Question:
Would anyone mind taking a quick look at my resume? Is it any good or
is it just crap? Its at:
http://web.utk.edu/~enlil
Answer:
- Overall, it was very good. Now, you asked a direct qauestion, so I'll
give some direct answers. If you didn't really want the answers, feel
free to ignore my advice - sometimes I don't understand the point of
questions like this. ("Am I fat?", etc, sometimes should not be
answered truthfully!)
I'd find a better place to host it. That site is very, very slow. It
might be worth paying for a $20/month ISP account so that your resume
doesn't take 30 minutes to load! In addition, try to stay away from
any of the free hosting providers which give too many ads on your
site. Some people don't like those.
The objective: I'd take out the "willing to start at entry level and
work up." It makes you sound more desperate than you want to sound.
With your qualifications, it makes it sound like "there is something
wrong with you," which is something you don't want a resume to do.
I always look for employees that would like the work, so maybe mention
that this is an interest of yours somehow...
In education, you might reorder your education so the Master's degree
(wow!) shows up on top. Remember: important stuff on top.
In Profile, is korn shell all lower case? It's X Windows, not X
Window. Unix should be capitalized in both places. I'd probably
rename this section to "Skills".
I've never seen a Limitations section before, but I don't think
that this is necessarily a bad thing to have. You might rephrase
the programming section there to say something like:
My interests tend towards system administration and information
systems work rather than applications development. I desire a
position that allows me to pursue these interests.
I don't think I'd focus on the small number of PCs. You are
qualified for what you are seeking, so I would remove that
section. You might add in it's place that youa re seeking a
position which allows you to increase your skills and work in a
low-pressure environment. But, I don't know exactly what you
want, so use your own judgement! If you make these changes, you
might rename this section to something like, "Preferred Tasks"
or something similar.
For Long Term Goals, you might change this sentence to "Increasing
competency and skill base to pursue a career in system/network
administration." It might sound better.
You are warned, though, that I'm autistic so I might not be
looking for all the same things that others are. Managers hire
people like them most often, so you'll want to keep this in mind.
There was a running joke a few jobs ago that I would only hire
the wierd canidates! :) I hired one guy who was late to his
interview because his car was stolen - out of our parking lot.
Another guy liked to walk to work barefoot, which made lunch
meetings a little more difficult (I can tell you which
resturants in that town allow barefoot people to eat!).
What I looked for was simple (but, some of these may be shaped
by my autism, so others might not value them as high):
1) Intense interest in the skills required for the job
2) Honesty
3) Willingness to admit "I don't know."
4) Ability to accept responsibility for screw-ups
5) Desire to learn
6) Indicators that the person is able to succeed
7) Proof that they could do the job (not necessarily
experience, though - education, hobbies, past
work they did for fun, etc)
#6 would include things like a Master's degree in anything,
intense hobbies, professinoal recognition, etc. These things
might not directly impact their ability to do the tasks I'm
hiring for, but they indicate that the person can focus on
something and achieve it.
Remember, also, that the only purpose the resume serves is to
get you to an interview. Once you get to the interview, you
can voice some of your other concerns. The resume is the
place to sell yourself. Don't lie, but don't give them reasons
to not hire you!
I did like the fact that your resume is short and doesn't have an
awful background. These mean a lot when you are a hiring manager
and 50 people have applied for the job! The hiring manager needs
more help, so you know she is very busy - make her job easier.
I'd also recommend talking to a career councelor at your school.
They will have lots of good resume advice. Some let you do
mock interviews, where they will show you where some of your
behaviours might be misinterpreted. These are critical for
ACs, since we don't often know what signals we are unintentially
sending.
If you don't mind, let me also recommend that you use some
care when looking for a job. Don't accept a job doing things
that will make you uncomfortable. I think all people do best
with a job that is more play than work. With ACs, I think
this is even more important - find a job that let's you
pursue an obsession. This was the best professional decision
I've ever made. I play with computers for a living, I design
new programs, and I oversee projects. I can't see finding a
career I'd enjoy more.
- I don't have any experience as such with resumes, but I always thought a
little about yourself, your likes dislikes, family etc was something that
prospective employees also look for. I think it makes you look more human
too, its easy to reject a resume if it is just dates etc, add some personal
stuff and it becomes personal.
Is this something people still do with résumé's? Or has our society become
so robotic they don't care for the personal stuff any more?
- Your CV should only contain items that might be directly relevant to
your ability to do a particular job. Anything else should be left out.
Suppose I was an active member of the Labour party. In theory, this
should not prevent my getting a job with a merchant bank, but I think
my chances would be greatly diminished if I put that on my CV.
Personal stuff is personal. Unless you need security clearance, your
employer does not need to know.
