It’s graduation season again, and resumes have started flooding into the office. After years of having a “no-fresh-grads” hiring policy, my employer will finally be accepting junior software developers into the company. Woe to those who will train under me! Hehe 
One of the things first time job hunters don’t realize is how both HR and, in the case of smaller companies, non-HR employees pore over, read, snoop at, and (here it goes!) critique and ridicule resumes, from the way the applicants look (if the resume has a picture) to their grammar (we love you Janina San Miguel!) to their mundane extra-curricular activities.
Of course we also try to convince the boss to let us know when a photogenic candidate will come in for an interview so we can take a look. 
Naughty snooping notwithstanding, the first thing a graduate should think about is how to write a resume that will make a good first impression, at least enough to land an interview. Making a resume is not very different from advertising a product or service (more specifically, you are trying to sell you with it) so one must be meticulous in writing one.
Having had 5 different employers of over the 6 years of my career, here are some tips that I can offer (some learned the hard way!) that might be helpful. While most of these tips cover only IT/software development jobs, many of these tips are general enough for other industries as well:
- Revise, revise, revise. After you have revised your resume multiple times, have a parent, a close friend, or better yet, your English teacher read and revise it for you again. Nothing is more glaring (and turns employers off) faster than wrong spelling and hideous grammar. Having another person revise it is very important because it’s very easy to overlook mistakes after you had been staring at your resume for more than an hour. Take my word for it (I used to write in the school paper and per experience, obvious mistakes are the hardest to detect!).
- Do use a consistent, professional-looking font, and do not use colored text. Black is a very professional looking color on print, so stick with it. Likewise, choose a font that is readable and stick to it. Resumes printed in pink and have the font Comic Sans will immediately be thrown to the trash can, if not the paper shredder.
- Include photos at your own risk. This is so standard in Philippine resumes ever since the “bio-data” days that people automatically do it. But seriously, it’s not necessary in a resume. Usually what happens is that guys will look for the prettiest faces in the pile and ask to be told when her interview would be. If you do put a picture on the resume (or if the employer requires it), do NOT use your graduation picture. Put on a decent, professional looking ID that follows the conventions of passport photo requirements (e.g., white background, collared shirt/blouse, minimal make up).
- Avoid stating a career objective if you don’t know what your career objective is. One of the ugliest characteristics of bad resumes are cheesy, corny little career objective statements of people who don’t know what they are talking about. Statements like “I want to be one of the greatest programmers in the world” are so full of crap no one would allow you to pursue that path even if it’s really what you wanted. So just leave it out. If you have to put one in, an statement like “I would like to pursue expertise in technology X” might work. But be careful doing that: you don’t want to stereotype or limit yourself into technology X, and you certainly don’t want to say that you want to be an expert in Linux server management when you’re applying to a company that uses Windows servers exclusively.
- Immediately under your name, indicate which technologies you have experience using. HR personnel are very busy people, with tons of resumes to go through, so seeing the right skills immediately will help them notice your resume and have it go to the “for processing” bin.
- Write only the skills/technologies you have specific experience with, not those which you are merely “familiar” with. Nothing ruins an interviewer’s day worse than a person who claims to have an expertise in, say, SQL Server, but turns out to only have learned about it in a whole-day seminar. If you haven’t used it for even a small project, it’s okay, really. If you appear to be intelligent, we will teach you as you go. Promise.
- Do NOT include skills/awards that we don’t need to know about. I mean, really, we don’t care if you know how to drive and have a professional driver’s license. Neither do we care if you won Little Miss Philippines in 1989 or if you’re a runner up in Star in a Million in 2006. If it’s not relevant to your position, leave it out. But do underscore awards that are related to your desired position, like winning that programming contest in India back when you were in high school.
- Do NOT put in the IT certifications that you’ve earned. At least not if it’s not asked for. I know this sounds oxymoronic, because IT certifications are supposed to indicate proficiency in a certain technology and subject matter. However, if you’re a fresh graduate, it might work against you. First of all, what it does prove is that you’re good at memorizing reviewers and taking tests — that’s it. A certification, specially without field experience, will make you appear to be desperate at proving your worth, and it might work against you. Second, a lot of companies and IT managers abhor certifications because of the proliferation of websites like Braindumps, which leaks certification test items. Indicating certification raises eyebrows. Do indicate certifications that you have attained only if a potential employer asks for it explicitly. Otherwise, play safe — leave it out.
- Be prudent with divulging your personal information. We don’t need to know when you were married, how many kids you have, your religion or what your vital statistics are. All we need are some contact information so the employer can reach you if they want to, like your email address or your cellphone number.
If any of these tips are unclear to you, do leave a comment and I’ll try to get back to you the soonest.
Now if you can’t do it yourself, perhaps you should hire a professional resume writer to do it for you. It is that important.
26 responses so far ↓
1 Hener // Mar 23, 2008 at 6:07 pm
I’ve learned something new today. LOL LaTtEX is a scary boss. :)))
2 Jon Limjap // Mar 23, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Hener,
I’m not even a boss, I’m just nosy. LOL
3 aajao // Mar 24, 2008 at 11:47 am
lol. 5 different employers? hehehe pareho pala tayo ng hobby: job-hopping. Although nasira ang record ko sa current employer ko. i’m already overstaying here… 3 years na ko dito
4 Jon Limjap // Mar 24, 2008 at 7:33 pm
tukayo,
Hehehe, okay lang yan. I’m planning to “overstay” in my current employer until self-employment/entrepreneurship/my own startup becomes a viable option.
5 Jayson Villaruel // Mar 25, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Sana matupad ang pangarap ko na maturuan ni sir Jon!
6 Mitch // Mar 27, 2008 at 8:16 pm
This entry reminds me to update my resume. Hehehe LOL
7 gelene cabria // Mar 28, 2008 at 9:31 am
i got here through spliceanddice’s page. and since i’m a constant job seeker myself, i learned from this write-up. thanks.
8 Jay // Mar 29, 2008 at 9:56 am
Wow.. Thank you so much Jon.. nagjojob-hunting pa man din ako ngayon hehe
9 Jon Limjap // Mar 29, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Gelene,
Glad to be of help
Jay,
Naghahanap ka ng work? Saan, dito sa Manila, o sa Dagupan pa rin?
Goodluck dude.
10 Jay // Mar 30, 2008 at 9:01 am
sir bale andito na po sa canada.. kaya heto start ule ng bagong life..hehe
11 Jon Limjap // Mar 30, 2008 at 10:07 am
Jay,
Canada?! Maayos ba papers mo, I mean, makakakuha ka ba ng IT job or any job other than a menial job jan?
12 bugsybee // Mar 30, 2008 at 6:41 pm
May I add just two things about fonts? (1) Use only one type of font (and yes, please, please, please NOT Comic Sans) and (2) font size should be just large enough for clarity (I was read a resume in teeny weeny fonts that needed a magnifying glass to read… of course, I didn’t bother to look for one).
Jon, the SCARIER you are, the more that they will learn. Believe me.
13 bugsybee // Mar 30, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Ay, sorry! that should be STRICTER, not scarier (actually, students can’t seem to distinguish between strict and scary so perhaps that’s why I typed the wrong word, ha ha ha!).
So … the STRICTER you are, the more they will learn.
14 Jon Limjap // Mar 30, 2008 at 10:20 pm
bugsybee,
I think “scary” does sound apt!
15 Sidney // Mar 31, 2008 at 8:13 am
As usual
I don’t completely agree with you. When hiring staff I don’t look ONLY at their technical skills. In fact personality is more important to me than technical knowledge and skills.
(In any case they will need some additional training specific to the needs of my company).
I am looking for smart and all round candidates who are able to work in a team. That little Miss Philippines might be of interest after all
And if you are really pretty or handsome, why not use it as an asset and enclose a picture…
Many people are sending out their resumes. My advice is to be honest. Tell the truth and the facts as they are but try to find something about you that sets you apart from the pack.
It is much easier to go to Siquijor from Dumaguete. All boats from Tagbilaran go first to Dumaguete before they go to Siquijor. No direct boats from Tagbilaran to Siquijor.
16 BlogusVox // Mar 31, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I remember once an Indian guy applied to us as a programmer. Not only was he using several fonts and italic to emphasize something, his resume has borders. You know, the one with vines and flowers. We had a good laugh at that one.
17 Jon Limjap // Mar 31, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Sidney,
Heh, of course personality is still a factor, but I think that is something more easily ascertained during the job interview. In any case, Little Miss Philippines awards are sure qualifiers if you want to have someone you can do “knock-knock” jokes with!
My wife’s barkada (our usual travel companions) want to go to Camiguin but I’m encouraging them to look into Siquijor. It’s funny how supposedly modern, liberal and educated individuals still fear “aswang”. Of course the real reason I want to go there instead is because it’s cheaper.
18 Jon Limjap // Mar 31, 2008 at 7:27 pm
BlogusVox,
Did he turn out to be competent, though?
19 BlogusVox // Mar 31, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Can’t say. My German boss throw the resume in the trashcan the moment he saw it.
20 Sidney // Apr 1, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Camiguin is high on my list of places i want to visit. It seems to be such a beautiful place.
I went to Siquijor for the “aswangs”… did not find them but I witnessed instead some ‘disturbing’ events…
Don’t completely rule out those spirits… happy travel and welcome to Siquijor !
21 Jay // Apr 2, 2008 at 11:14 am
ok po papers ko sir; bale dito sa kinaroroonan ko ngayon wala ako makuha na IT; nagbabalak nga po ako lumipat sa ibang lugar or sa Toronto baka doon may makita ako..
22 TonGue-tWisTeD // Apr 7, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I would prefer to see personal info if just to know that an applicant does have a life outside the office. I wouldn’t hire someone whose after-office hours are all spent either on Playstation or the next-door internet cafe. Not even if he/she is the most qualified. Geeks belong in the bedroom not in my office.
For example, a boss I had once called four of us new managers to a meeting. Surprise of surpises he told me, “You, you bring your bass and amp on Friday.” To the other guys, their own instruments. We never knew he had this bias for musicians. We built a repertoire of about 30 songs and played on almost all of the company’s parties!
I’ve used that same idea here in my own company, now I never spend money for live entertainment! We also entertain clients/principals on-the-spot.
23 Jon Limjap // Apr 7, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Tongue-twisted,
Yeah but, I think for those things the best place to figure them out is during the interview. For resumes that you will send to more than one company — hobbies will be noise as opposed to signal.
Of course companies can always indicate that they want hobbies indicated in the resumes sent to them.
24 icy // Apr 9, 2008 at 9:43 am
here in canada, adding a picture and personal attributes in your resume is completely unacceptable. part kasi ng discrimination yan saka racists. the first thing they’ll gonna look at is your experience(mostly they only consider us or canadian work experience), then your skills, and then your personality
the other thing is if you have a university degree or college diploma. university degree means ur at the management or higher education level and college diploma means more technical and less theories.
25 jerbersoft // Apr 22, 2008 at 8:11 pm
great article sir jon! [Y] really informative. thanks! i think i have to update my resume.
26 Jen // Apr 22, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Nice blog entry Jon
Nung fresh grad ako I used to list all of the seminars that I attended hahaha! but now all I can say to those job-seekers especially to those fresh grads, be brief about your resume. Do not include info that doesn’t apply to what the employer is looking for. I had a little HR experience in the past at nakakaloka kaya tumingin sa sangkatutak na resumes so be sure your resume stands out para at least lumanding sa interviews
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