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Trying to get the resume verbage right...

 
Greenhorn
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Hello everyone,

Currently, I am looking for an IT job. My primary language is Cobol (I have over 16 years of experience), and my number 2 language is Java (about 4 years). I do realize that my chances of getting a Java job is much higher than ones of getting a Cobol job, and that's why I am trying to make my resume more "Javacentric", so to speak.

This is what I am planning to write in my resume regarding my Java experience:

"Developed, implemented, maintained, analyzed and supported an application system “Reorg Optional Offers”, which allowed investment brokers to view offers and directly enter client participation instructions for eligible accounts from their workstations. Also, the brokers had access to offer-related information and offer-related functions such as quick links to the intranet news stories for a particular offer. This fairly complex application system contained more than 100 Java classes and involved a lot of GUI, which necessitated extensive use of Swing. In order to retrieve and update the relevant data, SQL instructions were sent to an Oracle database via JDBC."

Does this sound about right? What what you recommend I modify/delete/add?

I also have some limited experience with JSP pages, HTML and XML -- how exactly should I add this to the resume? Under "Languages"? or "Tools"?

Thank you very much.
 
Ranch Hand
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Well I am not good in resume writing as I do not have good presentation skills. But still I will try to suggest.

You can write summary at the top of your resume saying your experience and your technical skills

for example


Summary : A senior IT professional with 16 years of total experience looking for suitable position. 12 years in Cobol and 4 years in core java and swing. Have worked in all phases of SDLC from analysis to maintenance which include development and support. Good technical knowledge of Core Java and Swing.

Then below that you write what are skills you have like

OS you worked on
Programming languges : Cobol, Java
J2EE Skills : JSP, XML,HTML,Servlet etc.

Under that you can write your latest project in which you can write the description you wrote in your post.


Please note that I am not very good in writing resume. But still I made suggestion, if you do not like it , please ignore it. I am sure someone can make better suggestion than me.

 
Gideon Fuchs
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Thank you, Rajesh!

Yes, I have already mentioned Java (as well as COBOL) in my "Objective" section, and I did include COBOL and Java in my "Languages" section as well. Your suggestion about "J2EE Skills:" section, though, is a very good one -- I will certainly use it.

The verbage I am posting here (and you seem to find it OK) is for the "Experience" section.
 
Gideon Fuchs
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One more question. What sounds better:

Java/J2EE Skills: Swing, JSP, HTML, XML, JDBC

or

Java/J2EE Tools: Swing, JSP, HTML, XML, JDBC

?

I am leaning towards Tools, but I want to make sure it sounds right.
 
Sandeep Awasthi
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You can write like this

OS : Windows, Unix
Programming lang: Coble, Java
Java/J2EE : Core Java,Swing,JDBC
IDE : Eclipse (or whatever you used )
RDBMS : Oracle
Others : Also familiar with JSP, XML, HTML (if you are not very strong in this otherwise you can write them in Java/J2EE section and highlight them).
You can also write if you are familiar with other unit testing tools like JUnit, JMock etc. In others section you can write what are you familiar with even though you did not used in project. You can also mention versions you are familar with. For example Oracle 9i.


About experience section


Project : Reorg Optical Offers From mm/dd/yyyy to ......

This application allows investment brokers to view offers and directly enter client participation instructions for eligible accounts from their workstations. Brokers also has access to offer-related information and offer related functions such as quick links to the interanet news stories for particular offer. The GUI is built in swing and database is accessed through JDBC.

My contribution :

Did analysis, coding, testing for following functionalities

1) ........
2) ..........

Platform : Core Java, Swing, Oracle, OS,App server if any
 
Greenhorn
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Rajesh Thakare wrote:
Project : Reorg Optical Offers From mm/dd/yyyy to ......

This application allows investment brokers to view offers and directly enter client participation instructions for eligible accounts from their workstations. Brokers also has access to offer-related information and offer related functions such as quick links to the interanet news stories for particular offer. The GUI is built in swing and database is accessed through JDBC.

My contribution :

Did analysis, coding, testing for following functionalities

1) ........
2) ..........

Platform : Core Java, Swing, Oracle, OS,App server if any



I 100% agree with Rajesh on this point. As a recruiter, it's nice to know what the system did, but its a LOT more important for the candidate to clearly expresse what they specifically did. Candidates who list personal contributions and accomplishments show that they have personal pride in their work and accountaility. More general statements are a red flag that a candidate might not have done much at all or is trying to skew what they did do to make it sounds more important. The truth comes out in the interview anyway, so say it up front.
 
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Scala Monad
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I had a long section listing all the projects I've been involved and what I did, but last time I though it was kind boring, and I've replaced it with the achievements I wanted to highlight:

Major IT Consulting Company
October 2002 – Current
Working as lead developer / software architect, I analyzed the problem with business experts, designed an architecture to satisfy the functional and non-functional requirements, coded and unit tested the critical components in collaboration with the team.

My latest achievements:
-With a small team, designed and coded a web application deployed in more than 2000 stores of the biggest retailers in the US. End users love it and it was highlighted in investment analyst reports.
-Evolved an architecture now used in a family of applications.
-Rewrote a group of java batch process to get a 10 times increase in execution speed.


But I can't help but think that a resume is just a "piece of paper" and I'm trying to make mine a disguise for a brochure of what I can do for the organization.
Of course, depends on the formality and culture of the company you're applying for, but I think the hiring manager is more interested on what you can do for him in the future than what you did in the past. But as everybody knows, a nice and well formatted resume with the right buzzwords is needed to pass through the HR walls
 
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