cv masterclass

How to write a better resume

John Clegg - Summer of Tech

Ruth McDavitt - Summer of Tech

Resume workshop part 2

CV - Part 2

Today

● Summary of last time● Quick note on developing your

strengths● Common student CV mistakes● Famous / Fictional CV Time - Who will it be today?

We talk about strengths….

Think about Weaknesses

Turn your weakness inside out● Not a good public speaker?

Be an intimate communicator instead● Not a good writer?

Be a people person instead.● You aren’t fast?

So be deliberate.● Not a people person?

So work on brilliant stuff alone. Find your niche. ● Don’t have enough time?

Great! So take what limited time you have and use it to maximum effect.● Not organised?

Simplify things so you don’t need to organise

RESUME SMACK DOWN

• Put the important stuff first

• CV only 1-2 pages and PDF

• CV contains

○ Your Goals / Aspirations

○ 5 core skills / attributes

○ Education Summary

• 1 page technical skills summary (optional extra page)

• 1 page qualifications (optional extra page)

Summary...

What should the employer see in your CV?

- Who you are - What you want to do- What you can do for them - Why are you interested in them

Summary...

WARNING

•Resume Smackdown - a look over 100 resumes

- the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

•OAAR technique in practice- Crowdsourcing a CV

Coming up

Findings from 100 student resumes

•Overall not bad. Better than I thought.- Grammar / Spelling are OK. (BUT I’m not a grammar freak)

•Lack of Depth- What are you good at with APPLIED examples ?

•Relevance

•Not answering- Who are you? What you want to be ?- Why are you good at what you do?- What you can do for me?

Results - 100 student resumes

Excellent OK BAD

ResumeStructure 36% 32% 32%

GrammarSpelling 82% 16% 2%


Excellent OK BAD

Who are you/What you want to be

21% 39% 40%

What are you good at 13% 38% 49%

What can you do for me 11% 28% 61%

Depth 8% 51% 41%


Excellent OK MISSING

Career History 16% 68% 16%

Technical 13% 11% 76%

Referees 22% 39% 39%


YES NO

Follow instructions 95% 5%

BONUS 21% 79%

OAAR Practice

1. What did you do ?Objectives aka What were you trying to achieve ?

Analysis aka What thinking / planning did you do ?

Actions aka What actions did you take to achieve the goals ?

Results aka What results did you achieve?

Person:

About Me ● ● ●Skills1 ● ●●

2●●

3●●

Algorithms / Data Structures course: Objectives (What)● Practicing Problem Solving ● Deeper understanding of the programming language● How data structures/algorithms work Analysis (Thinking / Planning)● Break down the problem● Research/reading● Plan your tests / define successful outcome

Actions (How) ● Wrote Psuedo code● Code stuff● Write tests / get somebody else to test it● Write report / analysed resultsResults (So What?)● Compare to outcomes● Pass the test● Review / analysed outcomes -> suggest best structures for problems● Submit assignment

List the behaviours

Find commonalities Write the skill in this form…

What did they learn (SKILL)By what actions (PROOF)to achieve a result (RESULT)

OAAR Crowdsourced CV…

Hillary Clinton

Let’s break it down...

1. What has she done ?2. What behaviours did she show3. “Career” History4. “Education”

1. What did they do ?Objectives aka What were they trying to achieve ?

Analysis aka What thinking / planning did they do ?

Actions aka What actions did they take to achieve the goals ?

Results aka What results did they achieve?

Person:

About Me ● ● ●Skills

1 ● ●●

2●●

3●●

2. List the behaviours

Find commonalities Write the skill in this form…

What did they learn (SKILL)By what actions (PROOF)to achieve a result (RESULT)

Hillary Clinton: US Secretary of StateObjectives (What)● Promote / Advocate women’s & children’s rights● Achieve US foreign policies aboard● Improve US Diplomatic relations (Post Bush Era)● Help President with hard problems

Analysis (Thinking / Planning)● Had to come up with a plan to repair the Diplomatic reputation of US (Post Bush

era)● Leveraged diplomatic missions to push women's rights

Actions ( How) ● Called dozens of world leaders personally to talk about US foreign policy● Used Social media as a tool to help empower foreign citizens (Egypt)● Visited 112 countries as Secretary of State

Results ● Helped repair US relations ● Seen as a successful Secretary of State● Hard-nosed, will make the right decision● Expanded women’s rights globally

OAAR Student Examples

Achiever Activator Adaptability Analytical Arranger Command Communication Competition Connectedness Consistency Context Deliberative Developer Diplomatic Discipline Fairness / Empathy Focus Futuristic Harmony Ideation Inclusiveness / Includer Individualisation Input Intellection Learner Maximizer Positivity Relator Responsibility Restorative Self-Assurance Significance Strategic Thinker Values AskYourFavouriteSearchEngineFor- MoreIdeas

Some personal strengths

Code Example:

Learning

Gained competency in Java, Python and C++ by completing several course projects in OO design and concurrency over the last 6 months. Implemented Disrupter and Reactor patterns in Java.

Algorithms / Data Structures course: Objectives (What)● Practicing solving problems● How data structures / algorithms work ● Deeper understanding of programming language● Analyse and communicateAnalysis (Thinking / Planning)● Break down the problem● Understand data structures /algorithms● Research /reading aka what should I do● Plan tests / define successful outcomeActions ( How) ● Wrote psuedo code● Code stuff● Write Tests ● Write up a report / analysed resultsResults ● Compare to outcomes● Pass the tests● Review / analysed outcomes -> suggest best structures for problems● Submitted assignments

Design Brief: Objectives (What)● Context / design brief = VERY IMPORTANT● Who was the client? What were their goals?● Who are the users or audience? What do you want them to do/think/feel?Analysis (Thinking / Planning)● Break down the problem● Understand user requirements● Research / UX/CS aka what should I do/change?● Plan tests / define successful outcomeActions ( How) ● Wireframes, prototypes● Design stuff● More UX & iterations● Analysed results, sought feedbackResults ● What happened? Was it used/published?● Review / analyse outcomes● Submitted to client

Fictional Character

Person: Mr Miyagi - Building SuperObjectives (What) - Mentor, Karate teacher● Mentor● Building Super● Teaches Karate● Impart knowledge / life lessonsAnalysis (Thinking) - Resourceful● Implusive● Practical● Smart ● Broken down movements into small part / patternsActions ( How) - Teach karate ● Fixed things● Teaching via actions● Dedicated consistent● Resourceful / Knowledgable● PatientResults - ● Daniel won tournament● “ Learned karate● Formed bond ● Learned something

Questions?