Home > Articles > Software Development & Management

This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Résumé Basics

I've created a pattern for résumés that I've found to be effective. It conveys, in a succinct way, the key elements that are important to the prospective employer. Keep in mind the points described in the next sections as you prepare your résumé.

Length: Brevity Is Key

Taking into account that your résumé will be reviewed by someone who is too busy and generally disinterested in the task, your résumé should be brief. In fact, it should be one to two pages in length, even at the executive level. That does not mean that you cannot have a more detailed and longer résumé. But the fact remains that at first glance, your ability to summarize your most important skills and professional experience on a couple of pages will serve you well.

Remember your audience. At best, this person is too busy to review the stack of résumés on his desk. He might do so begrudgingly. Reviewing résumés takes away from the current productivity of the employer's day-to-day job. Your brevity will be greatly appreciated. If your core skills and important accomplishments are properly summarized, the employer who is reviewing your résumé will be able to determine whether more information or further dialogue is warranted.

The objective of your résumé is to interest someone enough to call you for an interview, not to give a biographical accounting of your entire career. The employer is looking for someone to fill some role, solve some problem, or bring some key skills into the organization. A one-page résumé should succinctly convey your ability and fulfill those objectives. You can use your cover letter to elaborate on why your résumé is short by framing it in the context of consideration for the employer's busy schedule. And you will, of course, explain how a more detailed professional summary or résumé is available if needed.

For now, though, suffice it to say that the résumé constructed in the sections that follow will be short and follow a predictable layout and pattern.

No Paragraphs

Remember your potential audience. This person is busy. He is charged with finding someone who can fill a role, solve a problem, or bring key skills to the organization. Forcing him to sift through a dissertation of past experience to find that word or phrase that identifies how you fit the company's need is the proverbial kiss of death.

Bulleted Lists

You can break down skills into logical groupings, comma separated and organized in bulleted lists. Prioritize these groups as follows:

  1. Skills
  2. Experience
  3. Education and accolades

The single most important item you can provide the person who is reviewing your résumé is an overview of the skills you bring to the table.

For example, you might provide the following:

  • Professional Skills:

    • Programming— Visual Basic, C++, FoxPro, SQL Server, Active Server Pages (VBScript), JavaScript
    • Network administration— Windows 2000 Server, NT 4.0, Exchange Server, basic UNIX
    • Managerial— Project management, strong written and verbal communications, effective presentation skills

Documenting Your Professional Experience

When you're building your list of professional experience, continue using the bulleted list format. Action words are certainly helpful if they correctly convey the message. More important is that your professional experience relates back to your skills list at the top of your résumé.

In effect, you are going to show the employer how you put those skills in your list to work. He should see the skills at the top of the list and then see a short description of how you used those skills at your last company or job.

Even if you are new to the field and the work was primarily lab work, include it. The employer wants to see that you have not simply learned about key skills, but that you have used them in some functional way.

Here's the formula: Show what you know (your skills list), and show how it's relevant (your professional experience).

A Note About Certifications/Degrees on Your Résumé

I don't believe you should place your certifications after your name. It is presumptuous to pretend that your latest certification is the equivalent to someone who has spent 4–7 years pursuing a Ph.D. or some other advanced degree. Instead, place your certifications or degrees in a section titled Education and Certifications. A master's degree might be the exception to this rule.

Guidelines for Writing Your Résumé

Following are some guidelines to follow when constructing your résumé :

  • No special groups or unrelated awards— I know that the tendency of newer job seekers is to list awards received on their résumé. Remember: I am seeking brevity and relevance. Unless you have reason to believe that the person who is reading your résumé has some personal connection to this fact about you, leave it off.
  • Honesty— Don't pad your experience. However, do emphasize relevant experience. For example, if you worked for a small business answering phones and handled the company's three-computer network when you weren't busy, I would place the computer experience first.
  • Objective— You don't necessarily need to include an objective. I know this contradicts many popular notions. However, you don't want to limit your exposure for a particular job.An objective can pin you into a specific type of function and cause the employer to overlook you for other positions. Remember that opportunity is best found while working. You are exposed to many more people and projects. Therefore, your first priority during the job search is to get exposed to companies and opportunities through interviews and ultimately the work environment.
  • Neat— Layout is important. Remember: The person who is reviewing your résumé is both pressed for time and looking for specific key words. A neat, laid out résumé makes browsing for information easier and more accessible.
  • Error free— Review your résumé for errors in spelling, grammar, and usage (for example, "know" versus "no"). You can have all the skills necessary for a given job, but if your résumé contains numerous errors, the employer will question your competency.
  • Experience— Your summary of experience does not necessarily have to include every employer for the past 20 years. In fact, you should include only those jobs that have pertinent experience.

If you are new to the industry, include one or two prior jobs and highlight administrative and organization tasks over nontechnical industry-specific skills. For example, if you were previously in the construction field, do not highlight your building skills. Instead, highlight your ability to work with other professionals in the industry, to organize project plans, or other skills that have broader application.

The CD-ROM that accompanies this book provides some sample résumés for you to review. You can find hundreds of books on writing a good résumé. Many of them propose a different résumé style for different jobs. I am a pragmatic minimalist, though. Although you might emphasize different skills for different jobs, I believe, in most cases, a single, brief résumé can do the job.

If you are working with a career advisor or have received feedback that contradicts this notion, please adjust your résumé per that individual's feedback. I am covering guidelines and ideas that have worked well for me and for other professionals, but I also understand that under specific circumstances, variations are necessary. A career advisor or recruiter might have specific knowledge about an opportunity that you are pursuing, and I would heed that person's advice.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020