For you newbies out there...

Here's a recent resume submission from an eager programmer fresh out of US-based "training" at college...short and sweet, but that's the rub. It's uninspiring.

Basic Comments:
- Has this person ever held a job, volunteered, done some research, or anything else to justify the kind-of-low 3.1 GPA in his major (which is typically code-word for "low grades in everything else")
- the objective is pretty uninspiring, how about a promising role in all kinds of Systems or Software Engineering (not just programming), that allows ME to contribute to YOUR success, save the whales, and otherwise provide much more than a "good" opportunity for growth.
- nice classes, but did he actually create anything? projects? a robot? High-score in the gaming community?
- C++ in VB.net....would be nice to see some C#, and basic C training
- Microsoft SQL - what does that mean? SQL Server, Access, etc.? I presume Access, since the OS experience (Windows 9.x/XP) doesn't include server platforms (i.e. WNT, W2K)
- "worked with several....including"; and "certain distributions"....need to list out ALL software/hardware titles, versions, builds, etc.....that's what the auto-resume reviewers are indexing.

Joe Needs a Necktie
Objective
To secure a promising position in Computer Programming that offers challenges and a good opportunity for growth.

Education
May 2006 - Bachelor of Science Computer Science Degree from XXX University, PA (XXX University's Computer Science program is accredited by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology), Major GPA 3.1.

Computer Science Classes
Introduction to Programming
Data Structures
Introduction to Programming II
Artificial Intelligence
Discrete Structures
Computational Models
Computer Architecture
Operating Systems
Programming Languages and Software Engineering
Computer Networking
Database Management Systems
Computer Graphics
Network Security

Computer Experience
·Experienced programmer in C++ in varying development environments including command line development in Linux and Windows, as well as Visual Studio .Net.
·Worked with several other programming and scripting languages including Java, LISP and PHP.
·Experienced with Database Entity-Relationship design and querying in Microsoft SQL and MySQL environments.
·Knowledgeable with operating systems including Windows 9x, Windows XP, and certain Linux distributions.

References Available upon Request

You've got a fly in your Soup

In today's Washington Post, a brief article revealing a survey for OfficeTeam, an administrative staffing company..150 executives and managers. All it takes is one tiny typographical error on your resume, and you're out. A few said maybe two misspellings or typos would send the resume to the circular file. With technical resumes, it's all too easy to make a spelling or grammar error, especially with the variety of acronyms, company names and technologies typically included. Do not let this happen to you....have your resume read and re-read by many people, and/or use a professional service like www.technicalresume.net!

Having Very Excellent Skills, for the 20th Century

Here's a resume that's (1) somewhat stuck in a 5-yr old time warp from a technology perspective, but perhaps not from a patterns and methods perspective, and (2) just abysmal in capitalization, grammar, sentence patterns....typical of ESL with no review. Just 10 minutes of repair would improve this resume 100%! I've included only the top technical reference section, to look at:

Having good Skills
Professional Summary

• 5+ years in requirement analysis, design, OO programming, development, testing and implementation of Internet/Intranet/E-Commerce, Stand-alone, Client/Server and MVC architecture applications
• 2 years of experience using Web logic Application Servers.
• 3 years of experience using Tomcat webserver.
• 3 years of experience with Jakarta Struts Framework, MVC and J2EE Framework.
• Experienced in process, validate, parse, and extract data from XML files using DOM and SAX parsers.
• Having good Server Side experience using EJB, JSP, RMI, Struts.
• Hands-on experience with J2EE Architecture, Application servers and Web servers and a wide variety of development tools ( Web logic 8.1/7.1, Tomcat 4.0/5.0)
• Having experience with Eclipse, Exadel, and Editplus for Java.
• Experience in implementing J2EE Design Patterns.
• Good experience in implementing different Patterns like Session façade, DAO, Factory, Front view Controller and MVC Struts Framework
• Having good experience SQL Statements for implementation of Projects.
• Excellent database experience using SQL, PL/SQL, Oracle 9i, MS-Access.
• Having Experience in using the CVS (source control)
• Good team player with excellent communication, technical, multi tasking and interpersonal skills.
• Quick adaptability and systematic approach towards work are my assets.
• Ability of analyzing and decomposing a given problem quickly, fast learning and Mixed-Language Programming.

Qualification: XXXXX

Technical Skills

Languages Java2.0, C, C++
RDBMS Oracle 8 / 8i / 7.8 and My SQL.
Distributed Applications EJB 1.1/2.0, RMI and CORBA
Web Servers Java Web Server, Apache Tomcat4.0/5.0, IIS4.0.
Application Servers Web logic 7.0/8.0
Application Development Tools Eclipse, exadel, editplus, SQL Plus, MS-office 98/2000,Jdeveloper 10.1.3
Web Technologies Servlets, Jsp, RMI, CORBA, EJB, Struts, HTML, XML, DTD, SAX, DOM, XSLT.
Scripting Languages Java Script.
Database Oracle, SQL, PL\SQL.
Operating Systems Ms-Dos, Windows-95/98, Windows NT 4.0, UNIX


And Here's my initial comments/reaction:
 “Having” – what sort of word/grammar is that?
 What’s the difference between “having”, “good” and “excellent” experience – I’m only really interested in the “excellent”
 A “wide variety of development tools” – then no actual development tools listed
 Java 2.0? Perhaps he meant 1.2, plus what about 1.3-1.5?
 What’s the difference between the “RDBMS” and “Database” rows?
 Isn’t PL/SQL a scripting language?
 “Web Technologies” – are RMI/CORBA technologies really “web”?
 What exactly is “Java Web Server”, does he mean Sun One?
 Lots of misspellings, capitalization errors, etc.
 Seems to be stuck back in 1999, with Oracle 8, Java 2, MS-office 2000 (a development tool?)

First Computer Job?

If you are preparing your IT resume for your first IT/Computer-related job, you might check out this site for some helpful tips and information. The site is helpful for obtaining entry-level positions, includes additional resume tips, information on training and other useful tidbits. After you review the material, create your first-draft resume, send it to us for final review and editing, and you'll be on your way to a great IT career!