Ask HN: Can someone help critique my resume?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11264596

by HAL9OOO • 10 years ago

3 7 10 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Hi!

I'm looking for a new job and just redesigned my resume. It's been a while since I've done this, I would appreciate it if anyone could give me any feedback on the content or styling. Rip me a new one please :).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gaooqcdvqz5zswm/jahamed_resume.pdf?dl=0

eschutte2• 10 years ago

I think it looks good. I'd clean up some capitalization/punctuation (U.S., Ruby, Python, JavaScript) and fix some sentences ("web forms with track changes functionality" would be better written "web forms with change-tracking functionality"). I haven't looked at resumes in a while though so hopefully you'll get better input from someone else.

HAL9OOO2• 10 years ago

Thanks for the suggestions! Changing that sentence around definitely sounds better.

ktRolster• 10 years ago

The biggest improvement you can make is to make it obvious at a glance what your skillset is. I've skimmed over it, and I'm still not sure what you can do (note: you very clearly quash any doubts about your work status and location, so good job on that). The easiest way to do that is to put a 'summary' line at the top (or it can be a 'description' or 'objective' or whatever you want to call it). Maybe, "Full Stack Java developer with mobile experience" or whatever. Have it focus on the kind of job you want.

Since you have a lot of work experience, you might consider moving your education towards the bottom. Follow the principle of "make the most important stuff most obvious;" several years of experience should usually be higher up than a university degree.

bradley_long• 10 years ago

I am not working in US and in a different industry. I am doing marketing. You may just take my opinions as reference. From the point of view of business, I suggest you can describe how you helped your employer/ company/ clients in the job description. I am not familiar with IT so I use things related to business as an example.

e.g. H&M Salesman Original: Sold clothes to customers. Suggestion: Provided professional advises to customers in order to help them to develop their personal image.

Numbers and descriptive phrases can help HR manager to remember what you have achieved.

zhte415• 10 years ago

I agree with bradley_long on making the business impact of what you've done clear. $XX saving or creating $YY revenue or saving ZZ hours for a team. It shows that you understand the business impact of your role, the 'value' you create, as you surely do create value.

Perhaps also put a short mission statement on the top, with 2-3 bullets of who you are and what you seek.

Great on keeping it on one page for 8 years experience. Also have a backup which may span multiple pages when a HR or headhunter wants to learn more.

Deal with the gaps. For example, 2009-2012, what was going on? I have similar gaps on my CV. Easily document them, for me it was a 2 year paternity break, and another break of 3 years freelancing. A HR or manager is going to ask, and may waste-paper-bin-it based solely on self-prejudice.

I like you put 'willing to relocate' right at the top. If you speak other languages, also put that in the header. It can be an unexpected bonus for a feature of a role not in the JD.

HAL9OOO2• 10 years ago

Thanks for the suggestions! I've been thinking of ways to show the impact of the projects but I can't think of any hard numbers for them. Most of the projects at my old job were for clients but I only ever had a vague sense of how much money we were billing them for and my current job is a government contract, I just listed that we increased the rate of study completion which we have since before the system didn't exist/wasn't digitized.

Also I graduated in 2011, but I did have a gap last year since I was hiking the AT/traveling. I've gotten mixed advice on whether to keep it on my resume or not hmm.

scottyates11• 10 years ago

On top of the others' suggestions, I would suggest you to keep the sentence short and understandable. I don't know what company you are going to apply. Just a reminder that not all HR managers have the knowledge of IT/ programming/ coding. Try to prepare an easy version for those who have no IT background.

Showing the impacts/ results would definitely help.

Ask HN: Can someone help critique my resume?

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