Comments on: 160. Education, Education, Education

By: luis

luis — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:01:10 +0000

"CV" vs "résumé": In graduate school, we were told that a CV (Curriculum vitae) focuses on your work in academia, i.e., published articles, teaching jobs, etc. The Résumé focuses on your work in the professional world, i.e., corporate jobs held. Just a thought. I don't think it makes a difference what you call it, but I just remember our graduate advisor coming to a class one evening to explain these differences. :)

By: xlevel

xlevel — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:18:43 +0000

A few ideas on Andrews question on breaking into the business.
1. I agree totally about putting yourself in a box. Make sure your CV has a single message, be that server-side developer, front end, designer, etc. The people who filter CV’s tend not to be technical and therefore look for certain terms for certain positions. Have more than one CV, each one directed to a different area of expertise.
2. Make sure you are well versed with areas around your skill set. You might not need to be able to use Photoshop to be a front-end developer, but an idea of how a designer works will look good.
When I have interviewed people, their personality and understanding of the business is often as important as their actual skills.
3. Don’t give up. It took me four interviews and hundreds of letters to get my first IT job, and it wasn’t even in development! However, once you’ve got your first job you’ll find getting the next a lot easier.
Also, don’t be afraid to work in a job that is on the edge of the business. I trained as a software developer, but my first job was working as an IT technician at a University. In that job I became responsible for building and maintaining the department web site, which led me back into web development.
I hope these points help.

By: Rob Lang

Rob Lang — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:11:59 +0000

On getting a job, I found a more low key way of getting started. These should be treated as extension to all Paul’s and Marcus’s ideas.
1. On your portfolio site, create some ‘case study mockups’ so that people can see what you can do. Even if you have never had any clients, you can still show your work.
2. Networking can be done amongst family and friends (and your family’s friends) and expect to work in your spare time for very little (or free). My first few clients were family and friends but it got me experience and I could say honestly that I’d released some sites.
3. Keep listening to Paul, Marcus and other similar podcasts. I’m puckering up for posterior kissing but it is important to keep educating yourself and learning from other’s mistakes.
Just little things to add to Paul and Marcus’s excellent list.
Rob