Some tips to get your resumé read
It's really, really hard to represent ones self with an application and a 2-page resumé. It's impersonal and feels awkward. We're trying our best to read between the lines and understand who you are, who you aspire to be and how does your experience match the position. As a small team, these are important to us.
Here are a few tips for your application at Transifex. Following them will help us better understand you as a character, evaluate your experience and give you an opportunity for an interview.
- Use space wisely, don't waste it. We like 2-page resumés with lots of text. We want to learn about you, your experience and talents. Use your full space. Avoid Europass CV template.
- We like cover letters which explain why you're applying, the phase you are in your life, what do you expect from this position, where you want it to take you etc. We'd love to learn about your aspirations, what you want to become. reasons you moved on from your past positions. Make it personal -- don't waste any space on boilerplate text which we won't read anyway.
- We do care about both content and presentation.
- We appreciate your academic studies, but typically give more weight to work experience and personal projects. Briefly mention them, the title of dissertation (if relevant) and years.
- For each past position of yours mention Title, Responsibilities, Achievements.
- If you're presenting a portfolio, explain which parts of the presented work you were responsible for.
- Be specific about your experience in the areas the position requires. If you're a software developer, expand the "Ruby, Python, PHP, Java, Javascript" line into multiple paragraphs as required by the position.
- Instead of simply listing general attributes such as "Excellent team player", provide evidence in your past experience which prove those attributes. The Achievements mentioned above helps.
- We love reading about personal projects and areas you feel you're excellent at which are not related to work.
- Do not include a picture, your gender, ethnicity, marital status or driver license. They are irrelevant to us.
- By applying online, on our website, you get to answer some questions which are critical for us to take your application to the next level. If you have applied with another way (eg. agency, recruiter, indeed.com), consider also submitting an application on the site.
Here are some good reads on the topic.