care about who they are hiring (meaning- not good people to work for anyway). @amtak is absolutely right.
   • Focus on what goes in the resume, put everything that you want in and then go to edit it to make it as short as possible - but no shorter.
     • This will usually mean tailoring the resume to the job
     • Someone wrote about "nobody has the time to go through 5-6 pages". While that is absolutely right usually, people do look at the first one or two pages in detail and skim through the rest (and look at details if something interesting shows up)
     • What position you are applying for matters too. For a junior programmer with 1year of experience, there will not be much to write about (BUT if you do have a lot of substantial stuff - write that), so a long resume will usually be boring. For a 5-year long career in programming working on different kind of application areas and industry if you write a 1 or 2-page resume, frankly you either are an idiot or will come across as one.
     • For 8-10yr+ resume matters less than contacts (but since you are asking about resume, I think this advice is meaningless)
2. For all the projects you have done, responsibilities you have taken there should be a reverse chronological list with some detail.
   • I like to see
     • how your career has been progressing in terms of skill development
     • what skills you are likely to have already acquired (from the projects you have done - a mention of the project with one line detail is enough)
     • your suitability (if you did the same project over and over again for different clients - you are useful to some people but not to a lot of other people)
     • what do you look for in a job, apart from vitamin M (for example did you transition to different roles in your career, did you take different kind of assignments, did take similar projects again and again but go in depth etc.)
3. As a rule the work done in the past year is more important. So more detail on that is essential and less detail on earlier work will do (keeping the resume concise)
   • You can use your resume to channel the eventual interview towards things you do know - if you highlight those things better.
   • also if you know that the potential employer is likely to be interested in something you did 3 years ago, hghlight that as well.
4. DO NOT LIE on your resume. At least don't do it so blatantly that the interviewer will find out in 2 minutes.
   • You are wasting his as well as your time by doing so. It really takes only 2 min. to find out in almost all cases and it is so annoying
5. DO NOT mention your salary in the resume. DO NOT mention any proprietary technology you worked upon, except in most generic terms. Nobody is interested in you father's or mother's name and in this day nobody wants to see your postal address (email and phone will do)

A lot of web links on resume have shown up here and if you follow some of them.

some other advice:

1. A resume for a job application is just that - a resume for a job application. It is a very important document to get you an interview, but that's about it.
2. Most candidates do not put half the effort in preparation of the candidate than they do in preparation of the resume - this is a fatal mistake. If in the interview you falter on basic stuff that you are supposed to know (like converting binary to octal if you are a programmer, compound interest if you are in finance, definition of pH if you are a chemical or industrial engineer, ...) then frankly you need to worry about things other than CV
3. Understand the hiring process
   1. In most large organisations HR guys are gate keepers who have no idea about what the job is. The hiring managers tell them what to look for in the resume - this is like a keyword search. However if the "right keywords" are missing from your resume the resume wont reach the right guys.
   2. Once you are past that hurdle the hiring manager would want to pre-screen you once he devotes some senior guy's time. That means if you need to "brush up your basics" (I hate it when candidates tell me this - if you really do the work you are supposed to do, then your basics must be brushed and polished every day.) do it before anyone gives you a call.
   3. Try to avoid the salary discussions in the beginning. If you must, then quote a figure higher than your walk away numbers so that if the employers low ball it, you'll still have something to negotiate. Your present salary is none of anybody else's business and that's what you should be telling people. Most HR guys like to talk in "take it or leave it" terms - and that's what they deserve too.
   4. Salaries are decided by a combination - HR and hiring managers together. Different organisations have different ways but for relatively junior positions HR practically controls it. For senior positions do not waste your time with HR (though be polite to them - while many of them are jerks most are not. And most usually have a thankless stressful job where they are blamed for every stupid company policy). For mid-level you need to deal with both - HR will start the negotiation but most likely if you decide to walk away the hiring managers will come into picture.
4. Focus on a career
   1. People who tell you that you should never hop jobs don't know what they are talking about
      • Most businesses do not care about employee's growth at all. The few that do have their limitations.
      • In every company, almost everybody will have to jump out some day to grow further.
   2. People who tell you to hop are almost always wrong
      • Unless the reasons are right.
   3. You should jump for the right reasons (most of what follows in common sense)
      • A 10% to 20% salary increase is a bad reason, a 40% salary increase is a very very good reason but will usually not happen.
      • You should jump if you want to work on certain kind of projects but those are not available in your organisation (you don't need to discuss this with your managers - if they cared they would have discussed with you)
      • You should jump if you are getting responsbilities you would much rather have than what you have now.
      • you should jump if the new job gives you a chance at acquiring skills you plan to use in future.
      • You should jump if the company is faltering (keep an eye on stock performance - investors can usually see through management lies better than you can. Also management can probably be sent to prison for lying to investors, there is no such rule vis-a-vis employees) and there is no love lost between you and you company.
      • You should jump if you have a bad boss - HR will never do anything about it (if they were competent the situation wouldn't arise)
5. Every time you are switching jobs (or planning to) take a look at your career. What exactly do you want to do in next 5 years and what will the next job bring you.

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by vina

In most large organisations HR guys are gate keepers who have no idea about what the job is.

So true! Is the HR guy not supposed to know (bare minimum) about the profile he is looking for? What is your opinion?

Spike

[vina]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

So true! Is the HR guy not supposed to know (bare minimum) about the profile he is looking for? What is your opinion?

Spike

Spike

This work is handled by some of the most junior HR guys. Also requirements vary across groups within an organisation.

On the whole this is neither feasible, nor desirable. The keyword kind of stuff works well enough though people making their resumes should keep it in mind.

[penpavan]

Originally Posted by vina

I go through a dozen resumes in an average week, and here are my likes and dislikes (for what it is worth) from the point of view of a recruiting manager .....

Hi vina, amazing post. While all the points you have discussed are so much valid, they also make a very good reading. I enjoyed reading it. Had a few hearty laughs too!

Great stuff, please write more if you have anything more to share!

[vina]

Originally Posted by penpavan

Hi vina, amazing post. While all the points you have discussed are so much valid, they also make a very good reading. I enjoyed reading it. Had a few hearty laughs too!

Great stuff, please write more if you have anything more to share!

Thanks penpavan

I can add more if you let me know which area you are interested in.

As far as making a CV is concerned, it is like making a marketing flyer - a pretty straight forward process if the product is good and very tricky if the product is no good. Either way the prospective customers (read employers) do not really care about the look and feel of the flyer much as long as it gives all the relevant information efficiently enough.

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

Can you share those ^^ finer points with examples? That would be helpful.

Spike

Just PM us, after you are done making your resume, and we will guide you in totality

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Arey baba, it's not for my use ^^. I need to understand this when I skim through others resume.

Spike

[vina]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

Arey baba, it's not for my use ^^. I need to understand this when I skim through others resume.

Spike

Well, then you asked the wrong question initially

Your questions should have sounded like "how to weed out the incompetent, the liars, the charlatans and the crooks on a first reading of a resume?"

I have some advice on that too - don't know whether it should be made public (you see, the guys you want to weed out may adapt once they know)

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Yes, I agree^^. Can this information be shared via any other means? PM?

Spike

[vina]

Originally Posted by SPIKE ARRESTOR

Yes, I agree^^. Can this information be shared via any other means? PM?

Spike

It is usually specific to the domain, and the guidelines work some times and do not work some times.

I'll send you a message by tomorrow.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Just PM us, after you are done making your resume, and we will guide you in totality

Is this offer open to all? I am job hunting these days and could do with some expert evaluation of my resume

[Saanil]

I have gone through the process of resume making recently. Now Resume is a tool for marketing yourself. Remember that you will be called for interview only after your resume is approved. Initially what I did was I made a word file of whatever I have done in my college, my internships and my extra-curricular activites. I did not use any formal language but just wrote in plain english language. In order to make a good resume you have to be sure what job you are applying for and what skills are required for it.

Then note down the things which you think are important to the job you are applying too. If you are a fresher then obviously your reusme will have a lot of college stuff and a few internships. However if you have earlier job experience then that should be given much more importance. For any point you mention - Suppose I did a project in college; you must write down the following:
1. What was your role in the project?
2. What skills did you learn?
3. What problems did you face and how did you tacke them?
4. What results did you acheive?

Make such points for each of your major headings. After making the points try to refine your language by using thesarus or showing it to others. You will have to revise your resume a lot of times to incorporate changes mentioned by other people. Do not use long sentences to explain things. Remember one thing - Do not lie but do not fail to exaggerate. At some places you will have to exaggerate things.