CV Advise

Dubba

I'm currently applying for an internship and was hoping to get some feedback on my CV.

I've kept it very compact, only one page. I've heard its a good idea to keep it short and to the point. Maybe its too compact, should I go into more detail? I could put in a paragraph about myself, and mention what technologies are strengths / weaknesses.

https://www.dropbox.com/brian/cv (edited)

Thanks.

14ned

Dubba wrote: »

I'm currently applying for an internship and was hoping to get some feedback on my CV.

More hard numbers of bugs successfully fixed etc would be good.

Also your pull request is stale against master branch. You should fix that.

Niall

Dubba

Thanks Niall. This was my first ever PR, apart from a typo fix. I'll edit the CV to make that clearer.

I'll update my branch as well, thanks again.

Dubba

I think it might be a good idea to add a cover letter, something a bit more personal. I could get across my interests and desire to gain experience there. They are not FAANG, so the filtering process may not be too extrem.

14ned

Dubba wrote: »

I think it might be a good idea to add a cover letter, something a bit more personal. I could get across my interests and desire to gain experience there. They are not FAANG, so the filtering process may not be too extrem.

If you do add a cover letter, make SURE it is customised to the employer in question. Talk about what value employing you will add to them in particular. That's the only role for talking about your interests. Don't overplay your experience, a single line showing how much you realise you don't know from some work you did on open source project X looks great.

Niall

Trojan

I think you're underplaying the skills you gained from your previous career. I'd expound on that more, it's what sets you apart from recent graduates.

PrzemoF

Some random thoughts:
I'd add a bit more details to the skills section. "Skills: Windows/OSX/Linux" might mean anything between "I know how to start the system" to "I'm your [OS here] guru".
Consider adding QR code for your webpage, especially if you're going to use paper version of your CV.
Remove that "Part time" from "Higher Certificate in Computing, Part-time, CIT.". Don't down play your skills/training.
I don't see git in you Skills - I guess it's worth to have it and you probably know it?
Consider using a CV template in LaTeX to get top class "look & feel".

Dubba

Thanks for the input everyone, I submitted my CV today. There was a 'Tell us about yourself' section in their 'Submit your Application' webform. I got in a few paragraphs there, relating to the points you made @14Ned and @Trojan.

@PrzemoF - my 'Skills: Windows/OSX/Linux' only relate to my experience using these OS's, i'm certainly not an OS guru. I do prefer developing on Linux to Windows tho. Good idea about using a QR code for my webpage, I'll use that if I ever need to submit a paper version of my CV. I only mentioned part-time for the HC because it explains, why it took me 3, rather than 2 years to complete. I take your point about not down playing my training, I'll omit this in future and leave that point for the interview. Also, I'll add Git as a skill, and use a CV template next time. Thanks!

@Trojan that clip is hilarious, I'm must a look for that movie.

BarrysLife

Hi I will be starting a CS degree in UCC in September and i am buying a new laptop for it as my 5 year old current laptop just dosent cut it anymore. My problem is that i have been offered a 2016 macbook pro for a very good price due to a family friend who works at apple. When i was in a harvey norman store having a look at the macbook and other laptops such as the surface laptop i was told that there could be compatatbility issues with programmes used by colleges in software development ans similar courses. Would anyone be able to tell me if this is true?

14ned

BarrysLife wrote: »

Hi I will be starting a CS degree in UCC in September and i am buying a new laptop for it as my 5 year old current laptop just dosent cut it anymore. My problem is that i have been offered a 2016 macbook pro for a very good price due to a family friend who works at apple. When i was in a harvey norman store having a look at the macbook and other laptops such as the surface laptop i was told that there could be compatatbility issues with programmes used by colleges in software development ans similar courses. Would anyone be able to tell me if this is true?

It's easy to run Windows on a MacBook. In fact, I permanently run Windows on my MacBook Pro, I'm typing to you right now from it.

Whether a MBP makes any financial sense is another matter. They're not worth more than maybe €1200, for that money you would get a better Dell in every way.

Niall

Ciaranimo

PrzemoF wrote: »

Remove that "Part time" from "Higher Certificate in Computing, Part-time, CIT.". Don't down play your skills/training.

Just looking for an opinion on this, I recently completed studying for a degree in Computing part time while working full time and I have stated that on myCV. The thinking being that it would look good that I was able to complete a degree while working full time.

Is it better not to mention the fact that it was part time ? Just wondering if it takes away from it in the eyes of employers in your opinion?

Might have to get rid of it from mine if that is the case!

Evil Phil

Would you consider a second page? You've got work experience in technical roles and recruiters are going to want to know more about them, you could use the second page to expand on your responsibilities in these jobs. And the fact that you can hold down a job is always a plus when starting out.

Dubba

That's a good idea Evil Phil, a second page that expounds upon my work experience would be beneficial.

Unfortunately I didn't get the internship. Thanks for the input everyone. Hopefully I get it next time.

Evil Phil

Sorry to hear you didn't get the position. It's worth sending them an email asking them (respectfully! :pac:) where you fell down in your application. The worse they can do is ignore it or say no.

I hate internships btw, if you've got somebody working for you pay them. Modern day slavery tbh.

Dubba

Thanks Phil. I did get a reply from HR letting me know there were no internship positions available. She said they usually allocate for college placements in Oct/Nov. The only reason I applied was, an old class mate who works there in support, told me they were taking interns for tech roles over the summer. Perhaps the position was taken, or wires were crossed.

At least it was good to update my CV. I'm going to make an appointment with the college's careers councilor to make a plan for post graduation. I'm at a bit of a disadvantage, as my course doesn't have a work experience module. I'm moving into 4th yr of s/w development, and they did their work experience module in 3rd yr.

Creamy Goodness

Definitely needs a second page.

Also remove the DOB. It only gives the employer ammo to discriminate even though we know it's illegal to discriminate over age but why give them the opportunity.

Also to be pedantic. OSX should be OS X, but has also changed to macOS last year. Tinyiest details matter considering you worked at Apple.

Dubba

Hi all,

I'm back again looking for CV advise, thanks for all the pointers last time. I took onboard the advise to add a second page, and spruced it up a bit using a ShareLaTeX CV template.

I have graduated this summer, so I am now looking for a graduate software developer role, as opposed to an internship.

I was wondering about mentioning skills that would be quite limited, i.e having experience of fewer than 4 months? I've put them under the heading 'Some Familiarity With'. Do you think this is a good idea, or should I only list skills where I have more experience?

Here is a link to my CV. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Calahonda52

While in the process of completing my degree, I worked on the iOS team, part-time, remotely. The products I was responsible for supporting included: iPhone, iPad, AppleWatch, Apple TV and iTunes. Working with Apple was at times a high-pressure environment, especially when a new product or iOS update was launched. There were weekly reviews with targets set by my manager to improve on metrics, such ascustomer satisfaction score and call duration. We were also continuously assessed in the self-guided study we took. This helped us keep up to date on the products and services.I enjoyed working at Apple, particularly getting to the root of an issue a customer was having

How did you do with the pressure/targets

Don't mix I/us/we, this is a recurring issue in the CV

Are the CAD course certified, with paperwork, if not drop

It was also very important that our projects were delivered on time, on budget and to regulation specification. Therefore, alongside the architect, I attended site meetings and adapted the project’s drawings as needed.

no connection here between these two sentences in terms of achieving targets

This project is a Android mobile application, that recognizes and parses vocal inputfrom the user. The goal of the application is to aid a Therapists treat their patients.

Dubba

Thanks for taking the time to review my CV Calahonda52.

I found a City & Guilds cert from 1999 and a Foundation Level AutoCad Cert from 1998, so I will add those under the 'Education' section. I'll drop the references to the Advanced CAD courses because I don't have certs for those. I do have a mention of continuous learning in my CAD work bio at least.

Also, I'll fix the grammatical errors, and highlight how I delt with pressure/targets.

Thanks again.