Hacker News Reader

Comment by alanfranzoni | Hacker News Reader

While your suggestion appears meaningful, I argue it is not; it's just hindsight. Very often a seasoned developer has a multitude of skills; if I need to be specific, I cannot list them all. Unless I use tens of pages - then the CV is too long. The most important bits may be very different for different companies and positions - but it's not easy to tell from the outside, especially from a job application form which may be very vague and indeed just list a number of technologies.

Also: it's very hard for people to compress their lives in a CV.

Recently, when writing a job ad, I usually ask something like:

"send us your CV, or a link to your blog, or write something about you, what you like to do and what you do well, tell us something great you did in your career, or just send us anything you think it's relevant for us to understand your value".

If you just ask a CV, you just get a CV.

View on HN

> Also: it's very hard for people to compress their lives in a CV.

It's very hard, which is why those that do it well stand a better chance of getting the job.

FWIW, I have compressed my CV to the back of a business card. Sure it misses out an awful lot of detail, but it leads to someone looking at my full CV, which leads to a full interview, which hopefully leads to a job.

"those that do it well" is subjective. It's hindsight. Very often, "well" will mean "what I wanted to hear".

Maybe somebody didn't compress their live "properly" for your target, and they passed under your radar. But you don't know.

Just an example: you. I just took a look at your homepage and the "About Me" box. Great summary, beyond the "Caprhone" typo: but I'd say that your description is not at all deep. You're a developer, sysadmin, copywriter: do you really do ALL (or any) of those things really well, or you're a bit of a generalist that produces a so-so result in everything?

I took a look at your CV: If I need somebody who's a great, pixel perfect, web designer, is that you? I know what you've done, but I don't know what you excel at.

It's not easy!

Thanks for pointing out the typo, I'll fix it ASAP.

I will agree that I have probably turned down some excellent candidates because their CV wasn't written clearly enough. That's kind of my point.

My CV is not designed to be a 100% complete and accurate representation of my life. It's enough detail to initiate a phone interview.

I've also taken on board what you said about making it clearer what I do best. I'll try rewording the intro a bit.

My father used to re-write his resume for every single job he applied for, tailoring it to the exact job. And then had my mother write it up on the typewriter. He was very good at doing it, probably at least partially from so much practice, and never had a problem finding a new job.

My point is that he always made sure his resume said what people wanted to read in it. He never tried to make a generic one that fit every job he might apply for, and that tactic was very effective.

I don't do the same thing, but I think if I found a job I really wanted, I would do it.

Exactly. Times have changed, but wise people used to say, the resume -- always accompanied and focused with a concise cover letter -- gets you the interview.

It gets you to the next step. (And maybe serves as a basis or starting point for some of the questions and conversation, then. Depending on the interviewer.) That's all it does.

Tailor accordingly.

Sometimes you get a job ad, and you submit your CV. There, if the ad is good, you can tailor.

Sometimes a recruiter asks for your CV, without a specific position in mind. Sometimes you just publish your CV somewhere. What should you tailor, and how?

If you want/need a new job I'd tailor it for whatever I felt would be easiest to land while still being interesting enough to consider.

If you're not really looking I'd tailor it for whatever job I'd really really want. You never know, but even if that dream job isn't available a CV like that will emphazise what you're truly passionate about. It might lead to something great

Read this for an insight on what counts:

https://steveblank.com/2011/08/05/bonfire-of-the-vanities/

Point is, the purpose of a CVis to get yourself an interview. Nothing wlse counts. Optimize it accordingly. Keywords (for computerized pre-screens and HR). Short (for all). Results (for the hiring manager).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com