July 19, 2012 at 1:08 am
First post?
Also, excellent article!
July 19, 2012 at 1:23 am
rktn_odin (7/19/2012)
Also, excellent article!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
July 19, 2012 at 2:28 am
Good post John. I have one question. Suppose my content is published online on SQL Server sites like these and if I include those details on my resume, would it be considered as boastful by potential employers?
M&M
July 19, 2012 at 2:44 am
Nice write-up John.
@mohammed: it depends. One employer will love your community involvement and your ambition to broaden your knowledge, while another employer might think you're wasting company's time online.
edit: fixed glaring typo
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MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP
July 19, 2012 at 3:00 am
> All good Data Professionals have excellent attention to detail, fail to get this one right and you’re pretty much just demonstrating that you don’t have what it takes.
Wellllllll....
> Stay away from creative fonts and color palletes
Proper spelling is hard. And yes, I will make spelling errors too.
July 19, 2012 at 3:13 am
mohammed moinudheen (7/19/2012)
Good post John. I have one question. Suppose my content is published online on SQL Server sites like these and if I include those details on my resume, would it be considered as boastful by potential employers?
Thanks Mohammed.
That's an interesting question! Me personal preference is to not mention articles/blog posts on a resume because they can be found easily enough via a simple internet search on a given candidate. That said, if I felt that an article/published work was particularly relevant to a role and clearly demonstrated value, then I might consider mentioning it.
July 19, 2012 at 3:15 am
Koen Verbeeck (7/19/2012)
Nice write-up John.edit: fixed glaring typo
Thanks Koen.
July 19, 2012 at 4:23 am
With regards to the relevancy and a "catch all" resume..
I've been using a catch all for the past 6 years as a contractor and I've never been out of work more than a couple of weeks. I'm currently on contract number 9 and will be looking for my 10th soon.
Instead of paring the resume down to what the job is asking for, I've trimmed it down to what I want to do. Relevancy isn't just for the employer!
The IT job market, especially in the UK, is heavily controlled by the agencies. Having a universal CV/Resume means that when an agent calls me with a potential contract and I want to be put forward, as long as the agent has a recent copy in front of him I don't need to do anything. Alternatively if time is short and I need to get a CV to an agent by a set time then I don't have to think about it. I can spend 2 minutes firing an email off and then get back to whatever I was doing before.
July 19, 2012 at 4:37 am
Samuel Vella (7/19/2012)
With regards to the relevancy and a "catch all" resume..I've been using a catch all for the past 6 years as a contractor and I've never been out of work more than a couple of weeks. I'm currently on contract number 9 and will be looking for my 10th soon.
Instead of paring the resume down to what the job is asking for, I've trimmed it down to what I want to do. Relevancy isn't just for the employer!
The IT job market, especially in the UK, is heavily controlled by the agencies. Having a universal CV/Resume means that when an agent calls me with a potential contract and I want to be put forward, as long as the agent has a recent copy in front of him I don't need to do anything. Alternatively if time is short and I need to get a CV to an agent by a set time then I don't have to think about it. I can spend 2 minutes firing an email off and then get back to whatever I was doing before.
I'm thinking what John meant was that it's for example not necessary to put "I've done some PHP development in college" on your resume when you're applying for a SQL Server DBA job 10 years later.
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July 19, 2012 at 4:54 am
Koen Verbeeck (7/19/2012)
I'm thinking what John meant was that it's for example not necessary to put "I've done some PHP development in college" on your resume when you're applying for a SQL Server DBA job 10 years later.
Thats for John to clarify for you but personally I think you're reading more into it than what he says. Pruning out old data is different from filtering out current data for relevancy.
I've got a bunch of core skills on my CV only 3 or 4 of them will be relevant to any role.
July 19, 2012 at 8:38 am
IMHO
I think it is different for contractors. Headhunters aren't reading any of your resume until their search engine makes a hit on its criteria. Then they will actually put an eyeball on your resume, but, I've been told, then they will only look at the last 5 years of info. I have also been told by headhunters that a 10 page resume, for a contractor, is the upper limit. Other than that the " readable, enjoyable, accurate ..." rules all apply.
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July 19, 2012 at 8:42 am
Hi Samuel thanks for your comments.
If you are totally satisfied with the results of your current strategy, that’s great! Don’t change a thing. It’s important to follow what works for you.
I've been using a catch all for the past 6 years as a contractor and I've never been out of work more than a couple of weeks. I'm currently on contract number 9 and will be looking for my 10th soon.
The contractor and permanent markets are indeed different to one another and do warrant adjustments to a job hunting strategy to reflect this.
Instead of paring the resume down to what the job is asking for, I've trimmed it down to what I want to do. Relevancy isn't just for the employer!
That’s a good mindset sir. Ideally of course, what you want to do and what the employer is asking for should be one and the same.
The IT job market, especially in the UK, is heavily controlled by the agencies. Having a universal CV/Resume means that when an agent calls me with a potential contract and I want to be put forward, as long as the agent has a recent copy in front of him I don't need to do anything. Alternatively if time is short and I need to get a CV to an agent by a set time then I don't have to think about it. I can spend 2 minutes firing an email off and then get back to whatever I was doing before.
Very true, the agencies are a key factor in the UK market. They can spot a great candidate a mile off because their CV stands out (for all the right reasons) amongst a pile of catch all resumes.
Contrary to your own apparent success, perhaps consider why play a numbers game, taking the unnecessary risk of being overlooked, when a targeted resume will consistently come out on top.
In my own experience, both as a candidate and a hiring manager, I have found that the additional effort spent on a resume is always a worthwhile investment.
Great comments! Thanks for sharing.
July 19, 2012 at 8:44 am
Koen Verbeeck (7/19/2012)
Samuel Vella (7/19/2012)
With regards to the relevancy and a "catch all" resume..I've been using a catch all for the past 6 years as a contractor and I've never been out of work more than a couple of weeks. I'm currently on contract number 9 and will be looking for my 10th soon.
Instead of paring the resume down to what the job is asking for, I've trimmed it down to what I want to do. Relevancy isn't just for the employer!
The IT job market, especially in the UK, is heavily controlled by the agencies. Having a universal CV/Resume means that when an agent calls me with a potential contract and I want to be put forward, as long as the agent has a recent copy in front of him I don't need to do anything. Alternatively if time is short and I need to get a CV to an agent by a set time then I don't have to think about it. I can spend 2 minutes firing an email off and then get back to whatever I was doing before.
I'm thinking what John meant was that it's for example not necessary to put "I've done some PHP development in college" on your resume when you're applying for a SQL Server DBA job 10 years later.
Koen, quite right sir. I may not have said so explicitly but this is indeed a theme that I wanted to communicate.
July 19, 2012 at 9:21 am
To add to the discussion, the consulting side of the street in the States definately behaves a bit differently. For example, they always want a chrono 10 year resume, at least almost all of my agencies do. With skills applied at each position.
2 pages not only won't cut it, the lack of mass wouldn't get me anywhere at the level I want positions at.
What I've learned to do is create a hybrid resume. It's a skills based resume with the chrono following it. Not all of the agencies will accept it but I find it helps on those that will. Otherwise, they get my 10 pager. *shrugs* I'm not in direct contact with the hiring manager so I've got to follow along with the directives of the consulting firms out here.
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