

What does it take to make a ‘good’ developer resume? - Veera
http://veerasundar.com/blog/2009/12/what-does-it-take-to-make-a-good-developer-resume/

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saturdayplace
My gut reaction to this question is the old saw about _any_ writing: show,
don't tell. You need the target audience of your resume to _see_ why you'd be
valuable to them. Instead of listing a bunch of buzzwords, explain relevant
projects you worked on, including the relevant technologies. I always list
skills first, then under my work experience I detail the projects that
developed/took advantage of those skills.

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jcapote
GitHub url, big and center.

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timr
Yes. Because the best way to screen for an experienced developer is to make
sure they're using the latest hotness in a tiny corner of the tech universe.

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r00k
I think you could easily substitute 'a public repository of your code and
open-source contributions' for 'Github' here, but the former is shorter and
conveys the same idea.

You also seem to imply that experienced developers [i]wouldn't[/i] be using a
cutting-edge tool to share code. Why wouldn't they? Does 'experienced' have to
mean 'curmudgeonly'?

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timr
_"Link to your code, big and center"_ wouldn't have been that many more words,
if that was truly what was meant.

 _"You also seem to imply that experienced developers [i]wouldn't[/i] be using
a cutting-edge tool to share code. Why wouldn't they? Does 'experienced' have
to mean 'curmudgeonly'?"_

Straw man. My implication is only that it's foolish to screen for experience
using a trendy tool that is adopted by only a tiny percentage of programmers.

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gprisament
Sometimes it helps to look at examples of bad resumes. Some real gems here:
<http://resumedoctor.com/WorstResumes.asp>.

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ideamonk
Java, web and web design! have you any idea on how to do web surveys in a
smart way? You could've written a survey app using those 3, or used existing
ones to save your visitors from thinking and writing for questions that
could've been fairly objective. And then maybe you could apply some statistics
on the data and do something better with it :) At least I wont like writing
something more than this

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edw519
_Do you prefer a single page resume or multi-page? If multi, then how many
pages of resume you think is good enough to sell you?_

Single page. If I absolutely, positively have more to say, I occasionally
attach a one page Appendix, "Sample of Project Particulars," which includes 5
or 6 quick stories about major projects I completed that are relevant to the
company and position I'm submitting to.

 _Do you elaborate on your work experience (like, job description,
responsibilities, etc.) or you want to keep it short?_

Yes, but I wouldn't say "elaborate". More like "itemize". Forget about things
like "experience", "job description", or "responsibilities". Focus on one
thing only: results. What I did, who it was for, why they needed it, and what
they accomplished with it. "Built an AJAX e-commerce site that enabled a $10
million catalog distributor to double sales in 6 months." Show that I
understand the forest in which I'm planting trees. Short, sweet, and to the
point. If it catches their attention, they'll ask you more about it. If it
doesn't, then you probably don't want to work for them, anyway.

 _Do you have more than one resume, like a master one with all details and one
page resume targeted to a particular position?_

Just a custom one pager specially made for each company. I show them the same
level of special attention that I expect in return.

 _In what order you present information in the resume: Objective, Experience,
Skills, Education, Summary?_

1\. Very short summary (with embedded skills) that pretty much says it all,
"AJAX programmer, expert level in e-commerce, 100 projects completed, ready
for next long term challenge in Big City, USA."

2\. Applicable accomplishments in reverse chronological sequence. (Emphasis on
"accomplishments".)

3\. Degrees.

 _Do you really think the resume layout matters more than the content itself?_

No.

 _Which font do you use for your resume? Arial? Verdana? Webdings?_

Who cares.

 _Do you prefer to maintain an online version of your resume?_

No. I'll contact them. I don't want anyone contacting me.

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euroclydon
edw519, What do those numbers in your profile mean?

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edw519
My name, available only to those who can translate ascii.

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cmars232
Be real, don't be redundant. When I used to interview contractors, I got so
tired of reading "enterprise Java developer experienced with all aspects of
the SDLC" blah blah blah followed by globs of alphabet soup.

Just highlight the most relevant points of past projects, related to the
position for which you're applying.

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randliu
Computer Modern.

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djcapelis
Along those lines, the moderncv package is excellent.

