Thanks scott, really appreciate your comments and will def take them to heart (wow, from mistake comes some real good after all :) )
On 6/1/11, Scott Barnes <scott.bar...@gmail.com> wrote: > Resumes are part factual evidence and part information architecture. The > purpose for you in this case with Microsoft is to somehow get past the > recruitment side of things and into the hands of a blue badge (your future > boss) who's probably going to have a mixed approach to reading resumes ... > (ie to this day i have no idea how i got hired at Microsoft when i did - so > take this as a former blue badger who read resumes often as just one guys > opinion). > > > 1. *Embrace the concept of more than one column*. Summary of expertise > needs better spacing between paragraphs and you need to provide > highlights. > The objective here is to show bit of leg, but not give away the entire > prize. Tease the person into wanting to get you into the interview to > know > more. Its a dangerous posture to take, but ultimately its always going to > be > a crap shoot. > > 2. *Don't be afraid to rip out the highlighter :)* ... inside Microsoft > we had this problem around excess information..everyone is hitting you > 24/7 > with "must read"...you enjoy reading an email / document as much as a > swift > kick in the head. I found huge wins by just highlighting data points in > anything i sent around ...as then its a case of "blah blah blah You need > to focus on this blah blah blah" its not "traditional" when it comes to > resume transactions but if you want someones attention....then grab it. > > 3. *Skills & Employment History. *You've told me upfront you have xyz > technologies but levels? these days most resumes i have seen etc have > "advanced, intermediate, specialist etc" type leveling. You're wanting to > tell the person looking at the resume your strengths and weaknesses. > We'll > get to the testing of those levels later in the interview process, for > now > i'll take your word upfront .. Cite them once and move on. Don't re-list > them again in the area's of where you worked, its redundant and honestly > the > person(s) reading the resume are unlikely to map the relevance. Pick 5 > major > project highlights and thats it, list the brands you worked for but given > the visibility of most devs these days don't be afraid to put 1995 -2002 > (Upon Request). in there somewhere. As its expected behavior in IT to > have a > resume thats quite long given the contract arrangements these days. Also > tell us what you did not the problems they had..ie i couldn't find where > you > fit into GIS System you worked on.. sounds interesting, but what role did > you play? that sort of thing. 25 words or less per item btw. > > 4. *Fonts*. Your all over the place with your text sizes. Keep a > consistent flow, leverage MS Word Heading1, Heading2 etc. Don't make them > to > big either 12pt max with secondary text being around 10pt to give the > reader > balance. Use bold to sparingly more to highlight a new area of focus (ie > like this email i guess). Allows readers to skim read if need be. > > 5. *References etc*. Upon Request. Firstly it removes the page count and > secondly its a fishing expedition at times when hunting for jobs, so them > having to ask you for who the references are shows they are > interested...nothing like a "oh so you read it, good". > > Layering is the key imho. You're a product so you need to sell yourself as > one and a good healthy resume feels like you are just doing that - about to > make a great acquisition. You want the cover to be eye catching but when you > turn it around basically you want a feature break down of what's > inside...this is what you're about to buy. Take a slice from Apple's product > marketing (as weird as this may sound) they give you just enough but not to > much information. Layer in your message about who you are, what you can do, > how often you do it and what you want to do next. An example would be start > at 100+ words for a description of what you did at a role etc, then scale it > back to 50, then back to 25... why 25? why not... :D > > Anyway, Good luck! :) and MCS is an interesting area to dwell in... bring > thickskin and an open mind hehehe... > > --- > Regards, > Scott Barnes > http://www.riagenic.com > > > On Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 9:46 AM, Heinrich Breedt > <heinrichbre...@gmail.com>wrote: > >> I honestly would not know how to cut it down to 2 pages. >> >> > -- Sent from my mobile device Heinrich Breedt “Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” - William B. Sprague
