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Tech/management blog Rands in Repose has a few really interesting little tips about creating that resume. The author, an engineering manager in Silicon Valley, says he spends about 30 seconds glimpsing at each resume that comes across his desk, so you had better grab his attention!

One of the most important (and funniest) realities is to write like you’re a human! With a lot of HP and Intel engineers applying to our Executive MBA program, I see horrible things like this come across my desk from time to time:

Here’s a doozy, this intern says he “planned, designed, and coordinated engineers efforts for the development of a mission critical system”. ZzzzzzzzzzZzz. What did this guy actually do? I honestly don’t know. Let’s call this type of writing style resume mumbo jumbo and let’s agree that usage of this style is tantamount to saying nothing at all.

What was the mission critical system? Why was it critical? How in the world did an intern plan, design, and coordinate the engineering efforts? I’m a fan of giving interns real world work, but it’d take a world-class intern to plan, design, and manage engineers on whatever this mission critical system is.

A few to-do items:

• Google your name. What comes up? If its a bunch of dirty Myspace images, think about cleaning up your online rep. Think about starting a blog!
• Don’t just give your job description. Try to convey how you grew in each position, and why you made a transition to a new job.
• Your personal interests and extracurricular activities ARE important! They can distinguish you from the competition.
• Don’t use any buzzwords in your skills/qualifications area if you can’t back them up with some good examples.

And for recent college graduates, like myself, the author recommends that you include all types of work experience, no matter how unrelated they may seem. As he says, “Any job teaches you something.” What was that something? And how does it apply to what career path you’re pursuing now?

A Glimpse and a Hook (Rands in Repose)