8 ms·

> No need for 5-star skills ratings, dual-colored backgrounds, unreadable fonts, and whatnot... I read a lot of resumes. Honestly, the number of quirky over-de

> No need for 5-star skills ratings, dual-colored backgrounds, unreadable fonts, and whatnot... I read a lot of resumes. Honestly, the number of quirky over-designed resumes I see is probably 1 in 50. The vast majority of people do submit clearly organized resumes based on a template they found. The reason those quirky over-designed resumes get shared on HN or other social media is because they’re different, not because they’re common.

j33zusjuice 4y ago
In my experience looking at résumés (mostly for entry-level tech roles), fancy formatting is 100% an attempt to cover for a lack of skill. I haven’t seen one that had good content. Intuitively, this makes sense to me, and seems to fit with the old adage, “if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.” Imo, your experience should speak for itself.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- robertlagrant 4y ago
  I would do your best to fully ignore anything like this. It's bound to be incorrect sometimes.
  - j33zusjuice 4y ago
    Oh, for sure, I read all of them top to bottom when I’m part of the hiring team. I just haven’t actually seen one that was fancy that had good content. The layout doesn’t matter to me, as long as it’s consistently formatted.
- 2ICofafireteam 4y ago
  >Imo, your experience should speak for itself. What's wrong with saying, "May I draw your attention to my experience? They have something to say."
- Ultimatt 4y ago
  Then there are the people who dazzle you with both their brilliance and the shiny stuff. They get the job over just the brilliant person...
- conductr 4y ago
  > your experience should speak for itself. When it does, you have trouble fitting it all on 1-2 page. You quickly go to text only, and organize things accordingly. When you lack experience, you try to make things look like an infographic so as to fill space with trivial information.
jcadam 4y ago
I eventually gave up on Word templates and now keep my resume in LaTeX. Neat and organized - not unlike this example only with more detail and nicer fonts :) Occasionally a recruiter will ask/demand I give it to them in MS Word - I've learned it's always a bad idea to give recruiter a resume in an easily editable format.
- system2 4y ago
  LaTeX seems very difficult. Why are you using it for such a basic job you could do with MS Word?
- oslem 4y ago
  I’m assuming you’re concerned with resume manipulation? Or is there another reason you prefer to submit your resume in a non-editable format?
  - jcadam 4y ago
    Yep, I've been surprised by the contents of my resume at an interview set up by a recruiter once. "It says on your resume you have extensive experience in X." "I do not." They also have a thing for stripping your name and contact details out and pasting their ugly letterhead over the top. Which I suppose they could still do with a PDF if they have Acrobat Pro.
    - bitwize 4y ago
      They only "came across" your résumé -- similar to how San Franciscans come across turds. 99 times out of 100 they didn't even bother to read it.
    - Beltalowda 4y ago
      > They also have a thing for stripping your name and contact details out This makes some amount of sense because they want to avoid the company bypassing the recruiter and their commission. I was once hired like this (although I didn't know it until much later, when the owner told me). I think it's a realistic and reasonable fear. I have a "redacted" version of my CV for this purpose which removes the personal information, but I can't recall I ever actually used it since I haven't really used recruiters for a decade.
version_five 4y ago
I think certain schools or career programs must tell their students to do resumes that way (with gauges and stuff) because I have encountered big clusters of them, even if on average they're rare

j33zusjuice 4y ago

In my experience looking at résumés (mostly for entry-level tech roles), fancy formatting is 100% an attempt to cover for a lack of skill. I haven’t seen one that had good content. Intuitively, this makes sense to me, and seems to fit with the old adage, “if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.” Imo, your experience should speak for itself.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
robertlagrant 4y ago
I would do your best to fully ignore anything like this. It's bound to be incorrect sometimes.
- j33zusjuice 4y ago
  Oh, for sure, I read all of them top to bottom when I’m part of the hiring team. I just haven’t actually seen one that was fancy that had good content. The layout doesn’t matter to me, as long as it’s consistently formatted.
2ICofafireteam 4y ago
>Imo, your experience should speak for itself. What's wrong with saying, "May I draw your attention to my experience? They have something to say."
Ultimatt 4y ago
Then there are the people who dazzle you with both their brilliance and the shiny stuff. They get the job over just the brilliant person...
conductr 4y ago
> your experience should speak for itself. When it does, you have trouble fitting it all on 1-2 page. You quickly go to text only, and organize things accordingly. When you lack experience, you try to make things look like an infographic so as to fill space with trivial information.

jcadam 4y ago

I eventually gave up on Word templates and now keep my resume in LaTeX. Neat and organized - not unlike this example only with more detail and nicer fonts :) Occasionally a recruiter will ask/demand I give it to them in MS Word - I've learned it's always a bad idea to give recruiter a resume in an easily editable format.

system2 4y ago
LaTeX seems very difficult. Why are you using it for such a basic job you could do with MS Word?
oslem 4y ago
I’m assuming you’re concerned with resume manipulation? Or is there another reason you prefer to submit your resume in a non-editable format?
- jcadam 4y ago
  Yep, I've been surprised by the contents of my resume at an interview set up by a recruiter once. "It says on your resume you have extensive experience in X." "I do not." They also have a thing for stripping your name and contact details out and pasting their ugly letterhead over the top. Which I suppose they could still do with a PDF if they have Acrobat Pro.
  - bitwize 4y ago
    They only "came across" your résumé -- similar to how San Franciscans come across turds. 99 times out of 100 they didn't even bother to read it.
  - Beltalowda 4y ago
    > They also have a thing for stripping your name and contact details out This makes some amount of sense because they want to avoid the company bypassing the recruiter and their commission. I was once hired like this (although I didn't know it until much later, when the owner told me). I think it's a realistic and reasonable fear. I have a "redacted" version of my CV for this purpose which removes the personal information, but I can't recall I ever actually used it since I haven't really used recruiters for a decade.

version_five 4y ago

I think certain schools or career programs must tell their students to do resumes that way (with gauges and stuff) because I have encountered big clusters of them, even if on average they're rare