Job skills

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05-24-2006
IfYouSaySo

Job skills

So I'm trying to figure out what kind additional skills/knowledge I should add to my bag of tricks to make myself more marketable in terms of looking for a job (I'm not looking for one right now). I thought I would post my skills here and see if anyone had any suggestions.

Skills, 5+ years exp.:
--c/c++ on most unix platforms, win32 platform, and open vms platform.
--client-server architecture
--multi-threaded programming
--network programming with bsd sockets
--VBScript/WMI/ADO on Windows
--Korn shell scripting on unixes

Skills, 1 year or less exp.:
--Python
--ADO.NET
--VB.NET
--SQL/MySQL

So I'm looking for two types of suggestions.

First, I want to know if there is some detail about something above that I should definately mention on a resume. For example, should I say that I know the STL, or is that basically implied when you say you know c++? Or should I say specifically that I have worked with Win32 API/Unix libraries, or is that again implied by the fact that I say that I have worked on those platforms? Etc.

Second kind of suggestion is, is there some skill that I am missing, that would make me vastly more marketable if I had it. For example, you might be of the opinion that usually employers who are looking for VB.NET are also looking for skills/experience with ASP/ASP.NET, of which I have no experience. So to best leverage my VB.NET skills, I should learn ASP.NET. Etc.

Also, I'd love to hear from anybody, but also please give me info about why you are or are not a credible person to listen to. I.e. are you a hiring manager, good friends with a hiring manager, or a high-school student, etc.?

Thanks for all info, opinions, advice, rants, etc.
05-25-2006
whiteflags

Quote:

Originally Posted by IfYouSaySo

First, I want to know if there is some detail about something above that I should definately mention on a resume. For example, should I say that I know the STL, or is that basically implied when you say you know c++? Or should I say specifically that I have worked with Win32 API/Unix libraries, or is that again implied by the fact that I say that I have worked on those platforms? Etc.

Common sense tells me that companies do not like to reuse any code besides their own. STL will help you, but most companies will use that as a lego at best for building specialized things. Same thing with different platforms: if you've worked with it, they know you know.

What the employer will be interested in seeing on your resume is previous work experience, or details about all your previous projects. It let's them see that you can work with a team, where they can place you, and what you do best.

Quote:

Second kind of suggestion is, is there some skill that I am missing, that would make me vastly more marketable if I had it. For example, you might be of the opinion that usually employers who are looking for VB.NET are also looking for skills/experience with ASP/ASP.NET, of which I have no experience. So to best leverage my VB.NET skills, I should learn ASP.NET. Etc.

Not that I can think of. Americans are a very small part of the population of the world, but outsourcing is very overblown. (Why pay to fly in the unfortunate broken English foriegn person whjo might have trouble reading the manual when you have a perfectly good resource at home? Outsourcing does not save as much money as people suggest.) My best suggestion, especially with your skill set, is to have confidence so that you look good to employers.

From other threads in this place, I remember that they might ask you a question related to a programming problem. The correct way to answer this is to explain how you would go about solving the problem without speaking in code.

Quote:

also please give me info about why you are or are not a credible person to listen to.

I never had a job in your field, but my dad did for thirty years. He told me a lot about his work, and I've typed his resume; it looks a lot like yours. I've also hung around my dad's workplace at certain points in time. I'm also actually in college.

Quote:

Thanks for all info, opinions, advice, rants, etc.

Most welcome.
05-25-2006
Jaqui

What skills would help you get employed is a variable, it really depends on the area you will be looking for work in.
around here, the language that is most commonly looked for is java.

something to keep in mind when looking for work, employers see hundreds if not thousands of resumes for every position they have open, no one resume will attract the positive attention of all people reading it, you really should focus the resume for each employer you are submitting it to, on top of the custom written cover letter.

I have regularly been responsible for reviewing resumes and short listing those who will be contacted for interviews, so I do have some relevant work experience in this area :)

Always research the company, find out as much as you can before you go for your interview. Be confident in your self, but be careful to not appear over confident or arrogant.