Resume formats

[Aabidano]

I need to redo my resume as it's gotten very cluttered, it's good for an internal audience but not so useful externally. I've seen a number of them lately that are basically just an outline of dates\companies\positions\industries with no real specifics. Is that the latest fashion, just a compressed way to do things? More importantly is it an effective format?

For me I'm looking at it as a way to compress 10-12 years experience relevant to the direction I want to go into a page and half-ish. The underlying theme of almost everything I've done since '92 has been been network\product design\security with side trips into all kinds of odd places, if that makes any difference.

[valryte]

While I haven't written tons of resumes (I usually stay at companies for several years), the last time I wrote one was after I left a company I was at after 8 years. So I had a lot of catching up to do on how people write resumes nowadays and what works and doesn't work. One of the most important things I found out was don't write just one version of a resume. You'll want to somewhat tailor resumes for the company/position that you are applying for. As a software developer with a lot of knowledge and experiences in various areas in my field, I just can't list them all in one resume. A. it would be huge and B. a lot of it just won't be applicable for some companies. For example, say I'm applying for a DBA position, while I will mention my experience as a software developer, I'll emphasize more on my database experience. If I'm applying for a position as a web developer, I emphasize my web development experience, same if its for back-end systems development. You get the idea. I actually have like four variations of my resume covering my top areas of expertise. What this does is make your resume stand out to a company when they review it especially when the things they quickly see (what you have focused on) are things they are looking for. If they have to muddle through a lot of stuff that doesn't apply to them, it just makes it look like another generic resume. As for the details, since your in the tech industry, remember that stuff you did 12 years ago probably won't be that relevant today so focus your details on what you've done the past 4-5 years and less as you get further out. This will happen automatically once you get in the frame of mind of custom tailoring resumes for specific positions. You'll just automatically focus more on the stuff that is relevant. For example, 9-10 year ago I did Java development. A lot has changed since then and frankly I don't pursue any Java work, so I don't really go into details about it. Also, try to keep your resume somewhere around 3-5 pages. Discuss things you did to help improve the company. Did you manage other team members? Also research customizing resumes towards specific companies. You should find other recommendations that go over making your resume look as if you wrote it specifically for the company you apply to. I'm in LA this week, but if I get a chance I'll try to review my resume and see what other techniques I used.

[Boogahz]

I hope you format your resume a bit different than you formatted that last post.

[redeemed]

coincidentally I'm in the process of reworking my resume and I found this site a bit helpful:
http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Common-Resume-Mistakes

kinda generic maybe but it helped me! =)

[valryte]

I hope you format your resume a bit different than you formatted that last post.

Lol yeah...I was typing it while sitting on the floor at a Microsoft PDC session on MVC.

[Aabidano]

I hope you format your resume a bit different than you formatted that last post.

Lol yeah...I was typing it while sitting on the floor at a Microsoft PDC session on MVC.

My resume is almost that bad right now Which is cool internally but...

I've had a couple good suggestions, going to go with a page or a page and a half high level outline, no dates. That will make it easier to tweak for individual jobs and more likely to be read through. I want a vehicle to get the first call, I do very well after that point.

Honestly, while I look on and off it'd take a lot to get me to leave my current job\company. The specter of becoming "synergized" is always floating around though so I like to keep things somewhat prepared for a move.