“I would get rid of the objective thing”

Since I am a student looking for specific jobs in specific fields (CS), I think that the one-line objective statement is quite appropriate. It’s a de-facto standard for CU students, and I think omitting it would make me stand out negatively. See http://www.easyjob.net/resume/resume-outline-objective2.html for some good reasoning about the objective statement debate.

“Listing the main courses that you’ve taken in uni is unecessary.”

Actually, us Cornell Students are being compared to students at other institutions, so putting courses is a good idea, since my studies have been quite extensive. It’s only three lines at the moment. Also, for a Junior, by the end of my year I will have 95% of the credits needed to graduate from my college–and I didn’t get AP credit.

“I don’t know how your GPA system works at Cornell, but here a 3.4 is not so good.”

I think the average engineer hovers around a B/B- GPA, so a 3.4 is fine. Also, I’ve heard good advice that the absence of a GPA on a student resume implies that it is extremely low. Again, not including it would hurt me by implication.

“Then focus on the remaining few projects. Indicate its value.”

I’ve tried to make some of the descriptions less tedious.

“I’d leave out the “Interests & Activities” bit entirely. I can’t think of a single instance when that’s ever helped anyone, except aid a teenager fill a page when applying for his/her first job. The employer won’t read it, and won’t care what you on your off time.”

Contrary to fact, JP Morgan & Co. just asked what I do creatively in my spare time

“rework the header”

I’ve added some lines.. We’ll see how it works out. I know that’s a sore spot on the resume…

“if you’ve made dean’s list, i’d put those semesters in too to flaunt your awesomeness.”

There’s no good place to actually put them, though… the spacing just doesn’t work out.

“in the least, lose the course numbers”

Yeah–the career office suggested this, too.

“i’m a big fan of conformity, but maybe a little variance was what you were looking for.”

Yep. I think they look better there, although everyone disagrees…. we’ll see.

“order your languages and platforms – you want C/C++/Java and other common languages first”

Unfortunately, an ordered list is more efficient for random access, and all of those languages, basic excepted, are equally usefull.

“if you want to link your website, i’d try to sneak that into the header. in the least don’t use the exclamation point”

Fixed.

THANKS GUYS!

pretty good so far, i have mostly layout issues. keep in mind that these are just my opinions, and there is certainly more than one style/format to make an effective resume.

1) rework the header. there’s this huge white space between your address and your name, and it looks like a huge valley to me. i’m personally not a fan of left orienting the name, but i’ve seen that done before (i like to put my address and other contact information in long lines – you can see mine if you want for an example)

2) going for an internship and without an entry level position under your belt, you *should*/*must* post your gpa in my opinion. low or not, companies have cutoffs on entry level positions and are interested in how well you did as well as how much you challenged yourself in your coursework you’ve chosen. if you’ve made dean’s list, i’d put those semesters in too to flaunt your awesomeness.

3) in the least, lose the course numbers – it’ll save space and a number doesn’t mean anything to them. do you expect them to look up all the numbers and descriptions? to me, you’re better off listing things you know. what is java practicum? what is independent research? on mine, i just did a “coursework completed in blah blah blah” – gets around that dreaded “intro” word too.

4) you seem to have strong projects – i’d take more space and expand on these. mention some cool unique features of some of the better ones, and i’m not a particular fan of the 3 column setup (but again, that’s just me looking at it, take it as just another opinion).

5) nice experiences – i question the change from bullets to roman numerals. i’m a big fan of conformity, but maybe a little variance was what you were looking for.

6) order your languages and platforms – you want C/C++/Java and other common languages first – don’t hide java in the middle of the pack. people read from the beginning – hit them good and hit them hard. same could be said for OSes, though that list is probably short enough that it doesn’t make *that* much a difference.

7) yes, the interest and activities section is more like a high school thing. microsoft doesn’t really care if you ski or blog on your free time; they want to know how well you code. don’t waste 3-4 lines talking about these things.

if you want to link your website, i’d try to sneak that into the header. in the least don’t use the exclamation point – that makes the resume seem a tad more childish, and having that as the exact last character on the resume spells disaster.

hope i didn’t sound too harsh =P IM me if you want me to better explain something, or ***** at me for being so mean. haha

(1) PDF. Yes, I always submit my resume as a PDF–this is just an “in progress” version. Also, on my computer, it displays and prints on just one page. Two pages is too long for someone my own age.

(2) Reworking the header. Yes. It feels completely wrong, like it should be more distinct and seperate from the flow of the document. However, I’m still working on how to accomplish that. Lines don’t look right, and there’s not much space to work with. Still, it’s definitely the biggest visual problem right now.

And yeah, reading other’s resumes is good. Google for “CEO filetype:pdf inurl:resume” and you can find some interesting examples. You can even learn as much from the bad as the good. I’ve seen resumes that had something I hated, and then went…hmm! My resume is like that!