Making a Good CS Resume

1
Making a Good CS Resume

• Terence Parr Chris Brooks
• USF

2
Resume Goal

• Have a simple one-page summary people can discuss
• Gets you an interview only
• so dont dump everything you know/have done on
  there. That is what the interview is for

3
What to include

• Education
• Related work experience
• Interesting course projects
• Open source projects
• Publications, presentations
• Unusual experience

4
What not to include

• unrelated jobs dont list your babysitting jobs
• some of your entry level positions if resume gt 1
  page
• No personal stuff no one cares if you skydive
  and can burp the national anthem

5
Length

• One page! (Or, short as possible)
• The more impressive your experience, the shorter
  it can be
• The president can have a one-line resume

6
Skills

• No laundry lists!
• Dont just list technology. Any idiot can
  cut/paste that list from a job site
• Incorporate your skills into your project
  descriptions

7
Writing style

• Punchy sentences starting with action verbs
• Developed 8000 line mail server in Java that
  stored email in mysql db.
• Saved company 2.3M in 2006 by creating email
  tech support robot
• Be terse
• Be specific
• What was your role?
• Anybody can be a valued member of a team

8
Objectives

• are meaningless dont waste the space
• Everyone knows you want a job
• Unless you are a very high level and want a very
  specific job such as CEO of a small manufacturing
  firm in the midwest

9
Cover letters

• Important in some cases
• Shows you can write (or not)
• Tailor to each company

10
Tailor resume

• You can package yourself in different ways
• Present yourself appropriately for the company
  you are applying to
• Emphasize your AI course work if you are applying
  to an image recognition company, for example

11
Dont lie

• Dont exaggerate
• Youll get busted, then fired
• Ive seen uninvolved people claim to be the
  project leader!
• Fundamentally, you should be about truth anyway

12
Appearance

• sparse as possible
• dont use gaudy borders, fonts etc..

13
Details matter

• Speling )
• English
• Dont use these email addresses
• hotstud_at_gmail.com
• ilikechocolate_at_yahoo.com