OMG:
I don't understand. Went to career services to get my resume checked and they told me that my resume looks fantastic and I should keep it the way it is. I haven't even received one interview yet. :(
I don't understand. Went to career services to get my resume checked and they told me that my resume looks fantastic and I should keep it the way it is. I haven't even received one interview yet. :(
Posted on
Monday, July 2.
You can leave your response.
July 2, 2012 at 8:22 PM
I know exactly how you feel, OP.
July 2, 2012 at 8:23 PM
CECS only excels at finding Employers. For resume and coverletter, better consult your seniors.
July 2, 2012 at 9:19 PM
Consult other students (older and more experienced students). Maybe at clubs or student socities or at your res (dons and what not) if you still live there.
Remember: the people who do these things at CECS are students too so it could a hit or miss!
You should ask different people too and don't worry about taking the time: once you get good advice, I'm sure you'll pass it on and return the favour!
Good Luck OP!
P.S. if you're sticking to PD-style resume! I'm sorry but it sucks and there is hundreds of students who will have the exact same thing! Key: find a professional way to stand out
July 2, 2012 at 9:20 PM
might want to check what google has to say about it. Yes many employers will check the name for anything of note.
July 2, 2012 at 10:11 PM
Is it the PD style resume? SCRAP THAT
Google some templates
July 2, 2012 at 10:33 PM
OP here. My resume template is completely different from PD style.
July 3, 2012 at 12:19 AM
Do not use the PD2 template or try to modify it. For example, for CS/SE programs it is good to have a large "Projects" sections right in the beginning. This is what employers care about unlike the fact that you have been a basketball MVP in high school.
This seems to be working great for me (I'm in CS).
July 3, 2012 at 1:19 AM
Keep in mind that CECS can't build your resume for you. They can only help you with your formatting. So even if that's fantastic, you have to fill it with legitimate content - leadership positions in extra-curriculars, community involvement, relevant experience, and skills you've developed through those. CECS isn't going to make you a better candidate, you have to do that yourself.
Also, you should look into customizing your resumes for each job you apply to. I don't know what program you're in, but you can't just take a resume and submit the same thing to 50 jobs because it doesn't work like that. I always recommend people have a "bank" of experiences and bullet points on an excel or something. For each job, pull only the relevant experiences and bullet points to quickly custom build a winning resume application.
July 3, 2012 at 1:44 AM
For some reason, resume feedback from a single source has never worked for me. Over the course of my 2 years at university, I've taken suggestions from a English course TA, a CECS advisor, a senior student at a MathSoc resume critique session and a Waterloo student I connected with through Twitter. All of them had different kinds of improvements to make to my resume, but I've always found that something was eventually. So, I mixed and matched until I got what I liked.
Moral of the story: Go around asking for help, but in the end, do what you feel is best.
July 3, 2012 at 8:49 AM
A resume should be tailored for the job you're applying for. Your resume could display your experience and skills but if it isn't relevant or abundant enough for the job you're applying for than it won't help. Also try writing a cover letter for each job you apply to.
July 3, 2012 at 10:47 AM
I swear by my cover letter.
Write one that is personalized and shows that you read the job description and that you fit it.
July 3, 2012 at 2:11 PM
Remember the students working at CECS failed to find coop placements elsewhere, and the university opens as many jobs as it needs to to hire the failures.
July 3, 2012 at 5:26 PM
yeah, don't use the PD outline. my friend got a 58 on his PD resume (when we needed a 75) and he used the exact same resume to get 5 interviews (of less than 10 jobs applied to)
July 3, 2012 at 5:44 PM
Hey OP.
I'm an alumni that got hired within a month of finishing school, and had about 6-7 interviews in that time.
My word of advice: focus on your cover letter. No employer is even going to really give your resume a shot if your CL isn't top notch.
The mistake that most students make is to talk about themselves. I'm not sure if you only need this job for co-op or whether you're applying full time (my advice is more applicable to full time), but you need to focus more on the company. Research them, talk about their products and what interests you about them, etc. You can talk about how your experiences blend with their needs towards the tail end of the cover letter, but talk about the company first. And keep the entire CL short. Nobody has time to read a 1 page novel.
Employers don't really care about your resume unless you give them a reason to care, quite frankly. I've seen people get great jobs with shitty resumes (they still had the skills) but decent to great cover letters.
My advice would be to a) invest in a PROFESSIONAL resume/CL editor (and no, CECS doesn't count because they are a joke). Yes, it costs money, but it is worth it.
b) If you can't afford a resume editor, read books on the subject and edit yourself by following their advice. Don't simply use websites (usually people just follow about.com); read books on the subject because they are much more detailed and will tell you about things that you'd have to actual search through a website to find. Either go to a library or download some torrent, its not that hard.
c) Update your skills. Perhaps the jobs you're applying for need more skills than what you currently have.
Good luck. Nothing comes easily, so have some diligence and do your work in terms of selling yourself. Yes, that might even mean reading up on the subject.
And remember: CECS doesn't know shit.
July 5, 2012 at 10:37 AM
Maybe the problem isn't the style, it's the content.
July 5, 2012 at 1:12 PM
If you post your resume here (take out personal info) I'm sure many of us would help you.
Also, cover letters.
July 6, 2012 at 5:18 PM
Any extra information? Academic level, average, job experience, etc? It's all anonymous, so posting personal things like average shouldn't be an issue, but whatever you're comfortable with. Getting interviews is fairly easy, you just need to stretch your experience to look as good/varied as possible on your resume, and apply to every job that makes any sense at all, given your skills/level.
In general, you should scan every job posting for your program. Just look at the posting, and if the qualifications somewhat match what you have, apply to it. When you're actually in an interview, try to brush up on what they're asking for (if they want java, make sure you remember basic java stuff)
July 8, 2012 at 5:35 PM
I am an alumni, I'd be happy to look at people's resumes. You can delete contact info if it makes you feel comfortable...I'll just look at the content. Honest.