CV Tips for Technology Professionals
Technical candidates usually make one of two critical errors on their CVs -- either the document is excessively long with excruciating detail on every assignment ever completed, or too short with hardly any descriptions at all. There needs to be some middle ground -- the CV should be succinct yet effectively showcase your achievements.
What to include: For each position held, give a brief synopsis of the scope of your responsibility. Then show how your performance benefited the company. Give examples of how past initiatives led to positive outcomes such as enhanced efficiency, faster time-to-market, monetary savings, etc. Accomplishments are most powerful when they are measurable, so include actual performance figures whenever possible. Focus on your most impressive technical projects/accomplishments. What types of challenges did you face? What did you do to overcome the challenges? How did your performance improve the organisation's bottom line?
For contract work, provide a bulleted list of your top projects, indicating the company (or type of company if confidential), reason for hiring you, scope of your project, your specific approach to the project, challenges/obstacles faced, work performed and benefits to the company.
If you are new to the field and concerned about a lack of experience, consider offering free or low-cost technical services to charitable organisations, friends, family or local businesses. This allows you to hone your craft and show related work or volunteer experience on your CV. Also, pursue as much training as possible to get up to speed. Entry-level candidates should focus on their potential in the field, ability to quickly learn challenging concepts and motivation to succeed in the industry.
