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Recruiter Tips & Tricks: preparing your resume
September 8, 2011
Introduction: We’re introducing a new series just in time for back-to-school featuring Jeff Moore, a lead engineering recruiter for Google. Jeff has over 10 years of recruiting experience in the high tech and software industries and is currently responsible for recruiting world class engineers to join Google’s offices in Atlanta, Cambridge, Chicago, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Waterloo and Washington DC. He is an active blogger (
www.jeffreytmoore.com
) with interests in social networking and mobile technology. In this series, Jeff will share weekly tips and tricks for students who are on the hunt for a job. The series kicks off with tips for preparing your resume.
The fall college recruiting season is upon us…..yikes, what happened to the summer??? Soon your campus will be visited by armies of recruiters looking for the next great employee to join their team. Will you be ready? Are you that person? Well, you might be…but you need to have a stand-out resume to get the conversation started. Before we begin, one thing to remember: A good resume
will not get you a job
. A good resume will get you the interview and the rest is up to you. With that in mind, here are a few tried and true tips for drafting an awesome resume.
Show off your strengths
– Makes sense, right? You want your resume to show off what makes you special and give recruiters a reason to interview you. The big things on your resume should make employers say, “wow!” It doesn’t really matter if it’s your education, internships or special awards, just make sure to show off your skills/experience and try to impress because (cliché alert!) you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
The devil is in the details
– A detailed resume is a good resume. The more info you share, the more a recruiter or hiring manager can look at your accomplishments and determine if you are a good fit for their team. For example, which one of these candidates would you want to talk to?
Candidate A – Wrote several applications to improve efficiency within the finance group.
Candidate B – Used Java and PHP to write financial accounting application that saved the company over 25 hours a week of productivity resulting in over $100K in savings.
Remember, your resume is your message to the hiring team—tell them as much as you can so they can make the most informed decision.
Keep it short
– Huh? Didn’t he just say, “tell them as much as you can”? I did, but that doesn’t mean you should write a 15 page resume. What you want is a clear, concise resume that accurately describes your accomplishments. Assuming you are a new college grad, you probably want to stick to one page. However, if you have significant accomplishments (publications, open source contributions, startups, awards, etc.) it is acceptable to go on to a second page. Lots of career services folks will tell you “one page only.” I don’t subscribe to that, as long as the content of your resume is relevant.
Spelling and grammar
– I don’t even need to mention this...you get it right? We have spell check for a reason. You'd be shocked at how many resumes I see with spelling errors. Grammar and spelling mistakes look sloppy. Don't be careless, and don't depend on spell check. Proof read your resume and have others proof it as well.
Know your target
– Make sure your resume is targeted to the right audience. I’d recommend you add an “Objective” at the top of your resume (below your name!) that clearly states what your want to accomplish. Think of the objective as your “elevator pitch”, a concise statement to convince the hiring manager or recruiter that you are worth an initial conversation. Your objective and the meat of your resume should portray someone who is a fit for the job and company. For example, if you want a job at a specific company write an objective like this:
Objective – To obtain a fast-paced and exciting role within the Google Staffing team.
As opposed to this….
Objective – To get a job at Google.
Again, this stuff isn’t rocket science, you just have to be thoughtful and thorough to make sure you sound like someone worth interviewing.
Ok, that’s it this week…good luck out there! Get those resumes polished and start talking to people. A great job is out there for you and it all starts with that great resume!
Posted by Jeff Moore, Lead Engineering Recruiter
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