*UPDATED* Yet Another Resume Thread -- Anyone wanna critque my resume??

[mAdD INDIAN]

I know its been done before by others, and I've asked you guys for help regarding cover letters, but after months of searching, I think my resume is the weakest link.

So I beckon the powers of ATOT to help me out and find ways to make my resume more appealing. Hopefully others will gain some knowledge from this as well (mostly the guys looking for summer jobs).

Anyway, here's my resume: Link - UPDATED

No need to be nice, critque all you want.

 

[Mill]

You spelled honours wrong.

 

[snik]

There are other spelling mistakes as well

 

[Wingznut]

Nix the "extracurricular activities", as they can't help your chances. And make it fit on one page... Consolidate much of the "skills" section, if you need to.

Other than that, it looks pretty good.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: Millennium
You spelled honours wrong.

I'm in Canada, that's how we spell it.

I fixed the 'recieved' spelling mistake. I don't see any other ones?

Any problems with how it looks, the info it presents? Should I be more in detail or less?

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: Wingznut
Nix the "extracurricular activities", as they can't help your chances. And make it fit on one page... Consolidate much of the "skills" section, if you need to.

Other than that, it looks pretty good.

What do you mean by consolidate?

btw, I hope to work for Intel one day!

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: Millennium
You spelled honours wrong.

I'm in Canada, that's how we spell it.

I fixed the 'recieved' spelling mistake. I don't see any other ones?

Any problems with how it looks, the info it presents? Should I be more in detail or less?

Damn we really need a sarcasm tag. I was making fun of the fact that you are from Canada and spell honour with the British spelling.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: Millennium

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: Millennium
You spelled honours wrong.

I'm in Canada, that's how we spell it.

I fixed the 'recieved' spelling mistake. I don't see any other ones?

Any problems with how it looks, the info it presents? Should I be more in detail or less?

Damn we really need a sarcasm tag. I was making fun of the fact that you are from Canada and spell honour with the British spelling.

Hehe..sorry.. you didn't have a smiley when I replied to that post.

 

[Yax]

1. Canadian Red Cross XXX does not belong in the Summary of Qualifications. Maybe make another catagory for it, like Other skills or throw it in the extra Curricular activities.

2. You repeated the 100% on the Cisco Net... - Avoid repeats.

3. Impressive resume. You'll get that intern or entry level position for sure when you pass the interview.

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: Millennium

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: Millennium
You spelled honours wrong.

I'm in Canada, that's how we spell it.

I fixed the 'recieved' spelling mistake. I don't see any other ones?

Any problems with how it looks, the info it presents? Should I be more in detail or less?

Damn we really need a sarcasm tag. I was making fun of the fact that you are from Canada and spell honour with the British spelling.

Hehe..sorry.. you didn't have a smiley when I replied to that post.

Yeah I edited after your last post.

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: Wingznut
Nix the "extracurricular activities", as they can't help your chances. And make it fit on one page... Consolidate much of the "skills" section, if you need to.

Other than that, it looks pretty good.

What do you mean by consolidate?

btw, I hope to work for Intel one day!

The "skills" section is too long and tedious. You should only have 5 or 6 bullet points. For example, consolidate like this...

Instead of:
? Excellent knowledge of computer hardware and software
? Experience in assembling and troubleshooting PCs

Make it:
? Excellent knowledge of computer hardware and software and experienced in assembling and troubleshooting PCs


And also combine all the "proficients" into one line. (i.e. Proficient in word, excel, java, Counterstrike...)

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: cheapbidder01
1. Canadian Red Cross XXX does not belong in the Summary of Qualifications. Maybe make another catagory for it, like Other skills or throw it in the extra Curricular activities.

2. You repeated the 100% on the Cisco Net... - Avoid repeats.

3. Impressive resume. You'll get that intern or entry level position for sure when you pass the interview.

The problem is, I don't get any interviews!!! No one even calls back!

Thanks on the Canadian Red Cross thing and the 100% on Cisco Net..change them now.

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN
The problem is, I don't get any interviews!!! No one even calls back!

No, no, no... Don't wait for them!

You call them. Show them how much you want the job.

 

[SyahM]

Looks good but make sure your final product is in pdf format.
OTOH, you should replace the word used and edited with some other powerful verb, maybe rework the whole sentence. Furthermore, avoid repeating the power verb you use.
Remember, your resume might only have 30 secs max before it's been toss or keep for call.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: Wingznut

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN
The problem is, I don't get any interviews!!! No one even calls back!

No, no, no... Don't wait for them!

You call them. Show them how much you want the job.

yes well if they showed the phone number I would do that. And for the ones that do have the phone number, all they say is "we only call back those that we are interested in, please do not call again".

It really pisses me off that I can't talk to someone!

 

[notfred]

I always wonder if people exagerate on thier list of skills. (i.e. say "experienced with java" when they mean "used java to write two programs in one class in school") so I'm going to test you on the ones I know:

Knowledgeable in Windows 9x/ME, NT, 2000, Linux (All distributions)
1) How would you change a user's home directory in linux?
2) Show me how to find, on a linux machine, the locatino of all files named "thingilost.txt"
3) How do you set up an ODBC data source in windows 2000?

Experience in assembling and troubleshooting PCs
1) You assemble a new PC, turn it on, and power it up. The fans and disks spin, but nothing comes up on the monitor. What do you try?

Solid understanding of Windows-based networks
1) What are WINS addresses for?

Proficient in Java, experience with JBuilder 4
1) what does the static keyword do?

Experience in Perl.
1) Write a perl subroutine that takes a list of scalars, replaces ".tif" with ".jpg" at the end of each file that ends with '.tif' or '.TIF' and returns the corrected list.

Expertise in Adobe Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro6
1) How do you make a tif file with a clipping path in photoshop?

Ok, now that my quiz is over, I think that "work experience" should be the first section after the objective.

 

[SyahM]

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: Wingznut

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN The problem is, I don't get any interviews!!! No one even calls back!

No, no, no... Don't wait for them! You call them. Show them how much you want the job.

yes well if they showed the phone number I would do that. And for the ones that do have the phone number, all they say is "we only call back those that we are interested in, please do not call again". It really pisses me off that I can't talk to someone!

you can also visit them, sometimes instead of emailing/snail mail your resume, you could submit your resume in-person.

 

[kt]

First of all, stay away from Words resume templates. Just make your own.. it's not really that difficult.

Like someone already said, ditch some of the areas like Summaries of Qualifications and Extracurricular Activities. Or maybe mesh your qualifications into your skills section. Try to fit into one page. Instead of having bullets for each knowledge or skill, try to summarize in a few sentences and list your technological knowledge in bullets format. Separate them into 2 columns if you have to just so it will fit into one page.

You may want to move your Work Experience before your Education. Under Work Experience, you may want to summarize your duties/responsibilities in a couple of phrases instead of having bullets. Then have a bullet list of your important accomplishments. Like what have you done that stands out or shows your talent. There are nothing but bullets after your Objective section. The above suggestions will put a break between bullet lists.. it's more pleasing to the eyes and easier to read, I think.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: notfred
I always wonder if people exagerate on thier list of skills. (i.e. say "experienced with java" when they mean "used java to write two programs in one class in school") so I'm going to test you on the ones I know:

I made a multithreaded proxy server in Java that supported blocked IP/hostnames

Knowledgeable in Windows 9x/ME, NT, 2000, Linux (All distributions)
1) How would you change a user's home directory in linux?
2) Show me how to find, on a linux machine, the locatino of all files named "thingilost.txt"
3) How do you set up an ODBC data source in windows 2000?

1) I think you change the scripts in /etc.
2) locate thingilost.txt
3) Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> ODBC -> Add Source

Experience in assembling and troubleshooting PCs
1) You assemble a new PC, turn it on, and power it up. The fans and disks spin, but nothing comes up on the monitor. What do you try?

Well make sure the vid card works and is seated correctly. Check Monitor cable is conected problemy and pins arent bent

Solid understanding of Windows-based networks
1) What are WINS addresses for?

Pretty much resolving host names in WIndows networks (allows you to see "Notfred's" comp in network neighbourhood)

Proficient in Java, experience with JBuilder 4
1) what does the static keyword do?

Deals with objects/classes. Static variable is part of the class rather than a instance variable. Some call it a class field.

Experience in Perl.
1) Write a perl subroutine that takes a list of scalars, replaces ".tif" with ".jpg" at the end of each file that ends with '.tif' or '.TIF' and returns the corrected list.

yeah this part was bull, i'm actually learning Perl now.

Expertise in Adobe Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro6
1) How do you make a tif file with a clipping path in photoshop?

dunno that. I know how to do effects/layer interlacing/playing around with hte oclour values,etc..

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: kt
First of all, stay away from Words resume templates. Just make your own.. it's not really that difficult.

Like someone already said, ditch some of the areas like Summaries of Qualifications and Extracurricular Activities. Or maybe mesh your qualifications into your skills section. Try to fit into one page. Instead of having bullets for each knowledge or skill, try to summarize in a few sentences and list your technological knowledge in bullets format. Separate them into 2 columns if you have to just so it will fit into one page.

You may want to move your Work Experience before your Education. Under Work Experience, you may want to summarize your duties/responsibilities in a couple of phrases instead of having bullets. Then have a bullet list of your important accomplishments. Like what have you done that stands out or shows your talent. There are nothing but bullets after your Objective section. The above suggestions will put a break between bullet lists.. it's more pleasing to the eyes and easier to read, I think.

i thought hte whole point was not to use paragraphs because it takes longer to read. Bullets show everything instantly.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN
answers to questions...

Ok, so you actually know most of it... not too much exageration going on

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN
answers to questions...

Ok, so you actually know most of it... not too much exageration going on

I don't exagerate or lie (took out Perl from my resume since I don't know it properly yet). I don't want to be in a position where I have a job, but don't know what to do.

 

[kt]

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: kt
First of all, stay away from Words resume templates. Just make your own.. it's not really that difficult.

Like someone already said, ditch some of the areas like Summaries of Qualifications and Extracurricular Activities. Or maybe mesh your qualifications into your skills section. Try to fit into one page. Instead of having bullets for each knowledge or skill, try to summarize in a few sentences and list your technological knowledge in bullets format. Separate them into 2 columns if you have to just so it will fit into one page.

You may want to move your Work Experience before your Education. Under Work Experience, you may want to summarize your duties/responsibilities in a couple of phrases instead of having bullets. Then have a bullet list of your important accomplishments. Like what have you done that stands out or shows your talent. There are nothing but bullets after your Objective section. The above suggestions will put a break between bullet lists.. it's more pleasing to the eyes and easier to read, I think.

i thought hte whole point was not to use paragraphs because it takes longer to read. Bullets show everything instantly.

Yes, but your resume looks like a grocery list right now. Don't take me wrong, bullet lists are great but overusing them is not. Sometime two short phrases taking up 2 lines are better than a 5 lines bullet list.

 

[kt]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN
answers to questions...

Ok, so you actually know most of it... not too much exageration going on

You went easy on him. Should've posted some more in-depth questions that would cater to his claimed level of experience.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Ok I updated my resume and got rid of some of the bullets. Added paragraphs too. Check it out now.