In the previous articles (part 2 and part 3) I’ve pictured my general advice on how to prepare to the recruitment process. Now I would like to present some details that are worth mentioning while preparing a CV.
You shall be particularly careful about what file format you use while sending your CV if you candidate on a Frontend position. Remember that various Word versions may have significant differences and an .odt or .odf extensions may be especially unreliable for text format. The safest solution is to send your CV in PDF format. That way you have a guarantee that you will keep proper style and your exquisitely designed CV will not look like a crash site.
CV is your business card – and do you imagine browsing through its’ different pages in order to find the most important information? Absolutely not! It’s recommended not to excess two A4 pages and it’s the best to close in just one.
Pay attention to dates while presenting your job track record or academic background. What’s’ your skill level over the years you’ve spent in your discipline? It is relevant and believe me when I say that many count and analyze it. Be mindful of possible gaps between courses or jobs in different companies. If they are present – remember that you may be asked about it during the interview.
It’s worth distinguishing merits – putting them first or bringing them out with text formatting – and exposing less those weak points (but do not gloss over them!). Few words about you and one or two interesting sentences may leave a positive impression on the recruiter.
Offering a large array of ways to contact you is a good practice, but do not excess in the matter – while LinkedIn or Goldenline profile links are useful, web forums or GG number are redundant. Moreover, be mindful about your e-mail address, for “tygrysek1995@mail.pl” may not be seen as credible.
There are supporters and opponents of putting your photo in CV. I belong to the first ones, because a smiling face on the photo always leaves a good impression (and that’s the whole point!).
I’m not talking about financial expectations, rather about a summary of career goals, e.g. what would you like to learn in new environment, what are your plans for the future, why have you chosen Aspire etc. You should be careful about how much space will you spend on it.
Although there are still some that will not learn them only until they get the job, not knowing those languages is a critical error. Just “wanting” is not enough and it’s required that your skill is at least intermediate even for an intern position.
Another way to test a future developer’s code is quiz that’s sent on the early state of recruitment. Of course it’s possible that someone will do it ‘with the Internet’s help’, but everything lacking will be shown during the test talk.
I’d like to place a special emphasis on the graphs without a proper scale. Those are surprisingly popular, even though they may do more harm than good because they illustrate candidate’s confidence rather than reflect reality. What may be a surprise to you – there are more of those that underestimate their skill level.
You should write down even the smallest ones. Even though it’s recommended to be restrained while listing known technologies, you may feel free about your achievements and prizes. Competition and contest activity or participating in workshops and hackatons give you invaluable experience (even from an employee’s point of view).
If you even mention any not related to the IT hobbies, be careful about its’ number and lack of precision. Avoid vague interests like ‘I like books’ or ‘I like to travel’. Use ‘sci-fi books (Lem, Asimov)’, ‘mountain climbing’ or ‘origami’ instead. Remember not to list too many of them. Two or three should be enough to make a perfect foothold for a conversation.