Ask HN: Resume tips for new graduate
I am graduating with a degree in Computer Science in May and I am looking for tips to perfect my resume. Anything you can tell me is greatly appreciated.
4 comments
Do you have work experience?
If you have work experience that is what employers will be looking for as it gives you huge edge over those that do not. You would list your education first, any certifications you have, your software and hardware experience then lead into your work experience. In reverse chronological order you would list your job title, the company you worked with and the city, state it was in with the month and year you began and left the company, if you are still working for them you would put for example: March 2013 - Present followed by a description of the job, some bullets on your accomplishments and results.
If you do not have work experience you should go into the details of what you actually studied, accomplished and what the results were of your work during your course work to complete your degree. This would be for example projects, case studies, etc that you have had to work on, you get bonus points if you were a team or project leader in group projects as it shows leadership and project management skills. As during your academic times you should have had to create and finish multiple projects, create new algorithms to solve problems, and do a nice bit of software development which is something you can list in your resume as it shows progress from when you first started to when you graduate. If you attended a top school and received very high grades you should post the GPA and any scholarly awards associated with them.
If you have work experience that is what employers will be looking for as it gives you huge edge over those that do not. You would list your education first, any certifications you have, your software and hardware experience then lead into your work experience. In reverse chronological order you would list your job title, the company you worked with and the city, state it was in with the month and year you began and left the company, if you are still working for them you would put for example: March 2013 - Present followed by a description of the job, some bullets on your accomplishments and results.
If you do not have work experience you should go into the details of what you actually studied, accomplished and what the results were of your work during your course work to complete your degree. This would be for example projects, case studies, etc that you have had to work on, you get bonus points if you were a team or project leader in group projects as it shows leadership and project management skills. As during your academic times you should have had to create and finish multiple projects, create new algorithms to solve problems, and do a nice bit of software development which is something you can list in your resume as it shows progress from when you first started to when you graduate. If you attended a top school and received very high grades you should post the GPA and any scholarly awards associated with them.
In a similar position...
I put Visual Studio and TFS on my resume and that got the most mentions in the 7-8 interviews I've had in the past few weeks, out of everything, which was rather surprising to me (had a standard variety of programming languages, libraries, tools, work experience, etc). If you have experience with those, I would suggest listing them underneath tools or something like that. It helps non-technical people fill out their buzzword checklist as well...
Git didn't get mentioned once.
I put Visual Studio and TFS on my resume and that got the most mentions in the 7-8 interviews I've had in the past few weeks, out of everything, which was rather surprising to me (had a standard variety of programming languages, libraries, tools, work experience, etc). If you have experience with those, I would suggest listing them underneath tools or something like that. It helps non-technical people fill out their buzzword checklist as well...
Git didn't get mentioned once.
Make up a bunch of different resumes under different names and tweak each one accordingly. See which ones work the best and bait the most recruiters, then work that back into the main resume.
Think of it as a genetic algorithm.
Think of it as a genetic algorithm.
what if multiple works and recruiter notices they have the same phone number?
You don't actually want them calling you. Don't list a number. Most initial contact happens over e-mail anyway.
You can use some dirt cheap skype/google voice-like/used prepay if you insist.
You can use some dirt cheap skype/google voice-like/used prepay if you insist.
If you are familiar with source control, add that in, many grads are not. Made a project that followed a few design patterns? Toss that in.