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Would you please critique my resume?

BasarBasar IstanbulRegistered User regular
edited September 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
Hi,

I would like to see you bash my resume. I am ready for it.

It once was two pages but quite a few people told me to cut it down to a single page, so I did and someone also told me to cut down on job descriptions and put my computer skills in columns, so I did it.

Final draft after feedback: http://www.scribd.com/doc/6123569/Final-Draft

How does the final version look? Anyone?

Thanks.

i live in a country with a batshit crazy president and no, english is not my first language

Basar on

Posts

  • reminderGTOreminderGTO Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I've always put Education at the top, I don't know if that's a preference or a standard idea. If you GPA is decent list it as well.

    reminderGTO on
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  • ScrubletScrublet Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I would go Tech Expertise >> Education >> Prof Exp. Same on listing GPA.

    For your music site, it'd be good if you had some sort of reference to back up your claims. Who can back up that your site is second only to MTV? Also, can you provide some specific numbers? What kind of advertising revenue did you generate? What exactly involved "sustaining operations" of the site? If you can quantify these, it makes it more obvious to an employer how much of an asset you were. For example, in the world bank section you say you reduced internal traffic by 20%. This is a good number to have.

    Also, if you had something to do with increasing the World Bank AIDS program countries, add what it was. If you had nothing to do with it, remove it.

    The only other thing I would say is include references (even if on second page), particularly if you have them for the jobs. Otherwise, it looks great!

    Scrublet on
    subedii wrote: »
    I hear PC gaming is huge off the coast of Somalia right now.

    PSN: TheScrublet
  • VisionOfClarityVisionOfClarity Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Education should always go on the top, followed by professional experience then additional/technical skills.

    PS: I'm glad to see you took it down to one page, this looks much better than what you had a couple weeks ago.

    VisionOfClarity on
  • ScrubletScrublet Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Education should always go on the top, followed by professional experience then additional/technical skills.

    PS: I'm glad to see you took it down to one page, this looks much better than what you had a couple weeks ago.

    Education-related things should go at the top. In many technical-related cases the employer will be more interested in what you can actually do rather than your overall education, so putting tech first can be a boost if someone's quickly scanning a bunch of resumes looking for a particular skill.

    Scrublet on
    subedii wrote: »
    I hear PC gaming is huge off the coast of Somalia right now.

    PSN: TheScrublet
  • VisionOfClarityVisionOfClarity Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Scrublet wrote: »
    Education should always go on the top, followed by professional experience then additional/technical skills.

    PS: I'm glad to see you took it down to one page, this looks much better than what you had a couple weeks ago.

    Education-related things should go at the top. In many technical-related cases the employer will be more interested in what you can actually do rather than your overall education, so putting tech first can be a boost if someone's quickly scanning a bunch of resumes looking for a particular skill.

    I can tell you I'm in HR in recruiting and we expect a resume to go education, employment, skills. It's the HR for a large university and we also work with graduating seniors from the undergrad and grad programs with resume writing and this is how we coach them to do it as well.

    VisionOfClarity on
  • BasarBasar IstanbulRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Hmmm. I thought the general norm was to list your professional experience first if you are not a fresh grad or someone with less than one year of experience? Same with the GPA? My cumulative is 3.0/4.0, inmajor is 3.5/4.0 so I would like too keep it out.

    Our site is ranked behind MTV on Alexa Web Rankings. Its kinda tricky to get the numbers though because Alexa only lists the top 100 for each country, so one has to figure out the overall rank of both MTV, our site, and all the major music sites in Turkey to see each one's rank.

    When you say specific numbers, do you mean "$ XXXXX.XX ad revenue" kinda numbers? Not sure if I want to include those in there as the resume can always get the people it shouldn't and I don't want competitors' eyes (especially MTV) on these numbers.

    You're right about expanding the "sustaining operations" part. That includes everything from hosting, sweepstakes, salaries for both me and my cofounder, as well as our contract programmer. Don't know how to put that in there though :S

    As far as references, I can include a very good one: Muhtar Kent, CEO and President of Coca Cola but I didn't work with him at any official level, so I left it out.

    Thanks for all the great advice though. I will try to improve upon it!

    Basar on
    i live in a country with a batshit crazy president and no, english is not my first language

  • VisionOfClarityVisionOfClarity Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Basar wrote: »
    Hmmm. I thought the general norm was to list your professional experience first if you are not a fresh grad or someone with less than one year of experience? Same with the GPA? My cumulative is 3.0/4.0, inmajor is 3.5/4.0 so I would like too keep it out.

    Our site is ranked behind MTV on Alexa Web Rankings. Its kinda tricky to get the numbers though because Alexa only lists the top 100 for each country, so one has to figure out the overall rank of both MTV, our site, and all the major music sites in Turkey to see each one's rank.

    When you say specific numbers, do you mean "$ XXXXX.XX ad revenue" kinda numbers? Not sure if I want to include those in there as the resume can always get the people it shouldn't and I don't want competitors' eyes (especially MTV) on these numbers.

    You're right about expanding the "sustaining operations" part. That includes everything from hosting, sweepstakes, salaries for both me and my cofounder, as well as our contract programmer. Don't know how to put that in there though :S

    As far as references, I can include a very good one: Muhtar Kent, CEO and President of Coca Cola but I didn't work with him at any official level, so I left it out.

    Thanks for all the great advice though. I will try to improve upon it!

    When you list your education all it needs to say is where you went, what you did and when you graduated. Also, having been in the field for about 3 years you are a relative recent grad and you've really only had one job in the field, the other being an internship. You shouldn't need to list your GPA but when it's good it only helps.

    Never include references as part of your resume. References should only be given when requested and make sure your references know they are being used as references. I can't tell you how many people put someone down as a reference and the person is no longer with the company or has no idea they were being listed. Also, make sure as to whether or not you can use them as a reference or if they'll only verify when you worked for them. The latter is not a reference.

    VisionOfClarity on
  • shugaraeshugarae Phoenix, AZRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Scrublet wrote: »
    Education should always go on the top, followed by professional experience then additional/technical skills.

    PS: I'm glad to see you took it down to one page, this looks much better than what you had a couple weeks ago.

    Education-related things should go at the top. In many technical-related cases the employer will be more interested in what you can actually do rather than your overall education, so putting tech first can be a boost if someone's quickly scanning a bunch of resumes looking for a particular skill.

    I can tell you I'm in HR in recruiting and we expect a resume to go education, employment, skills. It's the HR for a large university and we also work with graduating seniors from the undergrad and grad programs with resume writing and this is how we coach them to do it as well.

    Since you work for a university, you're probably trying to hire (or should be trying to hire) highly educated people, so this would be true.

    However, if you're education doesn't relate to the type of job you're applying for, it can go on the bottom with no problem. Especially if your work experience is more relevant.

    For instance, my degree is in finance, but I work in education. I have all types of education-related experience, but my degree was not in education. If I'm applying for a finance position, I'd move my education to the top so it's the first thing they see. But if I'm applying for a job in education, I'd list my experience first, and then education, so that I'm still acknowledging that I have a degree.

    I have several versions of my resume just for this reason. It's extremely hard to make it by with a single version for every position you might be interested in.

    shugarae on
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    The Best in Terms of Pants on JCCC3
  • VisionOfClarityVisionOfClarity Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    shugarae wrote: »
    Scrublet wrote: »
    Education should always go on the top, followed by professional experience then additional/technical skills.

    PS: I'm glad to see you took it down to one page, this looks much better than what you had a couple weeks ago.

    Education-related things should go at the top. In many technical-related cases the employer will be more interested in what you can actually do rather than your overall education, so putting tech first can be a boost if someone's quickly scanning a bunch of resumes looking for a particular skill.

    I can tell you I'm in HR in recruiting and we expect a resume to go education, employment, skills. It's the HR for a large university and we also work with graduating seniors from the undergrad and grad programs with resume writing and this is how we coach them to do it as well.

    Since you work for a university, you're probably trying to hire (or should be trying to hire) highly educated people, so this would be true.

    However, if you're education doesn't relate to the type of job you're applying for, it can go on the bottom with no problem. Especially if your work experience is more relevant.

    For instance, my degree is in finance, but I work in education. I have all types of education-related experience, but my degree was not in education. If I'm applying for a finance position, I'd move my education to the top so it's the first thing they see. But if I'm applying for a job in education, I'd list my experience first, and then education, so that I'm still acknowledging that I have a degree.

    I have several versions of my resume just for this reason. It's extremely hard to make it by with a single version for every position you might be interested in.

    Actually we hire everyone from janitors to doctors to accountants. Degrees matter for everyone, there are basic education requirements (including having a high school diploma or GED for some and having a masters for others). In any case, we still want to know that you have a degree then we move on to experience to see if you have the basic experience required position. It's how all our resumes are initially sorted to make sure people aren't lying on the requirement questions they're asked to fill out (which happens a lot).

    VisionOfClarity on
  • shugaraeshugarae Phoenix, AZRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    a janitor with a degree... oh my...

    I still go back to it depending on the job you're applying for. Education is simply more important for some positions than it is for others. The relevancy of your education is also important (i.e. my example), and would suggest where it should be placed on the resume. I'm not saying to leave it off, but rearranging it can be a good thing.

    According to the HR people I know, you usually have about 15 seconds to impress the person looking at your resume, so the top half of the first page should be the best shit you've got to show. If it's your degree, then put it there. If it's your experience, then put it there.

    shugarae on
    Omeganaut class of '08. Fuck Peggle. Omeganaut class of '17 West. Fuck Rainbow Road.
    The Best in Terms of Pants on JCCC3
  • BasarBasar IstanbulRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Thanks for all the responses.

    I want to keep my experience on top because my education is not related to the positions I am applying for and my biggest accomplishment is the website I co-founded. It was chosen as the best music website in Turkey out of 30+ nominees + is the second most visited music site in Turkey.

    Anyways, did some minor changes and here is my final version before I submit it on Monday:

    http://www.scribd.com/doc/6123569/Final-Draft

    (I don't know why it adds a blank page to it on Scribd).

    :)

    Basar on
    i live in a country with a batshit crazy president and no, english is not my first language

  • SerpentSerpent Sometimes Vancouver, BC, sometimes Brisbane, QLDRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I first just 'glanced' at it like someone reviewing 100 resumes is likely to do, to try to get a feel for 'who you are'.

    I got confused with the PT FT thing, it took me a minute to figure out.

    I was also confused how your job title can be 'cofounder' for 8 odd years, and how a cofounder works parttime.

    Your next two positions are kinda similiar -- your job title is pretty nondescriptive. From a glance, I have no idea exactly what you did.

    Your date format was not clear. number/number requires some thinking/thought to understand. I glanced to see if I could see your work chronology and it was difficult.

    regarding FT '07 - present -- this does not tell me when you started working fulltime. December 2007? January 2007? This matters.

    Sorry for being so critical...

    edit:
    second most visited in turkey -- how many visitors? how much market share?
    organic growth? what the heck is that? how much did you increase advertising revenue by?

    edit2:
    i approve of education at the bottom. The most impressive and important stuff should go at the top.

    Serpent on
  • BasarBasar IstanbulRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Thanks Serpent, I asked for criticism, so no worries :)

    * i'll change ft/pt to fulltime/parttime
    * well we are a team of 3: 2 cofounders plus an outside programmer. never had official titles but i guess i could call myself chief marketing officer... this site was born after school hours, it never was a fulltime job.
    * i'll work on dates.
    * as i mentioned before, since i am putting this on job sites, i don't want to include specific numbers with regards to visitor numbers / advertising. i can provide those in an interview though.
    * organic growth means we didn't acquire any smaller sites or received funding from outside sources.

    Thanks for your help :)

    Basar on
    i live in a country with a batshit crazy president and no, english is not my first language

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