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Looking for some resume feedback on how to shorten resume

purbeast0

purbeast0

No Lifer
here's a link to a modified resume of mine (removing details and replacing with generic stuff):

http://imgur.com/a/Szzuy

i actually got it down to 3 pages from like 3.75 pages by removing some bullet points. i tried to keep it to 5 max in some areas. however i want to try and possibly get it down to 2 pages, but i am not sure how to really do it.

i actually also need to add another project to the top of my experience since i just started a new project 2 months ago, so that is also going to take up some space.

the format of it can change too, but that is the format that my company put it in and they use it to submit with other contracts that they are trying to secure, so i just kept my personal one that way too. but i'm open to changing it as well.

i'm not an english major and suck at writing, so i'm open to pretty much all suggestions on how i could get this down to 2 pages instead of 3. i'm not looking so much as to wording changes (unless it cuts down length) at this point, but if you find some and suggest some i'm open to it. mainly looking to just figure out a way to cut out a full page.

i'm not really job hunting or anything right now, but i like to have my resume as clean as possible if i ever do.
 
There are some lines you should easily remove that don't help employers in the least bit. Like:

"general bug fixes and testing that go with the normal development cycle"

You're a software engineer, I'm assuming you did bug fixes. You don't need to tell me that. Just like I don't need college grads telling me they're familiar with MS Office... I know you are, that doesn't help me figure out why you're better than the other guy.

You also seem to have quite a bit of repetition in your projects which is just wasted space. Project 1 and 2 have nearly the same first bullet point. You're trying to tell somebody what experience you have in as little space as possible, so don't put the same thing in the next project. I already know you have that experience based on project 1.
 
gorcorps said:
There are some lines you should easily remove that don't help employers in the least bit. Like:

"general bug fixes and testing that go with the normal development cycle"

You're a software engineer, I'm assuming you did bug fixes. You don't need to tell me that. Just like I don't need college grads telling me they're familiar with MS Office... I know you are, that doesn't help me figure out why you're better than the other guy.

You also seem to have quite a bit of repetition in your projects which is just wasted space. Project 1 and 2 have nearly the same first bullet point. You're trying to tell somebody what experience you have in as little space as possible, so don't put the same thing in the next project. I already know you have that experience based on project 1.
Click to expand...

i gotcha, makes sense about bug fixes and stuff.

as for the project 1 and 2 stuff, the points are kind of similar but they aren't because both projects are running on completely different technology, which is why i kind of sum up the architecture of the projects in the first bullet point. as for me being a lead developer, yeah that part is repetitive, but i put it that way because it's the role i had on that project so figured it should be in there early on.
 
Brainonska511 said:
I think the only reason people include MS Office is to prevent a machine from automatically excluding them because they left off some keywords.
Click to expand...

If any employer in 2016 is still filtering out new graduates based on if they they said "Microsoft Word" in their resume, I wouldn't come within 100' of that company in the first place.
 
purbeast0 said:
i gotcha, makes sense about bug fixes and stuff.

as for the project 1 and 2 stuff, the points are kind of similar but they aren't because both projects are running on completely different technology, which is why i kind of sum up the architecture of the projects in the first bullet point. as for me being a lead developer, yeah that part is repetitive, but i put it that way because it's the role i had on that project so figured it should be in there early on.
Click to expand...

Maybe there's a way to explain the differences without rehashing the full statement. Something like "Tool similar to Project 1 with multiple database types using EXTJS based JavaScript front end"

I have to admit that I'm not in this field so a lot of the terms are lost on me... so I'm probably not your target audience, other than being a recruiter myself. It just seemed repetitive enough to warrant trying to cut some fat there.
 
gorcorps said:
Maybe there's a way to explain the differences without rehashing the full statement. Something like "Tool similar to Project 1 with multiple database types using EXTJS based JavaScript front end"

I have to admit that I'm not in this field so a lot of the terms are lost on me... so I'm probably not your target audience, other than being a recruiter myself. It just seemed repetitive enough to warrant trying to cut some fat there.
Click to expand...

ok gotcha, makes sense. although, project 1 and 2 are not similar at all lol. but i guess my role sounds similar. but yeah, trimming the fat is what i'm looking for and trying to figure out how to do so, so thanks.
 
Meh. Total shit. You should only and I mean ONLY use bullet points for specific information that you want to draw attention to. Resumes should be three pages max as well, so it's good you're cutting it down to two. Employers don't want to read a novel. Also, keywords! Some high-end companies just run your resume through a scanner and search for keywords. Don't meet that and your resume is tossed.

I learned some resume tactics while going to Job Corp. But that was years ago. I can say the resume I typed up myself got praise from two employers.

Look on YP.com for the local employment agency. There you can have them make you up a good resume. But even then it may not follow specific guidelines.
 
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Think like a Twitter user. And use buzzwords.

"Worked with taking the tool in a new technological direction" -> "Refactored tool"

"Updated the databases..." -> "Designed automated database refactoring using Liquibase with Grails" - Did I interpret that right?

"Taught the 'Tool Workshop'..." -> "Led a 24-work-hour Edit: three-day all-day classroom seminar for developers."

"Was part of the Community Support team..." -> "(Led?) Level 2(? or 3?) support"


Project 3: I wouldn't brag about Swing if I could help it these days. Also:

"Worked with the government stakeholders..." -> "Primary liaison on the government contract".

I wouldn't talk about in-development projects unless there's some evidence of their being more than vaporware.

On your Mobile game, "Had to write native Java code...", so you hate writing Java code. Why are you bragging about Swing earlier... :colbert:
 
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I only just got started, but maybe under development tools/languages, you could alphabetize the ones you know. That would shorten your resume, since you would then realize how many times you listed Parse, Ruby, and (I'm not going to say the 3rd one - Once I realized Ruby was there twice, I searched for others. YOU can do the work on this one to find the other repeats.)
 
DrPizza said:
I only just got started, but maybe under development tools/languages, you could alphabetize the ones you know. That would shorten your resume, since you would then realize how many times you listed Parse, Ruby, and (I'm not going to say the 3rd one - Once I realized Ruby was there twice, I searched for others. YOU can do the work on this one to find the other repeats.)
Click to expand...

LOL thanks for that, yeah i have those all at the top because those are some words that will just be matched on when scanning for specific technologies. as i said i haven't really updated it in a while and want to do that now, while trying to trim it down. i'll definitely try to fix that. the "order" if there is some, is just the more recent/wanted stuff at the beginning, although i dont' think that really holds true anymore . it's just jumbled together at this point.

Ken g6 thanks for the points. yeah i'm not really bragging about using swing, but that's what i did so it's in there. overall it just gives the picture that i'm versatile and can pick upany languages, which is why i specify in each project.

as for the "in development" stuff, the 1st one there is a lot of proof and it's actually a startup i started with 2 other guys. technically i' the CTO of a company but i wasn't sure if i should put that on there or not in the professional area, or just as the in development section. we hope to have it in public beta by end of june.

and the thing about writing native java is because the whole app is written in objective-c and i wrote that because i wrote a bridge that would run native java code from a project written in objective-c. it was actually a huge pain in the ass to get it all working lol.
 
My opinion, as somebody regularly interviews candidates (I have 4 candidates resumes received today for review). I generally spend about 60-80 seconds per resume scanning for keywords & experience relevant to the open position on my team.

  1. Keep it to 2 pages, not 3 - 1 sheet front & back printed.
  2. Ditch the summary, or at least tighten it up to less than 6 lines.
  3. Tailor to the position you are applying for. Do they develop with Google Developer Tools? No? Then why do I care?
  4. Is "general bug fixes & testing" something to really reference on your resume as a Sr Architect? Probably not. Something like "Developed Unit Tests which reduced test time by 98% and reduced reported bugs by 50%" is something to put on, though.
  5. Quantify things. None of your experience references any type of numbers!
  6. Tighten the whole thing up - for example, "Developed & presented 24 hours of "Tool Workshop" training to developers interested in writing compatible Web Applications." - thats says the same thing in 1/2 the space.
 
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