RE: Technical Skills on Resume

[Gil Yaker <gyaker -at- mci -dot- net>]

I can't speak for any other parts of the country, but from my recent job
search in the Washington DC metro area, software skills are probably the
most important thing you can put on the resume.  I sware it seems like
recruiters around here search your resume for the following elements:

1. years of experience
2. software skills
3. detailed experience
4. objective/cover letter

Whenever I spoke with a recruiter, the first thing they'd ask (well the
second - the first is if I'm willing to work in X part of the region) was
have you used...
Even before 'do you know how to write about RF design' or whatever.

I think if you want to play the game of 'how do i get the most hits for my
resume,' include the words framemaker, robohelp, and Office (or rather, list
ever Office component seperately) somewhere in the text. Tho' I do not
condone saying you know a skill that you don't.

It's all a game really.

Gil Yaker                              tel:703/886.1816
Technical Writer                       fax:703/886.0048
WorldCom vBNS+                           gyaker -at- mci -dot- net
/// very high-performance Backbone Network Service+ ///

> -----Original Message-----
> From: bounce-techwr-l-37958 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
> [mailto:bounce-techwr-l-37958 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com]On Behalf Of
> squarej -at- nationwide -dot- com
> Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2000 12:30 PM
> To: TECHWR-L
> Subject: Technical Skills on Resume
>
>
>
> Hello,
>
> Here's another question on resumes.
>
> Is there a current trend NOT to list software skills (Word, Frame, Power
> Point, etc.) on your resume because so many writers know these
> tools?    It
> seems from the literature I have been reading that these skills are
> becoming so commonplace that it would be better to save the space for
> talking about your accomplishments on the job, rather than placing a
> grocery list of tools on your resume.