From: eugene@amelia.nas.nasa.gov (Eugene N. Miya)
Subject:    -->[l/m 2/4/91] --->Read BEFORE posting: Resume Style Consensus
Keywords: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, HOW
Followup-To: misc.jobs.misc
Organization: NAS Program, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 92 11:15:10 GMT
Summary: If you don't have style, you might not get the job
Reply-To: eugene@amelia.nas.nasa.gov (Eugene N. Miya)

Your Subject: line is YOUR MOST IMPORTANT statement (like a story title).
This is because many readers use news commands which ONLY show Subject:
lines to determine if they want to read YOUR posting (e.g., nn, gnunews,
notes, or commands inside like '=').

A non-descriptive Subject: places you at a disadvantage:
	"Subject: Seeking Job"		# Yes, we know. It's misc.jobs.resumes.
	"Subject: Resume"		# So what?  We know this is m.j.resumes
	"Subject: Hire me"		# why?
A good Subject: line is CRITICAL, because you are exposing yourself to
the world, and in general, the resume poster is at the "mercy" of
the resume reader.  This is a chance to be creative, clever (don't be too).

Readers request posters use a 1-2 word career objective, approximate
geographic location (or RELOCATABLE).  This will catch initial reader
attention.  Resumes appear to fall in three basic categories.  State one:
ENTRYLEVEL, CONTRACT, PERMANENT.

Compose your resume off-line.  Test it with your friends checking for
errors, suggestions, and improvements.  Use the assistance of a
college placement center to help trim it, build it up.  Keep it short
and to the point.  These specialists can give you advice on subjects
such as interviews, but you must get your foot in the door.

Employers do not cull postings maliciously.  They seek a good match between
employer and potential employee.  No sense in causing grief for
either potential employee and employer.  Most of the people catching resumes
off the net are technical people, not personnel people, but the latter
must be able to read (a few do in fact read the Net).

Clearly state your professional objectives (in resume as well as Subject:).
A resume must strive to give the "right" amount of information.
Too much, and you bore the reader or project as arrogant.  Too little and
the reader may ignore the resume because of the extra time and effort
it takes to learn more (play email tag) [maybe you don't want to work for
them after all]. [*Aside, I must check citizenship (so do others).
If it is not on the resume, I won't follow-up.  You lose. *]

Note: some information is regarded as personal and care should be taken
when giving it.  It is advisable to seek help with a good placement center,
recruitment specialist, or one of many books on the subject.
Try to establish a dialogue.  Learn something about the firm or agency
you are considering (off-line); carefully consider your moves.

Use
Followup-To: misc.jobs.misc
or
Followup-To: poster
to deflect discussion or criticism of your posting either to you
via email or into the discussion group.

At one time, resumes were more casual.  I wish it could continue to be
so casual.  Why at one time you could post nice typesetter source,
but stick to ASCII until you have established your dialogue.
Unfortunately, the volume and the competition makes it more difficult
to sift through the field to find the right match.  Good luck.

YES, people do get offers and accept employment based on
the Net.  Personal observation: I believe the Net acts like a filter
because you must use a text editor and computer unlike a newspaper.
But the it's getting more and more difficult to sift thru all the inappropriate
postings and resumes.  Hence, this message.

misc.jobs.offered => offerings only, NO discussion, "Followup-To: poster"
misc.jobs.offered.entry => ENTRY-LEVEL offerings only, ditto, "Followup-To: poster"
misc.jobs.resumes => resumes only, NO discussion, "Followup-To: poster"
misc.jobs.contract => contract work specifically (offerings & ...)
misc.jobs.misc => DISCUSSION, NO offerings, NO resumes
"Tests:" DO NOT POST TEST MESSAGES TO misc.jobs.resumes => these make you
look really dumb.  Special test groups exist: misc.test, (local) ca.test
or ba.test.  These groups have special daemons which will email an
ACKnowledgement to you.  Also learn to CANCEL tests.
Questions? news.announce.newusers
Consider other groups for other topics such as rec.travel for move info.
Consider following simple stylisistic suggestions and learning a test
towards employment.
NOTE: these aren't hard and fast rules: they are consensus.
But many people will regard you as a fool if you violate them,
thus making you less employable.

Also note: a few readers are pushing for a much more rigid resume
FORMAT, so that they can get the information they need to evaluate
resumes: don't fill in the field, don't get evaluated.  It would be ASCII,
but could use a preprocessor for troff, TeX, PostScript(tm), etc.
But this is subject to discussion.
[I do not wish to impose tyranny of a majority.  These are styles.]

Potential employers/readers recommending editing to the above
[deliberately bad] writing are directed to send mail to
eugene@orville.nas.nasa.gov or {uunet,mailrus, other UUCP}!ames!eugene.
Tell me what you want out of a resume.

Disclaimers:
============

     Every once in a while, one sees an article prefaced by a disclaimer
something like, "I'm posting this for a friend; I know nothing about the
validity of the job."  The implication seems to be, "If you respond to this
message, you're on your own.  If he takes you for all you're worth, don't
come crying to me."

     This, of course, is unkosher.  Since by the poster's single-handed
actions, the message has been seen thousands of readers, it is not
unreasonable to expect the poster to make some effort to verify the validity
of the offer.  If the offer comes from a friend, this effort may merely be
the trust one has in that friend.  If the offer comes from someone the poster
doesn't know and trust, or someone unfamiliar with Usenet and misc.jobs.*
policies, it behooves the poster to explain the netiquette and ask a few
questions.

     A quick and simple background check could save your reputation and
mailbox.

====The following comes from a old resume posting====
==== Portions will move into the above message over time=====

If you are a student:
A campus placement center can help you better than the net [usually].
Don't blindly follow resume formats posted to the net.
Don't post a sloppy resume or letter.  Don't always expect to send raw
typesetter input, not everyone has every formatter.  Personnel types in
particular don't like it.  Expect that several people in a chain or group
will read your resume (they may not all be net savvy).  Timing is
particularly important, good summer jobs start to appear in January-March.
Don't wait until April.  [The latter will certainly move.]

Generally:
Don't make your resume too long.  Quality counts much more than quantity.
Incomplete information may be a reason for not considering you.
But! Balance this against making a resume too long.

Do something which DISTINGUISHES your resume from the
other hundreds of resumes out there.  Publications, patents, special
projects, work related prizes, inventions, independent study, work-study
experience, etc.

Don't be trite.  Informality is nice on the net, but not in
your cover letter or resume.

Consider the problem of relocation: if you can't limit your posting
using the Distribution: field (like nj or ca), state if you are willing
to relocate.  Place regional preferences in Subject field.

====Add this fellow's recommendations.=====

i have some suggestions for resume style -

1. fresh graduates should list coursework in some detail. there
   is a tendency to list 'projects' rather than courses, presumably
   the idea is employers might care more about 'practical experience'.
   a well rounded program is the best thing a fresh graduate has
   going for him/her, so it should be highlighted.

2. When projects are listed a measure of complexity such as line
   count would be helpful.

3. A measure of experience stated as BSCS + 3 years where the 3 years
   experience was after the BS would be useful. This should be
   on the subject line. This is tricky when people get a BS, work for
   2 years and then get an MS over 2 years. While a BS, MS, or PhD
   are different qualifications, most salary statistics are published
   based on years of experience since BS. So the candidate has to
   'estimate' his experience, for example, the 2 year MS
   may be counted
   as one year of experience if the candidate has been a Research
   Assistant for 20 hrs a week. So a definition 
   'MSEE, 3 years experience since BSEE' would be very informative.

4. I have found postscript files posted on the net to be a nuisance
   since the files are so huge. a nice typeset resume can be mailed
   or faxed once a company expresses interest.

In general i have found the net to be a very effective recruiting
tool. I have found that when i was trying to build a 9 person team
6 out of 15 people who came for on-site interviews were identified
through the net (*.offered, *.resume). I expect that 5 of these
people will be getting offers from us.

From: jjohnson@uujobs.com (Jim Johnson)

Jobhunters should place their location in the subject line, next
to RELOCATABLE; true, most in misc.jobs.resumes are willing to
relocate, but I, as a headhunter who works a local area (like
most), can more easily spot applicants in my area. I think 
employers are in the same boat. Unless an applicant is 
exceptional, relocation compensation is rarely paid, and they 
help themselves by stating that they are willing to cover 
their own interview and relocation expenses (assuming they're
willing to...).

It doesn't need to take up much room; most waste space already
by spelling out WILL RELOCATE or something. Personnel & managers
will know what

CA/SELF-RELO

means.

Location is an important issue in misc.jobs.offered - 
it is in m.j.r., as well.