Why won't anyone talk to me? What recruiters look for in a resume • Hacker News Board

Re: Why won't anyone talk to me? What recruiters look for in a resume

#61

Post by driverdan » Tue, Nov 20, 2012, 2:17 PM UTC

polymatter wrote: post #55

aneth4 wrote: post #23

Wow, if you are skilled technically and aren't annoyed by constant recruiter outreach, you are doing something majorly wrong. I'd also say technical recruiters are also doing something majorly wrong if your resume reflects your abilities. If you've coded anything that does something interesting, you should have no problem finding interviews, and frankly offers. If you haven't coded anything interesting, then why woul…

Be aware of the anti-pattern section of TFA though. The impression of job hopping really does "damage your chances" as the author put it. I hope its not too rude to talk about my own case. I lost a job in 2008 over the financial crisis (LIFO employee retention policy), had 2 short contracts (which really shouldn't count as job hopping!) a research position where I suffered a burnout and now recruiters don't answer my…

1. Put up a personal site on your own domain if you don't already have one. It doesn't have to be fancy but should look professional. A single page will do. Write a few paragraphs about yourself and link to projects, social media profiles, and your CV. See mine as an example: http://driverdan.com

2. Have a searchable PDF version of your CV / resume linked to from your page. If possible also include an HTML version. Consider SEO when writing your CV. What keywords do you want people to find you for?

3. Be everywhere. Have active social media profiles on all the major sites. LinkedIn is a cesspool of recruiters so get your keywords on your profile and link to examples of your work.

Re: Why won't anyone talk to me? What recruiters look for in a resume

#62

Post by geebee » Tue, Nov 20, 2012, 2:41 PM UTC

batgaijin wrote: post #7

cllns wrote: post #5

I'm not sure UIUC and UT-Austin are great examples for second-tier schools, as both are top 10 for graduate CS departments.

I disagree entirely. Graduate school has nothing to do with the undergraduate curriculum. I went to a school with an amazing graduate program but I had a terrible watered down education that barely went passed Java and did not push me or many of the other students. It's an excellent opportunity for summer research jobs and the such, but otherwise does not translate well into the lower curriculum unless you want it to…

According to USNWR, both the UIUC and University of Texas at Austin also have top 10 undergraduate engineering programs (#5 and #10 respectively) as well.

I can't think of a top graduate program with a poor undergraduate program. And CS tends to be extremely rigorous, so I am honestly surprised that a recruiter would view a degree in CS from UTex as a non-indicator.

But I'm not trying to shoot the messenger. Perhaps UTex and Brown were selected to specifically illustrate the phenomenon here, that a highly regarded engineering school might be discounted while an Ivy league school that normally isn't associated with Computer Science would be considered a positive indicator.

It's a little hard to argue with a recruiter, they've done far more placement than I have. But I have worked (and done lots of interviews for) for a large silicon valley company, as well as for a few startups, and personally I think that a CS degree from UTex at Austin or UIUC would be very positively received.

Undergraduate curricula tends to be standardized, and nobody gets out of a top school without taking the tough courses. But you can get wiggle through an MS. But at the door... not so sure, the selection requirements (undergraduate GPA and GRE) at Berkeley were very high for any kind of admitted grad student. However, Berkeley doesn't have one of those "industrial affiliate" programs that are profit centers. However, I don't think these programs harm the universities that offer them at all - the students are almost always already employed at good companies doing interesting work, and I think the other students benefit from their presence.

Re: Why won't anyone talk to me? What recruiters look for in a resume

#63

Post by monksy » Tue, Nov 20, 2012, 3:56 PM UTC

paupino_masano wrote: post #14

Surprisingly, I have the opposite trouble: how do I stop recruiters trying to recruit me? I have about 15-20 recruiters contacting me per week however what I put it down to is: 1. Location. Since I moved to SF the job offers have increased substantially . 2. Skill set. Fortunately I'm skilled in some "popular" languages. 3. Years of experience. I'm in the "hot spot" - not too old, and not too young (sorry - it does s…

I'm in the same boat as you, but on a smaller scale. I'm based out of Charlotte. So there is "less potential." However, I don't understand the whole deal that recruiters try to recruit you for the town you're in.

What about candidates who are willing to relocate? What about overseas relocation? Not being married and liking travel that sounds like fun to me.

Re: Why won't anyone talk to me? What recruiters look for in a resume

#64

Post by monksy » Tue, Nov 20, 2012, 3:58 PM UTC

Ologn wrote: post #42

During hiring, I have looked through dozens, if not hundreds of resumes over the years, mostly for Unix systems administrator positions. You can tell a lot about what someone knows just by how they put together their resume, over and above the work experience. A question I used to ask on interviews was, "Have you ever worked with Gnu programs, like gcc, Gnu make etc.?" Hiring Unix admins in 1998, when you couldn't ge…

On the flip side of the coin, I've seen Unix Admin positions that ask for C++ experience. A sys admin being able to develop? Come on..

Re: Why won't anyone talk to me? What recruiters look for in a resume

#65

Post by monksy » Tue, Nov 20, 2012, 4:17 PM UTC

I'm not sure what the deal was about the schools. An expectation of a top tier school is mostly useless. Yes a solid education is important, however just because you have credentials from a "top" school doesn't mean you'll be: 1. a good worker 2. motivation to perform the tasks 3. experience. Secondly, anyone who depends on a big name school to get by fails to understand economics. Yes you might be able to get a small premium for the name. However, the market can't afford to choose only the top names. Theres more work that is needed than the small group of "top school" names can fill.

Re: Why won't anyone talk to me? What recruiters look for in a resume

#66

Post by warrenm » Tue, Nov 20, 2012, 4:25 PM UTC

monksy wrote: post #65

I'm not sure what the deal was about the schools. An expectation of a top tier school is mostly useless. Yes a solid education is important, however just because you have credentials from a "top" school doesn't mean you'll be: 1. a good worker 2. motivation to perform the tasks 3. experience. Secondly, anyone who depends on a big name school to get by fails to understand economics. Yes you might be able to get a smal…

The only thing a "top tier school" can really provide is the potential for a 'better' set of initial contacts in your network (eg startup founders and investors if you go to MIT, Rice, or Stanford).

Beyond that - it's all pretty much the same: can you get the job done? Can you think? Can you communicate coherently? Those are the real biggies when I interview.

Re: Why won't anyone talk to me? What recruiters look for in a resume

#67

Post by abraham_s » Tue, Nov 20, 2012, 4:28 PM UTC

pjmlp wrote: post #33

rrreese wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What part of the world is that?

Portugal, and most of the mainland European countries.

Another example would be India,where top-tier colleges are almost always government owned.

Re: Why won't anyone talk to me? What recruiters look for in a resume

#68

Post by polymatter » Tue, Nov 20, 2012, 4:31 PM UTC

driverdan wrote: post #61

polymatter wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be aware of the anti-pattern section of TFA though. The impression of job hopping really does "damage your chances" as the author put it. I hope its not too rude to talk about my own case. I lost a job in 2008 over the financial crisis (LIFO employee retention policy), had 2 short contracts (which really shouldn't count as job hopping!) a research position where I suffered a burnout and now recruiters don't answer my…

1. Put up a personal site on your own domain if you don't already have one. It doesn't have to be fancy but should look professional. A single page will do. Write a few paragraphs about yourself and link to projects, social media profiles, and your CV. See mine as an example: http://driverdan.com 2. Have a searchable PDF version of your CV / resume linked to from your page. If possible also include an HTML version. C…

Thanks for the feedback. I will definately look into building a single page personal site.

Re: Why won't anyone talk to me? What recruiters look for in a resume

#69

Post by warrenm » Tue, Nov 20, 2012, 4:35 PM UTC

EnderMB wrote: post #32

paupino_masano wrote: post #14

Surprisingly, I have the opposite trouble: how do I stop recruiters trying to recruit me? I have about 15-20 recruiters contacting me per week however what I put it down to is: 1. Location. Since I moved to SF the job offers have increased substantially . 2. Skill set. Fortunately I'm skilled in some "popular" languages. 3. Years of experience. I'm in the "hot spot" - not too old, and not too young (sorry - it does s…

I'm in a similar boat. I'm not "senior", but I am skilled and have plenty of experience with a successful start-up and a top digital agency AND I am skilled in multiple languages/platforms. I constantly get calls, emails and stalked on Twitter and LinkedIn by recruiters. It's a real hassle... However, now I am on the market (at the worst possible time of the year). Logically, a recruiter would be the best person to g…

I've found that the best jobs I've had, I've gone to in "off" seasons (just after summer as a college student; Jan after graduating in Dec; etc).

Re: Why won't anyone talk to me? What recruiters look for in a resume

#70

Post by warrenm » Tue, Nov 20, 2012, 4:37 PM UTC

shanelja wrote: post #26

aneth4 wrote: post #23

Wow, if you are skilled technically and aren't annoyed by constant recruiter outreach, you are doing something majorly wrong. I'd also say technical recruiters are also doing something majorly wrong if your resume reflects your abilities. If you've coded anything that does something interesting, you should have no problem finding interviews, and frankly offers. If you haven't coded anything interesting, then why woul…

I'm 19 and skipped college and university to travel, I freelanced for a couple of years and worked on games and personal hobby projects during this time and currently work at a small web development company. I only have 6 months of commercial experience but I get approached literally daily by recruitment companies because of a single resume I posted on a website and it is driving me crazy. They all ring me up and say…

>why isn't there a humane recruitment company

Sounds like you've found the business you need to start!