[thelist] Customizing Resumes (WAS: Web Developer Certification)

Eric Engelmann eric.engelmann at geonetric.com
Wed Nov 27 02:54:01 CST 2002


--> I don't mean to belittle you, but this is just an ignorant and insulting
attitude.

No problem, I can take it :-), but I definitely disagree.

--> There is no room on my resume (capped out at two pages
already) to list all of the IDEs I have used.  If that makes me
under qualified to use FrontPage than have a nice day.

Well, I certainly wouldn't give you the interview for FP. In fact, if I
specifically wanted FrontPage experience, why would you apply for the job to
begin with? Why would I choose someone overqualified? What a waste of time.
That's kind of the point of all this - if I specifically want XYZ
experience, and you don't have it - why even apply? If it wasn't a
requirement, it wouldn't be in the job description.

But more to the point - if there are two resumes side by side, why choose
one that lists a zillion IDEs (or anything else) when I can choose one that
has exactly the experience I want AND excellent other experience besides? I
don't *want* to wade through 60 lines of acronyms to see the experience I
want. Give me the highlights, the important ones. Make my life easier, and
its more likely you'll get an interview. If you must have a big list of
anything, highlight the appropriate matching ones with a yellow highlighter.
Really. Its easy to do.

It's not that employers blindly choose based on acronyms alone - clearly
that's an idiotic way to do things. Having "JSP" on the resume doesn't
guarantee an interview. Not having "JSP" doesn't mean you won't get an
interview. But the job market being what it is, most employers are going to
use specific matches as one criterion in the selection process. The purpose
of the resume and cover letter is solely to get you an interview. That's it.
If it doesn't get you the interview, its a pointless endeavor. And if you
can take some steps to get some of those specific matches while still
maintaining the strong core base of experience, then by all means do so.

Its probably worth noting that this was not the case a few years ago when
finding talented personnel was excruciatingly difficult. In our town, two
large telecom firms have laid off hundreds of employees, many of them
technical staff that are highly qualified with excellent experience. Its
just a numbers game - there are simply too many excellent people out there
today - so that when the competition is fierce, you can't afford NOT to have
your information match as closely as possible to the advertised needs.

--> More generally, you should not expect someone to customize their resume
to fit your position:  a) the only folks you will hire are those who
don't have much depth of skill and experience.

That doesn't quite follow - in fact, I think its just the opposite. I have
several versions of my resume that I'll use depending on what I'm trying to
show. Both are short and to the point, focused on the presumed task at hand.
I'd much rather have a resume with a lot of experience in a few key, focused
areas than a lot of acronyms or software applications listed that have
little or no bearing on the job listed. After the first ten, it just isn't
making the case any more to list them all - unless they're specific
requirements, I get the point already. But that's just me, of course, I
can't speak for all hiring folk. :-)

--> b) you are encouraging people to tell you what you want to hear (or to
be blunt: LIE) in their resume.

Stating "I'm a JSP expert" when you're a novice (or have no experience at
all) is clearly an unethical response, no disagreement. But picking up a
book, installing Tomcat/JRun and building simple web apps in your free time,
IMO, qualifies you as saying "I can work with JSP". In fact, it says you
enjoy learning and are willing to take the time to pick up new technologies
as they emerge, sacrificing time you could have spent doing something else.
You may not be able to claim expert status, but that's ok because you'd
presumably have expert status in other things that convince me you'll be
able to pick it up quickly once its a 40 hour a week job.

It's not so much that I want them to tell me what I want to hear - but it is
nice to know that prospective employees 1) read the job description 2) think
it looks good enough that they'll do something other than just fire off
their 220th resume and 3) spend some time actively trying to match the
requirements and 4) aren't wasting my time (and theirs) by sending an
unmatched resume.

-->  If that's the way you run your ship, than I don't want to come aboard.

I suppose I'd have to respond "likewise" from this side - customizing your
resume to the needs specified in the requirements - or at least ensuring
they match - is at minimum just a courtesy and saves everyone time and
energy.

I see it the same way I respond to a Request For Proposal for web services.
We'll almost never send a canned proposal. We customize it, highlighting the
most appropriate experience, showing off related work, removing stuff that
has no bearing whatsoever on the requirements. We won't list every client,
or every case study, or every team member. The more we want the project, the
more we'll spend time thinking about how best to customize it. I'm not
seeing why a resume should be any different, if its a job you really want.

--> On the other hand you *should* modify your listings to request a resume
AND cover letter. <snip> COVER LETTERS should be used!  They should be
written
for the recipient.  They should directly answer the needs of the
organization seeking to hire, and to the needs of the position to be
filled.  The resume should serve as a guide to where the applicant has
been and what he/she has done.

No disagreement here. If you DON'T have the specific experience, but you
still think you're the right one for the position,  you can make your case
in the cover letter for why its irrelevant. But it may have to be a strong
argument to go up against those with resumes that have similar experience to
you AND meet the specific requirements.

I concur that the resume is a guide to your past - I'm just not agreeing
that the resume needs to be set in stone while the cover letter should be
the only thing customized. It's not a transcript from college, it's a sales
piece trying to sell your brain-time to an interviewer, who wants to sell
that same brain-time to his/her clients in turn.

Its just my opinion, as one guy doing some hiring, but it's annoying to get
a resume that has no clear resemblance to the position being offered,
missing requirements that are listed. The cover letter had better do an
amazing job of describing why. Usually, they don't.

> table. (e.g. ASP has so many stupid oddities that there's no way someone
> could ramp up on the details in just a couple of weeks, on top of learning
> our process, coding standards, etc). It is unfortunate, but sometimes I
have

--> really?  I wouldn't put money on that bet, but I know some talented
folks.

Every language has its intricacies that are undocumented or just take a
while to figure out. Yup, the best of the bunch could pick it up faster than
those less gifted, but its still not a "I know Java, so I can do
expert-level C++ or .NET or Cold Fusion in 24 hours" type of thing, no
matter how good you are. There is *some* ramp up involved, and it does come
into play sometimes in the decision-making process. In some cases, a few
weeks of semi-productive ramp-up is a worthwhile tradeoff for someone who is
probably, but not guaranteed to be, superior in the long run. Other times,
it's not.

In the end, I suppose it depends on how much work the candidate is willing
to do to get the position in question. Is it worth the time to increase the
chance at the desired job by some percent by modifying both the resume and
cover letter, or spending the time/money to learn the specific technology in
question? That's up to the candidate to decide.

>From the hiring side, experience is important, but initiative is more
important. I'm not so interested in what you did, as in what you *will do*.

Just my $.02 from the hiring side of the table, I'm sure it's different for
all pointy-haired-bosses. :-)

- Eric


Still veering towards the edge of OT, if not gratuitous rambling, so I owe:

<tip type="random interviewing tips for web dev-type jobs">

While we're on the jobs theme, thought I'd scribble some ideas down.

* Write a thank you note ahead of time. Hand written. Don't email it. Have
it ready to go and mail it immediately following the interview so it arrives
the next day. Make sure you get the interviewer's business card(s) so you
have their names and spell it right. It shows you give a $hit and will set
you apart from the 4 interviews before and 4 after you. It won't win you the
job on its own merit, but it will reinforce that you're courteous, prompt
and organized. All are key qualities and potential differentiators for you
fitting in as part of a team. Another way to look at it is that you are
hopefully giving them confirmation that they've made the right choice ("Ah,
see? I knew he/she would be a great fit!") or leave a dangling question in
their mind about the equally qualified candidate that didn't care enough to
send a TY note.

* Do your research. If its a web dev position, look at some of the sites
they've built. Note what technology they're built in. Look at the code to
see if they hand code it, use Dreamweaver, FrontPage, Interdev, etc. Make
sure you can speak intelligently about those programs or languages. Note any
common threads in their coding techniques. Sometimes they'll use similar
techniques or naming conventions and they can be a good point of discussion.

* Have a few questions ready. Make them intelligent questions about
interesting industry trends, competitive landscape or their clients'
industries. Manager-types love to talk about their teams, their companies,
their tools of the trade.

* Don't be nervous. Really. All interviews are a bit awkward, since you're
meeting a new person and you never quite know what to expect. The
interviewer is usually on their home turf, true, but they just want to
genuinely get to know you. They did invite you, after all, based on your
resume, cover letter and maybe telephone interview. Be prepared for tough
questions - know your stuff. Once you've got that licked, relax. It's just a
friendly discussion of how you can help the company succeed - and how the
company can help you reach your goals.

* Dress up. Even for a proclaimed business casual environment. Err on the
side of professionalism unless you're extra sure its ok to casual-it.

* Print a map, and don't be late. Nothing messes up an interview like the
stress of walking in five minutes late (cursing the lack of parking spaces
all the way) - not to mention the impression of the lateness itself. You'll
be off your stride.

* Bring collateral material with you - a leave behind of some sort.
Something, anything that's useful in setting you apart. A diagram of the
structure of a website you built, or a database schema, or a particularly
complex algorithm, or a coding standards document you wrote that you're
proud of. Something to show you're smarter than the rest - and you're
tactfully able to show it without sounding arrogant. It makes the
interviewer take something with them and put it in your file, so when they
have to go back through the list, they'll remember it. Again, it won't win
it by itself, but it can set you apart in a close race.

* Bring a copy of your resume, cover letter and anything else you've
provided to date, preferably multiple copies, just in case others are
invited prior and there's no time to make copies. (Ya, I know, but sometimes
it happens!)

* Speak up. Be loud and clear. Be confident but not arrogant. Be likeable,
make sure you've discussed at least SOMETHING that's outside of work in the
interview to lighten it up. Normally, the "tell me about
yourself"/icebreaker part is a good place to bring in something
lighthearted. A sense of humor is often needed in stressful work
environments :-)

* Have an ending in mind. If you have one thing that is the most important
differentiator for you, make sure you reiterate it at the end in a clear
manner. (normally, that'd tie into the collateral material you have, if you
have anything - your favorite web project screenshot, schematic, sketch or
something). Ideally this would directly respond to the question you've
asked: "So why are you hiring for this position right now? Do you have a
specific project in mind?"
</tip>




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