Writing the ultimate tech CV
For some reason I’ve never put out a guide on writing a CV…maybe I thought it was obvious, that there were so many tips & tricks on the internet…I’ve even covered the ‘cover letter’…So I put out a post on LinkedIn and received some interesting feedback on people’s pet peeves - the things that annoy them the most that people put or don’t put on CVs.
Clearly it’s a topic which is very subjective but here’s a few things from people here you might find helpful:
‘Lack of purpose. I get that most people just want a skill resource, but people have also have motivation based on working with and for meaning. What kind of company do you want to work for - or create? What mission(s) do you feel a connection with? Actually, same can be said for many job ads.- Head of Blockchain
‘GitHub profile.. nothing beats the real thing.’ - Software Engineer
‘When people don’t live where the job is but don’t address that in the cover letter. It’s great when they state an intention to move or a desire to work remotely. Otherwise it feels that they have applied for so many jobs they don’t even know where it is.’ - Software Delivery Lead
I think a covering letter is a must, but not too long. Reading a CV of listed skills and Job history only gives a small insight into a candidate. - Lead Creative Designer
‘MS Word documents. Straight to the bin!’ - ‘CTO’
‘1) definitely agree that CVs that are too long are a pain - like to see a one-pager. Fine if backed up with more detail, but when reviewing CVs time is precious. 2) Typos - bad vibe when considering the CV is an important part of the hiring process. (Especially so, if typo is highlighted automatically by spellcheck and/or grammar [sic] check).’ - ‘Project Manager’
‘Spelling mistakes, and not updating the CV to reflect the role they have applied for. It's the SMALL things that make all the difference.’ - Contract Business Analyst
‘Job descriptions, I don't need to know what you were meant to do, I do want to know what you've done. Oh, and I've never read past page four.’ - Head of Engineering
‘Skill ratings... especially when there's no info to back up that you're a 4 out of 5. CVS over 2-3 pages. The largest CVS I've ever seen are from IT candidates. Plain word documents with no formatting. When candidates put their age. I don't care how old you are. If you're the right person for the job, age doesn't matter.’ - Customer Service Manager
‘So you’re 8/10 in python? We’ll let the tech test be the judge of that’ - Senior Developer / Entrepreneur
‘Times New Roman - just don’t. Lol’ - General Manager
Some real feedback there and now I’ve summarised some of my classic ‘rules of thumb’ to go by to ensure you have a tight document that will enable you to land an interview & that dream tech job…
Send your CV in a PDF there are good free converters out there as this is easier to read on mobile devices, share on systems & write on with digital pens (for interviewers)
2-3 pages ideally if you do stretch into 4 or 5 & have a lot of experience that’s fine but it must be a succinct document & well formatted…any larger likely people won’t read it at all
NO spelling or grammar mistakes - spell check it & have someone else look over it - friend or family
Remember the key objective of the CV is trying to gain an interview for the particular role you’re applying for so tweak it with this in mind using similar language to the job advert & titles
Create a great mission statement at the top which can be flexed for each different job you apply to
Clear contact details - best to put them in a footer at the bottom of each page this way if it’s printed off in an office (yes people still do this) and a page goes missing your contact details are on each page & are still easy to find
Create a document that’s really epic - that you’re proud of that can be edited and updated for each new job or contract that you complete
Interests - I’m often surprised how many people don’t add these - ‘people buy people’ and if you both like chess, travel or reading etc there’s a nice commonality for some small talk to start building this new relationship with your potential new boss
People often don’t like ‘selling themselves’ but use it as a chance to highlight some new technologies you’ve used or about some epic side projects to land your next great job
GitHub put your personal coding projects up on this code repository to highlight some of your dev skills
Networking groups - go along to Canterbury Tech or one of the many meet up groups (like the JavaScript or Product Meet Up) and make some connections in the industry see what they’re up to - companies are often sponsoring these events so you’ll start to learn about your industry (and you can list them on your CV for kudos) or even meet a key connection that might land you a job
Work on side projects in the area that you want to get into ie if you want to become a front end developer then write some JavaScript apps, learn about Vue, Angular & React - the internet has so much opensource free stuff - so go for it, get started today
My final killer tip is ‘the follow up call’ - once you’ve sent your CV & Cover letter and applied for the job - make a follow up call to the company 2 days later. This will A) Ensure they’ve received your application B) Show you’re truly keen & C) Make you stand out from the hundreds of other applications, it may even get you moved to the short-list for interview because you’ve shown good initiative
Now get out there and go for it - happy job hunting
I'm Paul, I’m a Dad who loves coffee, dogs, biking, surfing & skiing. Founder & Principal Consultant of Sunstone, an IT Recruitment & HR company specialising in recruiting IT roles within software, web, mobile, blockchain, big data, cloud infrastructure, security & networks in Christchurch & South Island of New Zealand.