4 ms·

I run into this issue on my resume. Do i throw random skills i spent 4 months learning for some project and never used again? I feel like overloading these thin

I run into this issue on my resume. Do i throw random skills i spent 4 months learning for some project and never used again? I feel like overloading these things devalues the skills i actually AM exceptionally competent at, as opposed to just capable.

NoCoastCoder 9y ago
Are they relevant to the position? I'd keep them if they are and lose them otherwise.
ergothus 9y ago
My advice? Remember that your resume goes through at least 2 filters, HR and IT. What happened was: IT boss: "we need to hire a coder" HR: "What skills?" IT Boss: "Oh, Foo language. But if they're a good coder they can pick it up, so just a good coder" HR: "...you're kidding, right? There are millions of resumes out there, most from people with no skills just trying to land a great job. Give me enough to filter" IT Boss: (provides list of three things) HR: "This still isn't enough. Practically EVERYONE will have these. Give me years of experience, skillsets, processes, etc. IT Boss: "Fine, here" (gives long list of things that MAY be useful) HR: (starts filtering resumes based on these words, removing lots of good people and including lots of bad people) IT Boss: (looks at resumes) "These people are clearly lying and all over the place, I'm going to focus on one or two things to decide who to interview" So in writing your resume, you want to make sure you have the buzzwords for the job to get past HR. These buzzwords are pretty much guaranteed to be on the job listing, even if they end up not being very essential to the job. Did they mention Scrum? Better have it on your resume, because you may be filtered out if it isn't, even if it's something you'd not consider worth listing. Also, use the same words. I once was asked if I had "shell experience", even though BASH was on my resume. I assume "Agile" and the various implementations are the same. If they mention XP, you better mention XP. BUT when your resume then makes it to IT, who (1) know what these words mean and (2) aren't looking for the same things at all, you need to have what they want. I tend to use a sidebar on my resume to capture the HR buzzwords, and emphasize my work experience in the main body, so an IT person skimming it will see what they want to see. One technique I've taken to handle HR buzzwords on things that I don't think are actually a big deal: If the job listing says "Must know React, Angular, Backbone, or other JS frameworks" and I wasn't really strong in any of them, I'd do enough research and testing coding to do a Hello World in them, then add "Exposure to Foo, Bar" on my resume. It tends to get through HR (word is present!), and I'm not lying to the IT people - they understand that I'm not claiming expertise, but I'm also saying I'm willing to give it a go. As a corollary to all of this, you need to tweak your resume for every job posting, to match their buzzwords and remove ones they didn't list that aren't really core to your skills.

NoCoastCoder 9y ago

Are they relevant to the position? I'd keep them if they are and lose them otherwise.

ergothus 9y ago

My advice? Remember that your resume goes through at least 2 filters, HR and IT. What happened was: IT boss: "we need to hire a coder" HR: "What skills?" IT Boss: "Oh, Foo language. But if they're a good coder they can pick it up, so just a good coder" HR: "...you're kidding, right? There are millions of resumes out there, most from people with no skills just trying to land a great job. Give me enough to filter" IT Boss: (provides list of three things) HR: "This still isn't enough. Practically EVERYONE will have these. Give me years of experience, skillsets, processes, etc. IT Boss: "Fine, here" (gives long list of things that MAY be useful) HR: (starts filtering resumes based on these words, removing lots of good people and including lots of bad people) IT Boss: (looks at resumes) "These people are clearly lying and all over the place, I'm going to focus on one or two things to decide who to interview" So in writing your resume, you want to make sure you have the buzzwords for the job to get past HR. These buzzwords are pretty much guaranteed to be on the job listing, even if they end up not being very essential to the job. Did they mention Scrum? Better have it on your resume, because you may be filtered out if it isn't, even if it's something you'd not consider worth listing. Also, use the same words. I once was asked if I had "shell experience", even though BASH was on my resume. I assume "Agile" and the various implementations are the same. If they mention XP, you better mention XP. BUT when your resume then makes it to IT, who (1) know what these words mean and (2) aren't looking for the same things at all, you need to have what they want. I tend to use a sidebar on my resume to capture the HR buzzwords, and emphasize my work experience in the main body, so an IT person skimming it will see what they want to see. One technique I've taken to handle HR buzzwords on things that I don't think are actually a big deal: If the job listing says "Must know React, Angular, Backbone, or other JS frameworks" and I wasn't really strong in any of them, I'd do enough research and testing coding to do a Hello World in them, then add "Exposure to Foo, Bar" on my resume. It tends to get through HR (word is present!), and I'm not lying to the IT people - they understand that I'm not claiming expertise, but I'm also saying I'm willing to give it a go. As a corollary to all of this, you need to tweak your resume for every job posting, to match their buzzwords and remove ones they didn't list that aren't really core to your skills.