Crafting Your Resume

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Crafting Your Resume

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Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 736212 More actions · Answer 1

Gary Varga (1/26/2016)
Jeff Moden (1/25/2016)
Heh... according to the interviews I've been conducting for the last several years, people have spent way too much time crafting their resume instead of learning their craft. :sick:
Nothing further to add.

Certainly people do this, but there are also plenty of people I've seen that work on their craft, and can't figure out how to present themselves.

Work on your craft, but also your resume.

mjh 45389 SSCertifiable Points: 5706 More actions · Answer 2

Eric M Russell (1/26/2016)

Alan.B (1/26/2016)
Ivanova (1/26/2016)
...
In the past 6 years I have worked with several guys in their 50s, 60s, 70s including an excellent 79-year old (today) SSRS developer.
Coding and earning $$$,$$$ beats sitting around in a retirement home, watching re-runs of Price Is Right and waiting for your government pension check. I'll bet the guy runs circles around his peers.

I suspect ageism has always been more rife in the UK than elsewhere. I know three people in their 50s all highly skilled who are unable to get work in their area of expertise. One is currently working as a carer and another filling supermarket shelves. Yet the government and employers moan their is a skills shortage whist there are plenty of skilled people looking for jobs!

Eric M Russell SSC Guru Points: 125561 More actions · Answer 3

mjh 45389 (1/26/2016)

Eric M Russell (1/26/2016)
Alan.B (1/26/2016)
Ivanova (1/26/2016)
...
In the past 6 years I have worked with several guys in their 50s, 60s, 70s including an excellent 79-year old (today) SSRS developer.
Coding and earning $$$,$$$ beats sitting around in a retirement home, watching re-runs of Price Is Right and waiting for your government pension check. I'll bet the guy runs circles around his peers.
I suspect ageism has always been more rife in the UK than elsewhere. I know three people in their 50s all highly skilled who are unable to get work in their area of expertise. One is currently working as a carer and another filling supermarket shelves. Yet the government and employers moan their is a skills shortage whist there are plenty of skilled people looking for jobs!

It may have a lot to do with whether the government requires employers to provide pensions and benefits after retirement. Here in the US, employers are not required to provide pensions. Actually they are quite rare, having been replaced with individual retirement accounts for which the employer may (optionally) match contributions. Only recently has healthcare benefits been a government mandate, at least for large and medium sized employers with a certain number of employees.

In the UK, employers are understandably reluctant to commit to providing pension benefits to an employee who may only have a decade or less left in their career. For this reason, your late middle-aged friends may have better luck leveraging their IT skills as independent contractors. Even accounting for periods of unemployment between contracting gigs, I'm sure they'd net more yearly pay as contractors than they would stocking grocery store shelves full-time.

"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004354 More actions · Answer 4

Eric M Russell (1/27/2016)

mjh 45389 (1/26/2016)
Eric M Russell (1/26/2016)
Alan.B (1/26/2016)
Ivanova (1/26/2016)
...
In the past 6 years I have worked with several guys in their 50s, 60s, 70s including an excellent 79-year old (today) SSRS developer.
Coding and earning $$$,$$$ beats sitting around in a retirement home, watching re-runs of Price Is Right and waiting for your government pension check. I'll bet the guy runs circles around his peers.
I suspect ageism has always been more rife in the UK than elsewhere. I know three people in their 50s all highly skilled who are unable to get work in their area of expertise. One is currently working as a carer and another filling supermarket shelves. Yet the government and employers moan their is a skills shortage whist there are plenty of skilled people looking for jobs!
It may have a lot to do with whether the government requires employers to provide pensions and benefits after retirement. Here in the US, employers are not required to provide pensions. Actually they are quite rare, having been replaced with individual retirement accounts for which the employer may (optionally) match contributions. Only recently has healthcare benefits been a government mandate, at least for large and medium sized employers with a certain number of employees.
In the UK, employers are understandably reluctant to commit to providing pension benefits to an employee who may only have a decade or less left in their career. For this reason, your late middle-aged friends may have better luck leveraging their IT skills as independent contractors. Even accounting for periods of unemployment between contracting gigs, I'm sure they'd net more yearly pay as contractors than they would stocking grocery store shelves full-time.

Is that right? You get a pension for less than 10 years with a company in the UK?

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004354 More actions · Answer 5

mjh 45389 (1/26/2016)

Eric M Russell (1/26/2016)
Alan.B (1/26/2016)
Ivanova (1/26/2016)
...
In the past 6 years I have worked with several guys in their 50s, 60s, 70s including an excellent 79-year old (today) SSRS developer.
Coding and earning $$$,$$$ beats sitting around in a retirement home, watching re-runs of Price Is Right and waiting for your government pension check. I'll bet the guy runs circles around his peers.
I suspect ageism has always been more rife in the UK than elsewhere. I know three people in their 50s all highly skilled who are unable to get work in their area of expertise. One is currently working as a carer and another filling supermarket shelves. Yet the government and employers moan their is a skills shortage whist there are plenty of skilled people looking for jobs!

Heh... wow. I'm glad I don't live there, then. They'd have me in my grave long before I'm ready. I'm in my early 60's and plan on working for at least another 10 because... I enjoy it!

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004354 More actions · Answer 6

Steve Jones - SSC Editor (1/26/2016)
Gary Varga (1/26/2016)
Jeff Moden (1/25/2016)
Heh... according to the interviews I've been conducting for the last several years, people have spent way too much time crafting their resume instead of learning their craft. :sick:
Nothing further to add.
Certainly people do this, but there are also plenty of people I've seen that work on their craft, and can't figure out how to present themselves.
Work on your craft, but also your resume.

Absolutely agreed. That's why I interview anyone that submits a resume for a particular job. A lot of people miss true diamonds by passing over "poorly written" resumes. Unfortunately, I can't even find decent "coal", never mind a diamond.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

Gary Varga SSC Guru Points: 82166 More actions · Answer 7

Jeff Moden (1/27/2016)
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (1/26/2016)
Gary Varga (1/26/2016)
Jeff Moden (1/25/2016)
Heh... according to the interviews I've been conducting for the last several years, people have spent way too much time crafting their resume instead of learning their craft. :sick:
Nothing further to add.
Certainly people do this, but there are also plenty of people I've seen that work on their craft, and can't figure out how to present themselves.
Work on your craft, but also your resume.
Absolutely agreed. That's why I interview anyone that submits a resume for a particular job. A lot of people miss true diamonds by passing over "poorly written" resumes. Unfortunately, I can't even find decent "coal", never mind a diamond.

At one place we interviewed someone based on their rubbish CV because we suspected that the individual knew about what they put in the CV but not how to put it. They were the rank outsider going into the interviews but the only one who knew anything (and he did know his stuff). No one else was even good enough to consider.

Gaz

-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

EdVassie SSC Guru Points: 60472 More actions · Answer 8

One minute to evaluate a CV... luxury! In my last job I worked for a large UK job board, and we frequently asked recruiters for feedback on how they processed candidates.

Many recruiters said they spend less than 10 seconds looking at the top half of page 1 before deciding if it was worth scrolling down or moving to the next candidate. Even after scrolling down, attention span remained short with any CV longer than 2 sides of A4/Letter normally getting passed over.

10 seconds is a horrible short time to decide if someone is able to do the job, and probably many people get passed over who have the technical skills but are not so good on presentation. But as a schoolteacher once said "Who the hell told you that life was going to be fair?"

The first few sentences are critical. CV length is critical. Say what is true and only what needed to be considered for a job. Get this right and you get to the next stage.

Original author: https://github.com/SQL-FineBuild/Common/wiki/ 1-click install and best practice configuration of SQL Server 2019, 2017 2016, 2014, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008 and 2005.

When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor they call me a communist - Archbishop Hélder Câmara

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004354 More actions · Answer 9

Gary Varga (1/27/2016)
Jeff Moden (1/27/2016)
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (1/26/2016)
Gary Varga (1/26/2016)
Jeff Moden (1/25/2016)
Heh... according to the interviews I've been conducting for the last several years, people have spent way too much time crafting their resume instead of learning their craft. :sick:
Nothing further to add.
Certainly people do this, but there are also plenty of people I've seen that work on their craft, and can't figure out how to present themselves.
Work on your craft, but also your resume.
Absolutely agreed. That's why I interview anyone that submits a resume for a particular job. A lot of people miss true diamonds by passing over "poorly written" resumes. Unfortunately, I can't even find decent "coal", never mind a diamond.
At one place we interviewed someone based on their rubbish CV because we suspected that the individual knew about what they put in the CV but not how to put it. They were the rank outsider going into the interviews but the only one who knew anything (and he did know his stuff). No one else was even good enough to consider.

Same here. At a previous company a little over a decade ago, after going through a dozen candidates that were "stellar" according to the lies on their resume and had no shortage of alphabet soup after their name, I went through the "No" pile of resumes that my boss had set aside and found a "kid", fresh out of high school that awkwardly mentioned that he loved working with databases and practiced every day on his copy of the Developer Edition. I insisted we bring him in for an interview and, even though he had no on the job experience, he blew the doors off the competition. It was the second best interview I've ever witnessed.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

David.Poole SSC Guru Points: 76000 More actions · Answer 10

I've got at least 2 jobs on the strength of people coming across articles on SQLServerCentral.

It's always worth cultivating contacts. It's a small world out there and contractors are often asked who they'd recommend and who is looking. In the UK in a particular region the chances are that there are far less than 6 degrees of separation between you and the person who could offer you a job.

If you look at a position that interests you then ask yourself what have you got that would interest them and tailor your CV accordingly. Put the most relevant experience first!

When I'm recruiting I scan for the skills I want, the context and then length of time in each position and any suspicious gaps.

For contract staff it is usually a telephone interview and then an offer if they come across well.

For permanent staff a telephone interview is followed by a face to face.

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xsevensinzx One Orange Chip Points: 25560 More actions · Answer 11

I used to do short resumes, but when you work in the video game industry, most companies want you to list out every single game you worked on and what you did for that game. I worked on 10 AAA titles and listing that out took up one-to-two pages sometimes depending on the criteria of the listing.

Now that I have hung up my career in the video game industry, I have moved onto a new industry with a completely different career that's more focused on data. This allowed me to shorten my resume finally.

However, the problem I have with my current resume is that I think I'm overselling myself too much. This is mainly because of my crazy career path that still ties into what I'm doing today from a software development standpoint. It's not every day you have someone who has worked on big blockbuster games who is looking for the next data challenge in a completely different industry that likely faces the same problems from the industry you are trying to evade.

TheFault Ten Centuries Points: 1004 More actions · Answer 12

David.Poole (1/27/2016)

When I'm recruiting I scan for the skills I want, the context and then length of time in each position and any suspicious gaps.

quote]

Curious what constitutes a suspicious gap, and does this apply when looking for contractors? What about a contractor looking for a permanent position now?

Gary Varga SSC Guru Points: 82166 More actions · Answer 13

TheFault (1/28/2016)

David.Poole (1/27/2016)
When I'm recruiting I scan for the skills I want, the context and then length of time in each position and any suspicious gaps.
quote]
Curious what constitutes a suspicious gap, and does this apply when looking for contractors? What about a contractor looking for a permanent position now?

When I assist clients recruiting (I am a contractor) an example of suspicious gaps is when someone works for a month, maybe two, then has a gap of a month or two and this cycle repeats over a couple or more years. To me this suggests someone who either hasn't got the technical skills or doesn't fit in. Either is dangerous.

Gaz

-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004354 More actions · Answer 14

Gary Varga (1/28/2016)

TheFault (1/28/2016)
David.Poole (1/27/2016)
When I'm recruiting I scan for the skills I want, the context and then length of time in each position and any suspicious gaps.
quote]
Curious what constitutes a suspicious gap, and does this apply when looking for contractors? What about a contractor looking for a permanent position now?
When I assist clients recruiting (I am a contractor) an example of suspicious gaps is when someone works for a month, maybe two, then has a gap of a month or two and this cycle repeats over a couple or more years. To me this suggests someone who either hasn't got the technical skills or doesn't fit in. Either is dangerous.

If the person is a contractor, you might look at that as a bit of dedication as (s)he doesn't try to scare up a new gig until the current gig is complete. In other words, it might be the sign of someone that knows better than to take on too much at once. "It Depends".

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

Helpful Links:
How to post code problems
How to Post Performance Problems
Create a Tally Function (fnTally)

TheFault Ten Centuries Points: 1004 More actions · Answer 15

I think gaps in employment are often given an incorrect air of suspicion... Career breaks, maternity/raising a child, long term illness, travelling, redundancy, full time study are all valid reasons for a gap, but would potentially ruin chance of interview selection when someone skims through a CV without reading in depth for the full details.