Ask the Resume Screener

[lorene]

@wheresgeorge04

I’d like to add an anecdote. I once recieved a resume/app for a cashier job where I work, in which the applicant listed a previous employer as “Jacking The Box.” Full word, not Jackin’.

Joe

Wow. That’s a different skillset altogether.

[robert_columbia]

@Cyberhwk

I’ve heard many big companies have Resumes and Cover Letters automatically scanned for certain words or phrases. This seems to me an absolutely dreadful way to find qualified help. Do they do this and is there evidence it’s an efficient way to screen prospective employees?

I get them already sorted by likely job target. I’m not certain to what extent they are already weeded, but based on what HR tells me, there isn’t any evidence that any have been filtered out yet. I don’t do automated keyword search - I actually look at the resume. I am looking for mention of certain things, but I know the subject domain and recognize other ways to say the same thing (for example, ASP.NET can also be called “ASPX”, so if you say “Developed an ASPX Web Application”, I can tell that you are claiming experience in ASP.NET).

[TruCelt]

How long is too long? This is always a struggle for me as my formal educational credentials are low for my skillset and experience.

What is your reaction to functional, as opposed to chronological, resumes?

[lorene]

@TruCelt

How long is too long? This is always a struggle for me as my formal educational credentials are low for my skillset and experience.

That’s an excellent question. I hear “1 page limit” a lot, and to expand any bullet points in your cover letter, but it sounds as though the cover letter isn’t really paid attention to in this case.

[Pixel_Dent]

@robert_columbia

In terms of what the company is looking for, I want to see relevant skillsets, and evidence of how long you have used them. Indicate not only that you worked on such and such a project, tell me what technologies you used. Such as “Designed a 3-tier counterblatt intelligence tracking module with C#, ASP.NET, and SQL Server 2005 as part of an enterprise quizok manager system. Enhanced this module with ASMX web services to support remote automated access by client systems.”. I’m aware that ASP.NET is versioned, but it isn’t really important here in the resume. As a programmer, I am well aware that an educated programmer can learn a new language or framework with little difficulty, but nonetheless, management really does care about skillsets and I am expected to take notice of it, at least when screening for mid level positions. Jr./Just-out-of-college positions are more flexible.

Don’t list Microsoft Office under skills. List bug tracking systems, wikis, IDE’s, debuggers, and other tools of the trade.

If your resume passes, it goes to a phone screener who goes more into depth about what specifically you have done and how you have done it.

Just to show that TWIAVBP I’ve also spent much of the last 20 years running engineering departments, screening resumes, and conducting both phone and in person interviews.

Unless I’m hiring for a very short term (less than 6 month) contract, I care very little about relevant skill sets but I do want to see that you’ve solved complicated problems. I’m always looking to hire the smartest person, not the one with the most relevant experience. You should list the languages and tools you’ve worked with so I can see you’ve worked with different, complicated tools and haven’t spent your entire career writing some proprietary DSL, but don’t worry if you haven’t worked with the language or middleware we prefer.

And for god’s sake don’t list bug tracking systems, debuggers, and IDEs as skills. That just makes me roll my eyes.

Now, of course, since robert_columbia and I look for such different things how do you know how to tailor your resume so it appeals to the screener? I guess it’s all a crap shoot, isn’t it.

I will agree with the OP on one thing. Even though the resumes come to me with cover letters I never read them. This is particularly ironic since most of the job hunting advice I’ve seen seems to focus on how to write a great cover letter.

[robert_columbia]

@Pixel_Dent

Just to show that TWIAVBP I’ve also spent much of the last 20 years running engineering departments, screening resumes, and conducting both phone and in person interviews.

Unless I’m hiring for a very short term (less than 6 month) contract, I care very little about relevant skill sets but I do want to see that you’ve solved complicated problems. I’m always looking to hire the smartest person, not the one with the most relevant experience. You should list the languages and tools you’ve worked with so I can see you’ve worked with different, complicated tools and haven’t spent your entire career writing some proprietary DSL, but don’t worry if you haven’t worked with the language or middleware we prefer.

And for god’s sake don’t list bug tracking systems, debuggers, and IDEs as skills. That just makes me roll my eyes.

Now, of course, since robert_columbia and I look for such different things how do you know how to tailor your resume so it appeals to the screener? I guess it’s all a crap shoot, isn’t it.

I will agree with the OP on one thing. Even though the resumes come to me with cover letters I never read them. This is particularly ironic since most of the job hunting advice I’ve seen seems to focus on how to write a great cover letter.

That’s interesting. Management generally wants me to screen for the specific technologies, so that’s what I look for. I agree that problem solving experience is a good (and, arguably, a better) predictor of success, but management doesn’t want that. They want someone that already knows C#.NET and ASP.NET and can be contributing to enterprise systems the week after hire.

And I’m not generally screening for the complicated problems aspect. Since I just have the resume, I can’t tell how complicated “Designed a reports tracking module for the GHQ system 20% under budget” was in terms of problem solving skills and well structured engineering practices. We can get into that later in the interview process.

And that’s the way it is sometimes. The company determines what it wants to look for. My company does things a certain way. So, it really can be a crapshoot. It might help to call the company to ask about the screening process and how to tailor your resume for their screeners, but they may well just tell you to buzz off and that they will call you if they like your resume.