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Comment by gentleteblor | Hacker News Reader

This is why the resume endures despite it's many flaws (talked about this in some other comments). There needs to be a summarized, editorialized version of your "history" and that's what the resume does in a (semi) standardized format.

The big thing for me is that this summarized/editorialized version shouldn't be what you (the one with the career) manage on a regular basis. You should have a source of truth that is far more comprehensive (and manageable) and which allows you to create this summary version easily.

On another note...I've been writing a lot of web copy lately and I've started seeing a lot of similarities between good web copy and good resume copy. Resumes are marketing tools, and don't you forget it.

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It's all marketing really. Many of the devs who struggle the most have some difficulty giving themselves credit for things they've done - they're modest perhaps. I think when I write some of these resumes they are more accepting of them because it's me bragging about their accomplishments.

Unfortunately in the resume writing game, there are lots of failed writers that were never involved in hiring. They are good writers but don't know the audience, so people end up paying substantial amounts for a nicely worded resume that doesn't result in interviews.

> Many of the devs who struggle the most have some difficulty giving themselves credit for things they've done

Ain't that the truth. I've been an engineer for a decade, I built a career app, I blog about career management, and i definitely still struggle with this.

And you're right. It's not only about good writing. Writing a good resume is a specific skill. There are so many career specific factors that come into play (industry lingo/keywords, being able to quantify value etc), you can't just make it pretty.

I've just realised that I relate to this a lot. After 10 years in the industry I still have a hard time coming up with accomplishments for my CV as I really think most of them are team efforts, even when some of them have been designed or pushed by myself I can't view "me" as the sole responsible for something.

I think being modest is a good trait overall just not so good for writing your own CVs.

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