Assignment 1 - Apply for the job of CS300 student

We will divide the class into teams of 4-5 students for the
term; each project will involve substantial teamwork and
collaboration. Teamwork is fundamental for the success of a
medium to large-scale software project. In industry you will
rarely work by yourself, and you will need to work closely
with your team members to create a deliverable which is
thoroughly tested and satisfies the project requirements.
However, before you can join a team you need a resume. A
good resume is hard to construct and takes time.

Employers receive stacks of resumes and it is boring to
review them. It is your responsibility to ensure your resume
is easy to read, concise, and the content accurately
reflects your experiences and potential.

Task:

Construct a resume applying for a position on a CS300
project team. The resume should enumerate your academic
experiences and any professional positions or internships.

Feel free to use any color and/or layout techniques, as long
as you can convert it into a PDF. (Note, however, that
excessive formatting is usually considered a defect; also
that the folks you are applying to may have only a
monochrome printer, so your resume should look good in
monochrome.) The resume should not exceed one page unless
you have held multiple professional positions. The final
result must be a PDF that you upload to Moodle.

Tips:

1. A resume will take many revisions to get right. Start
   this task early and improve your resume through many small
   iterative improvements.

2. Spelling and grammar mistakes are patently unacceptable
   and will negatively impact your grade. Always use a
   spellchecker, and ask a fluent English speaker to proofread
   your work at the end.

3. If your resume is hard to read due to color, font or the
   layout, it will negatively impact your grade.

4. Be specific and exclude irrelevant details. Include
   details such as the magnitude of the project and your
   responsibilities. Be as brief as possible while including
   important information.
   

   Bad: I worked on a project that helped people with
   online education.

   Good: I was a junior developer for a web-based online
   education portal with 10K monthly visitors, developed with
   MySQL and PHP. I gathered requirements from senior
   management, reviewed feedback from customers and
   implemented an auto-complete feature with Javascript and
   CSS. This helped students find their course information
   faster.

5. Do not embellish or glorify your experiences. It will
   hurt you later.

6. Generic advice on resumes tends to be useless or
   misleading for tech resumes; look specifically to
   knowledgeable folks who are advising on software-industry
   resumes for help. A useful reference:
   

   Resume Tips, URL
   http://www.mit.edu/~career/guide/resumes.html, last accessed
   2010/09/29

7. Leaving your education until the end, as many
   recommend, may be downplaying a strong asset for you. In
   general, resume topics should be listed in order of
   helpfulness in getting you a job.

8. Make sure your name and contact information are
   prominently displayed at the top of the resume. (Duh?)

9. Work experience is always listed in reverse order by
   date, with the dates of employment clearly visible.
   Employers scan resumes for unexplained "gaps" in work, so
   try to find some volunteer work or education or training or
   something to list to cover these holes. If you seem to have
   done nothing for a year, employers will tend to assume you
   were in jail.

10. If you have done volunteer work, especially if it is
    charitable / hard-core humanitarian, by all means put it on
    your resume even if it is not technically relevant. Your
    year volunteering with Doctors Without Borders makes you
    very attractive to an employer looking for a selfless,
    driven team player.

11. Use a large enough font to avoid half-blind folks'
    eyestrain, and do not skip too much on the leading (space
    between lines). Yes, you can get more on a page, but
    employers will notice and will not thank you for it.

12. Humor is acceptable only in tiny doses and only when it
    is really obviously humorous. You are much more likely to
    baffle or offend someone than amuse them with your little
    joke, so in general stay away from making it.

13. Be really, really careful of accidentally writing
    anything that might read as racism, as sexism, or otherwise
    seem prejudiced or hurtful. If an employer is offended by
    your resume, that is an instant reject.