There was another post on this board asking for review and I loved the feedback. I'm graduating in the 2023 and don't have a job lined or anything and I'm getting tired of companies rarely responding to applications. Hopefully some of the feedback I get from you all will help me out in the hunt.
Thanks
My advice: make the resume 1 page long. Remove everything about the company, the product, the team. State what you did with action words (Improved, wrote, enhanced, designed, etc), and right after state what results it brought (saved $, board space, helped to launch in 2 month, etc). I did not use examples from your resume, so please add yours. It looked you have enough substance to fill one page. Good luck!
dobsonr741 gave some really good feedback which I don't think I can top
I like the general layout of the CV, but I have some comments on readability.
- I found it hard to focus on the grey text on white background
- the grey on grey in your highlight section on the left was okay but not ideal
- If you're gonna have a second page - I would say the grey box needs something in it if you have it there (Each page doesn't have to have to be identical as long as it follows the same theme)
- It might just be me, but having the titles a dark blue, then black, just messed with my focus a bit
- I also noticed that the bullet points didn't always render nicely depending on the zoom
- 4 different bullet point styles? (indented can be different)
- It's not a web-based document, so you can use the justify text option as well
Obviously a lot of my issues could be attributed to my laptop screen. But I'm using a typical business laptop so a hiring manager will likely have a similar experience.
Colour selection & Shape selection can change how easy it is for someone to read something.
Something else to consider is how nicely it will print out (if printed in black/white)
Lots of experience hiring and getting hired. My advice is to go here:
https://www.manager-tools.com/2021/06/resume-update-2021 Listen to them. Do not deviate. They are THE experts. When I see a resume written in this format, I thank Mike and Mark.
While you're there, start at podcast one and go as far as you can. They are multiple MBAs worth of information.
+1 for manager tools. You might like it, and find yourself want to be in engineering management!
Lots of experience hiring and getting hired. My advice is to go here: https://www.manager-tools.com/2021/06/resume-update-2021 Listen to them. Do not deviate. They are THE experts. When I see a resume written in this format, I thank Mike and Mark.
While you're there, start at podcast one and go as far as you can. They are multiple MBAs worth of information.
When I was an interviewer, a one page CV for a technical job would be ignored. Why? Insufficient information to indicate (1) whether/why the author was more interesting than the other applicants and (2) whether the author was playing buzzword bingo or simply bullshitting.
Preferred format:
- personal intro, one paragraph
- buzzwords in categories such as h/w, s/w, project management
- employment history, one line per job including year/month and job title
- a selection of tasks relevant to the job in question. One or two paragraphs per task, including technical content, responsibilities, achievements
1-3 should be in a format that can be speedread easily, to allow interviewers to spot intriguing points - which are then outlined 4.
HR droids only read 1-3. Interviewers read 4 as well.
Automated filters can be satisfied by 2.
After being in employment for a while, that might be four pages in total.
Lots of experience hiring and getting hired. My advice is to go here: https://www.manager-tools.com/2021/06/resume-update-2021 Listen to them. Do not deviate. They are THE experts. When I see a resume written in this format, I thank Mike and Mark.
While you're there, start at podcast one and go as far as you can. They are multiple MBAs worth of information.
Called "manager tools" and forces you to listen to hours of chit-chat to get at the actual content that could have been a one page summary... Checks out, the "this meeting could have been an email" style of management seems strong with them.
When I was an interviewer, a one page CV for a technical job would be ignored.
A standard US resume is
not typically the same thing as a CV, and no more than one page per decade of work experience is a pretty standard rule of thumb.
Lots of experience hiring and getting hired. My advice is to go here: https://www.manager-tools.com/2021/06/resume-update-2021 Listen to them. Do not deviate. They are THE experts. When I see a resume written in this format, I thank Mike and Mark.
While you're there, start at podcast one and go as far as you can. They are multiple MBAs worth of information.
Sorry, but a half-hour, audio-only podcast is an absurd way to describe how a written document should be structured. Even if the podcast is only meant as the free teaser, and their business model is to then sell you information in a more suitable format -- I am certainly not teased by that, but put off.
Lots of experience hiring and getting hired. My advice is to go here: https://www.manager-tools.com/2021/06/resume-update-2021 Listen to them. Do not deviate. They are THE experts. When I see a resume written in this format, I thank Mike and Mark.
While you're there, start at podcast one and go as far as you can. They are multiple MBAs worth of information.
Sorry, but a half-hour, audio-only podcast is an absurd way to describe how a written document should be structured. Even if the podcast is only meant as the free teaser, and their business model is to then sell you information in a more suitable format -- I am certainly not teased by that, but put off.
That is, as you imply, ridiculous! If that company doesn't understand why, then the rest of their stuff will be similarly wrong-headed. (Or maybe it is done like that to weed out savvy people thus leaving people who can be "scammed"
)
The concept of the "60s elevator pitch" is valid. In the context of a job application:
- 60s to read the covering letter to see if it is worth reading the CV
- 60s scanning personal statement, buzzwords and employment history to see if it is worth reading the full CV
- only then spend longer reading the CV