How to write a CV

This is an old post that first appeared on the now defunct Laterooms Engineering Blog on 29th January, 2016. It's posted unedited and reflects my opinions on the subject from that time, some of those opinions have evolved, some changed and some new ones have formed. However I believe there is still value in the post, so here it is for posterity.

We're currently recruiting for new developers, and the process reminded me of something. Developers are not the best when it comes to writing CVs. Which is a shame, I'm sure we've missed some great people because their CV didn't tell us what we need to know. So I thought I'd write a little helper guide on some common mistakes developers make and some hints on writing a better CV. It might seem a little strange for someone who is recruiting to write a guide like this, but really it helps everyone. I tend to view recruiting as finding the right person, not necessarily the 'best' person. Ability to write a CV is rarely a job requirement, so by helping you, I'm also helping me.

We don't care what your old company did

A common trait I've seen on CVs is a list of all the projects a person has worked on and what the software did in the end. We want you to know what the benefits and reasons for that project are, and we want you to be able to explain that, but we don't actually care about the reasons. And one will do. We don't need a complete list.

We want to know what you did at your old company

While what the actual company does is mostly academic to us, we really want to know what you did at your last company. Tell us how you contributed to a project or product, tell us how you affected the way the company worked. Did you introduce any new tools, techniques or practises? Did you work with other team members? And how? Did you work with other parts of the business? And how did you go about this? This sort of info will give us an idea of how you would work in our company. Which is what we really want to know.

Avoid list of technologies

Recruitment companies in particular love this. A list of all the technologies you've worked with. To be honest, we are a .net shop and we will probably be more interested if you've spent 5 years doing .net than 10 years of Java. But if you've used log4net instead of NLog we really don't care. Solr vs Elasticsearch, not a problem. The right candidate can learn a new library easily, a long list of techs don't impress, they just take up valuable space. Use your CV space more effectively.

Brevity

There was a time many years ago in a company I used to work for, when recruitment meant getting a pile of over 100 CVs and having an hour to pick just 3. We were vicious, even the slightest issue meant you were sent to the junk pile. Any more than a single sheet of A4 meant immediate dumping to that pile. Things are not as extreme now but we are still busy people. Keep it brief. Anything you can't fit into 2 sides of A4 probably isn't worth saying.

Recruitment companies will ruin your CV

I don't know why, but a lot of them tend to do the opposite of many of the things I recommend in this post. They emphasise the wrong things, add stuff that isn't relevant, put their own branding on it and make it look awful. We prefer direct application for many reasons, but personally I'd much rather see an unfettered CV. This is particularly true for front end developers, if your CV looks horrible we aren't going to want to let you near the website.

Write a personal statement

Possibly the most important part of the CV, but also the bit I can give the least advice on, because it's all about you. This is where you tell us what makes you tick. Who are you? Why do you do what you do? Show your passion or your professionalism. I've invited someone to an interview based on a personal statement alone, I don't think I'd ever do that just from a job history. This is your chance to stand out amongst all the other CVs, make the most of it.

Customise your CV for the job you are applying for

In many cases you are applying to a bunch of very similar jobs, in which case you can probably skip this suggestion, however if you're thinking of a change of direction you need to think about the job you want and tailor your CV to that. For example, if you've mainly done back end development for years and are now thinking of moving to front end jobs, think about how your experience is relevant for a front end job and tell us about that.

We know people exaggerate on their CVs

This is a difficult one. Many people exaggerate on their CVs, others are not good at blowing their own trumpets. Developers tend to have a broader range of this than most people. (I think because being pedantic is an important part of our job) My advice is not to overthink it, remember we are looking for a diverse range of people, and we are usually pretty good at recognising these. Go with what feels natural to you. But don't worry if you feel you can't put "3 years experience in C#" because you have actually only been doing it for 2 years and 11 months. We are not going to discount you for that.

Link to your github/stack exchange/twitter etc account

We will Google you anyway, this will save us time, and prevent anyone with a similar name from confusing us. Also remember these are part of your public image so think of them as an extended CV.

Tell us about anything you do in the community

Events, open source etc. Communication skills are important. These are perfect examples of this, and also allow us to find out more about you very easily. However don't worry if you're not able to be involved for whatever reason, that's not a negative. There are lots of other bits of advice I can give, but these cover the most important ones. Just remember that we read your CV hoping you will be the perfect compliment to our team, and when you've written your amazing CV, send it here

Andy Lowry (Dev Lead - Search Team @azd_lowry)

Also thanks to everyone who helped with this blog post.