1. Quantify
what you’ve done
Which of these do you think would generate more notice: “Worked
on an award-winning software release” or “Wrote 10,000 lines of
bug-free code for a software product that generated $100 million
in sales”? If you picked the second example, you’ve figured
out how to let numbers do the talking for you.
“Ideally,
you should be able to point out how much money you made, how much
money you saved, or what specific problem you solved for your
company,” said Raymond To, Manager, Business Software Group, at
Vancouver-based Corporate Recruiters Ltd.
2. Play
to your audience
Do your research. “Your resume should indicate that you know the
employer so well, [you’re saying] ‘I know you have this problem,
and if you hire me, I can solve that',” said To. How does this
work? Say you’re looking at Widget Corp., which is designing new
software applications and looking at an alliance with Whosit Inc.
You lead off your resume with your analysis skills, database skills,
VB and C++ experience, plus throw in something about the multi-million
dollar software release you just coordinated with your colleagues
at Whosit.
3. Push
those “soft skills”
Want to really differentiate yourself from the rest of the
code jockeys? “Soft skills” –- people skills, management ability,
aptitude for teamwork –- are what will set you apart. Of course,
quantifying those less-quantifiable skills is tough. “Be explicit
about the kind of teams you’ve been on, and if you’ve held any
managerial positions,” said Robyn Gordon, Vice President of the
Software Human Resources Council. “Put down anything to demonstrate
that you can chew gum and walk.”
Gordon may
be overstating the case, but not by much. According to Rob McIntosh,
a Recruitment Consultant at Microsoft Canada, employers are “no
longer just looking for an individual who can sit in a corner
and cut code. We’re looking for tech-style individuals who can
interface with clients.” So those soft skills really can be a
selling point.
4. Put
your tech skills in context
Keywords. Everybody loves keywords. But some people love keywords
a little too much. Try to resist including a laundry list of any
and all technology you’ve even been in the same room with, McIntosh
said. Instead, try to match your skills and knowledge up with
the technical environment in which you used them, said To of Corporate
Recruiters. “Ideally you should put your tech skills where you
used them -- what tools you used at what job, how long you
used them and when you last used them,” he said.
5. Ignore
the conventional wisdom
It’s common knowledge you should keep your resume to one page,
right? “I want to dispel that notion,” said Ben Mullins, Technical
Recruiter for Real Networks. “The more information I can get,
the better.” While “you hate to see a 12-page resume,” Mullin
said, he does want you to use as many pages as you need to highlight
the major projects you’ve worked on, lay out the hard skills you’ve
developed and explain where and how you used them.
6. Take
all these tips with a grain of salt
“Even among our recruiters, there’s debate as to what makes
a perfect resume,” said Vicki Contavespi, Media Relations Manager
at Nortel.
