Re: resume question

[sanders_j -at- TBOSCH -dot- DNET -dot- GE -dot- COM]

Hi,

>I've noticed that many of the posters in misc.jobs.resumes include the
>software and tools they use or are familiar with. Granted, most of the
>posters are programmers, but some are tech. communicators and even their
>resumes are similar, e.g., "I am an expert in Word, FrameMaker, and these
>1500 ;) Windows applications: ... {bulleted list follows}". Is this
>common practice in the resumes of tech. communicators?
>Should our resumes include software information and all the accompanying
>acronyms? Mine currently emphasizes the *kinds* of things I've written,
>e.g., a user manual for Company B, a video script for Company D, rather
>than the tools I used to do the job.
>Karin C. Warren
>warrenk -at- jacobs -dot- csos -dot- orst -dot- edu

Well, yes and no. I purposely do not list the software I'm familiar with for
two reasons. One: the list would be quite large, and some of it possibly
completely useless (does anyone use OfficeWriter?). Two: I believe that having
a broad experience with a lot of different kinds of software gives me the
ability to pickup new software quickly. Listing what I know will imply that I
don't know other software. Since many platforms have style guidelines for
software development, many of the applications end up operating along very
similiar lines. Ergo: easy to pickup.

On the other hand, I do list those applications I used at a particular job. This
means to me that I'm very experienced with the software, and would have no
trouble picking up the ball the first day at the job. I can see the importance
of listing software in this manner, because from the employer's viewpoint, the
more training someone has had with a package, the less time will be lost to the
company getting a new person into gear.

But there are still inherent problems with listing software. For instance, I'm
very comfortable with FrameMaker, but I haven't used it in 3 years. At the time,
I could do anything you wanted to do, but that may be as many as 5 versions ago.
So, it's honest to list the software, because many of the basics will probably
not have changed, but I'm not as good as the resume may make it seem.

That's the problem with listing software to my mind: it'll change almost by the
time you print your resume. But employer's often want it, and some agencies who
place people operate with key words. I'd say to use your best judgement, and
only list those packages that you feel the MOST competent, and those that were
directly important to the job you performed.

Hope that helped. It seemed pretty scattered to me (shotgun advice!).

-John Sanders-
-GE/Schenectady-