I'm a programmer with about 2.5 years experience. Right now my CV is two pages long. There is a part where I mention some significant coursework during my studies ("big" exercises). I believe this part gives a better understanding on what knowledge I have on some technologies that I haven't had the chance to practice in a working environment. Should I remove it? The size of this part is 120 words out of 700.
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1Why do you think you should remove it?– Sumyrda - remember MonicaOct 5, 2015 at 18:59
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1As @Joe said, there is sufficient work experience to render the coursework obselete. But I decided to ask, since there is no work experience for some specific technologies that I feel comfortable enough to want to showcase something.– Alkis KalogerisOct 5, 2015 at 20:30
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1Two page cv. Leave it in for now. Keep the cv that length and shorten older stuff– Ed HealOct 9, 2015 at 17:06
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@EdHeal thanks for the response. Yes two pages is more than enough.– Alkis KalogerisOct 9, 2015 at 18:10
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3 Answers
As Jon Story says in his comment, it is important to customize your resume for each job you apply to. So you should definitely include the technologies that you learned in school - if they are significant for the job.
Joe's suggestion with the bullet list sounds good.
In addition to that, mention them in your cover letter.
In this answer I have explained my reasoning: If they are looking for a candidate who can do "foo" and you've spend the last couple of years doing "bar" then you should make it clear in your application why you consider yourself a good match for a position doing "foo" or else your application will wander to the bottom of the pile or even the trash.
Source: Own experience. After two years in a different technology, I applied to a position where I only had school experience in the main technology, although there was some overlap in the secondary requirements. I got the job.
answered Oct 5, 2015 at 21:27
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2This answer would be ideal if it mentioned the fact you can (and probably should) customise your resume for each job you apply to. I keep one or two "Relevant courses" in my CV under my degree, and adjust which ones I mention depending on what I'm applying for. The same for the "technologies" bullet pointed list, I include the core ones they're asking for (at the top!) and then a few related ones, then the "generally useful" stuff (UML is usually popular), and one or two unrelated just as a kind of "I can learn new things". There's no such thing as a resume, just a resume template. Oct 6, 2015 at 9:02
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There is a part where I mention some significant coursework during my studies ("big" exercises). Should I remove it?
Yes, remove it.
After 2.5 years of work experience, few employers care about any courses you took in school.
You can include a bullet list of technologies you know, but in general courses you took about topics that you haven't actually experienced on the job don't add much value.
answered Oct 5, 2015 at 19:01
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Thank you for your response. Upvoted but I will wait a little longer to see if any other answers come along. Have fun Oct 5, 2015 at 20:27
Two pages? Leave it alone. You want to show some breadth of experience, and right now you probably don't have enough in work experience to substantiate a whole lot.
Contrary to another comment here, I gave up on customizing resumes job-for-job long, long ago. If you're not a fit (because your resume doesn't reflect the skills required), no amount of customization is going to help. Customize the cover letter.
