[NCLUG] Home Linux experience on a resume

[dlc]

Some hints:

Number one - there is no one-page requirement.  Use what you need, but 
don't get extravagant and be succinct.  Mine were two to two and a half.

Number two - Know what you want and tailor the resume to the job you are 
applying for.  A generic resume is a lost cause.

Number the rest:
Highlight your strengths first.  Put key words in bold type. Your resume 
must tell these things:

Who you are
What you want
What your education is
What you can do
Why you should be the one they pick and what they'll miss if they don't
Where you created your work and what it was

Volunteer work, "independent" work or contracting, even as a summer 
intern are all valuable work experience.

Never lie, but don't be bashful either!  You are advertising yourself, I 
have never seen a commercial for something "pretty good".  Put your best 
foot forward.

Learning something on your own isn't something to be ashamed of, 
employers may look at it as a "self-starter" trait.  My learning process 
took the form of volunteer contract work for others and I put it down as 
contract work.  You are only as interesting as your last three years, so 
make sure that stuff is on top.  Don't bother with hobbies or personal 
information, only work and career stuff is of interest.  Make it jump 
off the page, do NOT write in grad-school third-person impersonal.  Use 
"I" and "Me", tell your story and use words that stand out.  Reading 
these is boring, they will remember the ones that aren't.

Finally, tune your cover letter to the position _specifically_ that you 
are applying for.  There is no such thing as a generic cover letter!

Have fun with it, be as complete as needed and good luck!

DLC


Brendan Long wrote:
> My problem is I just don't know where to put it. Resumes seem to have a
> bunch of rules I don't understand. I heard from a lot of people to
> "imagine what you would think if you were the one hiring someone", but
> if I was hiring someone I wouldn't care about this "always use one page"
> and "the sections should be 'Objectives', 'Experience' and 'Education',
> in that order" stuff..
> 
> Right now my plan is a "skills" section, with no explanation of how I
> did it. Someone else suggested "Projects", which I might use for
> contributions to open source projects.
> 
> I wish the online applications would just have a section like "Select
> each technology that you consider yourself to be good at" "Now select
> everything you have used before that you didn't select previously".
> 
> On 03/22/2010 11:43 PM, dlc wrote:
>> It counts, use it.
>>
>> DLC
>>
>> Brendan Long wrote:
>>   
>>> Hi, I'm not sure if this is really the best place to ask, but I figured
>>> people post jobs on here on all the time, so someone is bound to have an
>>> idea. The thing is, I've been using Linux exclusively at home for a
>>> couple years, along with running a personal site with a VPS. I just
>>> don't know how to put that on a resume, since it's not professional
>>> experience. Any ideas?
>>>
>>> -Brendan Long
>>>
>>> PS - This isn't "I put Ubuntu in and hit install" experience, I run
>>> Arch, have written several packages for the AUR, and I use the terminal
>>> constantly.
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> 
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-- 
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Dennis Clark          TTT Enterprises
www.techtoystoday.com
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