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Re:Ask HN: 6 months of trying to get a job with no luck, sho... by acquirefinance on Tuesday May 28, 2013 @08:52AM (#5779631)
Here's my CV if anyone wants to critique it. Photoshop is terrible at exporting pdf's that aren't 999mb so excuse the fuzziness.

http://d.pr/f/6bIc

Re:Ask HN: 6 months of trying to get a job with no luck, sho... by hcho on Tuesday May 28, 2013 @09:11AM (#5779741)
Drop the word blackhat from your SEO experience and mention of forum membership as well. You are starting off with a huge red flag.

Remove non-qualifying words as "familiar". You either know html5/css3 or you don't. Same goes for modifying PHP code files. You either know PHP or you don't. Talking about modifying is odd.

I'd consider leaving education section out altogether. It's not your strongest point so no reason to put it on display.

Re:Ask HN: 6 months of trying to get a job with no luck, sho... by stevoo on Tuesday May 28, 2013 @09:39AM (#5779925)
Try and moving the actual programming to the top. Lets say in this order : HTML/CSS PHP/MYsql (plus the other for tweaking or modifying. It shows inexperience and weakness. That you have never written anything from scratch) Adobe SEO SEM Social Media Linux Outsourcing ( i am not sure this is neccesary )

You also write that you have done a lot but give no creditable work done. Either post some links to your work, or create a personal website to display all that you have done.

If you are an HTML person you should have a few to display your work.

Create a small paragraph for your personal information why should someone hire you and your objective. No more than 5- 7 lines

Interests go to the bottom. That is not the second thing that i want to read.

Also ... learn a couple more languages. Someone with no degree should know more. This is a must. I wont hire you with no degree and only php even if it is a php guy that i am looking for. This shows me that you dont have what it takes to learn something. I need you to show me that you can learn even if you dont have a college degree. Plenty of web languages to go around ! Very important !!!

Re:Ask HN: 6 months of trying to get a job with no luck, sho... by chrisbridgett on Tuesday May 28, 2013 @09:05AM (#5779702)
Depending on the types of jobs/agencies you're applying to, I can see the first couple of points getting your CV thrown straight out. Whilst it's useful to understand blackhat SEO strategies (to aid your execution of whitehat SEO and for knowing what NOT to do), coming across as pro-blackhat might give them the wrong idea...

In your past experience section I would highlight any positive contributions you made to projects you worked on there (without specifics) - i.e. 'Managed an $xxxx/month account'/'Increased monthly uniques by xMM or x% by using x technique' and so on.

On the plus side, the design is professional and it's not a gigantic wall of text. :)

Re:Ask HN: 6 months of trying to get a job with no luck, sho... by netrus on Tuesday May 28, 2013 @09:30AM (#5779870)
By just looking at it briefly, I found a typo "effiecent" and a double space (I think), "managing contract". Don't start by introducing yourself as a blackhat. Make the experience part way more detailed, as this is your strongest asset.

The list of CDN does not continue in the following line.

Keep in mind, you do not want to be in the TOP 10 for any given position, but you want to be the single best candidate. You somehow have to compensate for your lack of formal education.

Re:Ask HN: 6 months of trying to get a job with no luck, sho... by kriven on Tuesday May 28, 2013 @02:30PM (#5781719)
Here are my suggestions:

- I don't know how resumes in NZ need to be formatted. Here are some resources that I found:

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/example_cvs.htm (A Skills-based CV seems to be what you want to do)

http://www.careers.govt.nz/how-to-get-a-job/cvs-and-cover-le...

- I suggest not being creative when formatting your resume or CV unless you are applying for designing jobs.

- Remove the Interests section or include only the interests that relate to the jobs that you are applying for. Definitely remove the line "Attempting to become a creative chef".

- Integrate some of the major keywords that a job description has into your resume or cover letter if applicable

- If LinkedIn is popular in your country, definitely set up a LinkedIn profile

- Create a different version of your resume with more focus on experience like the Traditional one mentioned here: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/example_cvs.htm and see if that works better.

I hope that helps. Best of luck!

Re:Ask HN: 6 months of trying to get a job with no luck, sho... by brudgers on Tuesday May 28, 2013 @10:16AM (#5780163)
One page [May be a US thing]

DJ'ing and Chefing aren't relevant.

Nobody is going to say they are lackadaisical, untrustworthy, and sport a flat affect.

Examples of skills are better than claims - give some numbers about Facebook and traffic.

Finally, isn't a 1.7 meg PDF a bit at odds with a claim of web expertise? It looks great, but html and css would seem more appropriate. Treat it as part of your portfolio.

Good luck.