JOB SEARCH 10. 3

JOB SEARCH 10.3
WHY DO WE NEED TO HAVE A RESUME?
Does everybody need resume?
Is resume more like a marketing brochure?
Or is it like CIA background check form?
Who writes resumes?
Can I use software to create a resume?
What is the best time to write resume?

JOB SEARCH 10.3
RESUME STRUCTURE - Contact Information
One phone number is enough
Provide cell phone rather home phone number
No email addresses with non-US domains
Small picture does not hurt
Never place contact info in a footer or header

JOB SEARCH 10.3
RESUME STRUCTURE - Objective
Very clear and concise. One line, maximum two.
Cannot include multiple positions (job titles)
Reader should not be guessing what you want
Must part of resume – WHY?
In sync with all other resume sections
You can put Green Card/H1B info right there

JOB SEARCH 10.3
RESUME STRUCTURE - Profile
Major professional and educational qualifications
Bulleted. One bullet per one skill or ability.
Sorted by value. Most important things listed first.
100% supporting the Objective, not trashing it.
Each bulleted position should correspond to work experience gained via employment
Work authorization if not mentioned in Objective

JOB SEARCH 10.3
RESUME STRUCTURE – Technical Skills
Supporting the Objective and Summary
Supported by work experience part of resume
Organized in groups and categories (Platforms, Languages, Bug Tracking Systems, etc.)
No versions of software/tools unless really critical
Do not use tables in that and any other section
Update any time you learn another tool, utility, language, platform, browser, bug tracking system

JOB SEARCH 10.3
RESUME STRUCTURE – Work Experience
Last company at the top, not the first one
One line is enough to cover dates, job title, employer, location, country
Employer web site is an extra
Description of the product tested is important
Bulleted. Each line starts with an action verb.
Only activities related to the Objective
No monkey copy-pasting from project to project

JOB SEARCH 10.3
RESUME STRUCTURE – Education, etc.
Consistent with Objective
Chronologically organized
Americanize the degrees and college names – make it easier to understand
High School is not needed
GPA normally is not needed
Certificates and designations could be shown in that section or a dedicated section of a resume

JOB SEARCH 10.3
RESUME Mythology
One page, two pages, 4-5 pages
Objective not needed
File format – doc, pdf, rtf, txt, HTML
Using or not using bullets
Hobbies, personal (age, marital status, health)
References in the resume
Logos (images) of certificates
Any US experience is better than none???

JOB SEARCH 10.3
RESUME FORMATTING
Use one font and one font size for the entire resume – Why? Any deviations?
Keep one inch margin (all 4)
No footers, no headers
No tables
No coloring of the titles
Consistent spacing between resume sections
Spell check
Comma after word – no space in between

JOB SEARCH 10.3
RESUME LANGUAGE
Action verbs
Past tense – present tense – ing?
Professional language only
No borrowing of common phrases
Do not give your resume to curious people
Never stop learning from resumes of others
Research resume language on Craigslist

JOB SEARCH 10.3
RESUME: Personal
Do we need that in our resume?
What is normally in that section?
No duplication with Profile section
Standard verbiage to avoid
Cool things – is it dangerous?
LAB: How others see me.

JOB SEARCH 10.3
MORE RULES OF SUCCESS:
STAYING OUT OF CROWD
Nicely formatted resume Professionally written resume
All the details taking care of (not sloppy)
Clear objective
Synergy between resume parts
Well written experience bullets
No duplication between projects