Well, that volunteering actually got me my first worker-bee/bitchwork IT/helpdesk job. My employer hired me because I had a lot of technical skill from volunteering. EDIT: I see now. I guess I didn't take off that last word. I should probably remove the IT stuff anyway since that's not what I want to do in the field. I'll probably remove all the bullet points and just list some skills that I have.
The resume makes a lot more sense when all the shit isn't blacked out, but that's how it is.
See, I don't feel like I don't have experience. You guys keep referencing this lack of experience and that I don't have an internship. Maybe it's just that I am poorly demonstrating my experience OR that I really don't know what qualifies as experience. (Something I'd like to have some specifics on)
From what I read in the programming forum, PHP is the second most in-demand language. Java is the first, but PHP is second. So, I don't know where you're getting that. Regardless, I've done plenty of Java in my CS classes. But, I don't use it almost ever because... well, I am not employed to do it.
More Edits: We use SVN at work. I've done it before that. I know how it works. I think that should kind of be implied, but apparently it isn't. I don't use GIT or mercurial or any of the others, but that's just because I don't have a reason to. (Again, math major and my job uses SVN)
The reason we don't see that you have experience is because your resume doesn't list anything that would qualify as experience in the software development field.
Your first job, the only one that matters in this case, you list one blurb that doesn't really say anything about what you do. For all a hiring manager could know, it means you built surveys for people on SurveyMonkey.com. If you are actually involved in the development of a platform like SureveyMonkey.com, then you need to list that and not be so vague.
Be specific about what features you've developed. Do they relate to analytics, functionality, or usability? Each of those things is a different aspect of software development and will be seen differently by the hiring manager. Mention that you maintain code and fix bugs if that's what you do. If you are instead responsible for designing new features, say that. If you implement new features, say that. Mention that it is a structured coding environment using SVN. Otherwise, you kind of come across as what 10 years ago would have been known as a "script kiddie."
You can have five or ten bullet points about a single job. Heck, I've only had one other real IT job, had it for 8 years. It WAS my resume. I think I had 15 bullet points listing various responsibilities I had.
When you're looking for a career job, it's important to make yourself look like an ambitious (but not too ambitious) person. On the other side, though, don't fluff. Expect the hiring manager to ask you about every single thing you list on your resume. For instance, if you say you have Windows AD experience, they're probably going to ask you something. So if your only experience is actually just resetting people's passwords, then I would leave it off. Instead, list that you have helpdesk, issue identification, and triage experience in an IT department, and that you have experience working with an escalation team to identify and resolve issues in an Active Directory environment. Same thing for a programming language, or really any other skill. Don't say you have experience with routing and switching if all you've ever done is set up your mother's FIOS connection.
But you can embellish. Instead of saying "Used PHP and MySQL to further develop a website used by physicians to administer surveys and to analyze data from the collected surveys," you can say something like:
* Worked on a project team responsible for the maintenance of the hospital's customer service survey application
* Identified and fixed bugs reported by users
* In response to user demands, implemented numerous new features
* Utilized SVN to track code changes and ease new feature integration
* Worked with the database administrator to develop data models for the application
* Provided various modules for statistical analysis of survey results
* Implemented numerous graphical user interface modifications to streamline the survey creation and collection process
If you mention MySQL, LAMP, Apache, IIS, etc, they may infer that you have experience with the implementation and maintenance of those platforms, seeing you as perhaps a DBA or a Systems Admin, instead of a programmer. You can mention PHP, but you might consider doing that in the title. For instance, instead of "Student Assistant", maybe "Student Assistant - PHP Developer." That way, you look more like an official programmer instead of the guy who tells users to reboot their computers when there's a problem. Also, if you were a member of a team, drill that information into your resume in as many places as possible. TEAM TEAM TEAM. There is no more important word when looking for a job.
Anyway, if you do have actual software development experience, you need to make sure that you write your resume to show that. Focus on it. Don't let anything else steal that thunder, because if that's the job you want then that's the experience that matters. Don't put extraneous information on your resume that might come back to bite you in the ass. Don't list volunteer work unless there's a record of your work and a contact that can be called to verify it.
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