“How can I portray my skills in my resume?”
This is one question that most Professionals usually ask me about.
Most of them usually ask this question when they are
- moving from one role to another, or
- from one project to another,
- or sometimes just completed a Certification Course and want to transition into another domain based on their newly acquired skill
Unfortunately for most, they ask question too late in the cycle. They want to jump the wagon and now seeking out answers on what to do. My answer is usually to sit down and go through all the works they have done ( from the smallest to the mightiest ) and prepare a document mentioning their “contributions” and the “roles” they played in those tasks. More on this later, or may be you could start a Discussion on this and let me know if you are interested in knowing about this further
In this post, I want to focus on what one should do, as soon as they start something new. May be its a new company or a new project or a new team that they have joined. Or may be its a new Course that they have enrolled into.
The simple answer is : “Write it down”
The details though are in, “What to write” and “Where to write”
What to write
No day goes by without you learning something you did not already know. Do you disagree? May be you overlooked those “learning” moments. Become more conscious of those “learning” moments in your day. Keep looking out for these small moments in life and work. These are the things that one should write. It could be something like
- Writing code using a new style or syntax
- A new design concept you saw being applied that you were not aware of
- Testing scenario thats new for you
- A automation script you saw someone use to be more productive
- An email that caught your eye, for its form and structure
- A new syntax you learnt about your programming language from a video
When you learn or notice something new, write down these things in your book
- Narration in your own words about what was “new” for you
- Mention the scenario and context when you saw that somethng “new”
- Then think and write down what you learn from it
Sounds a lot? May be. But for someone who cares about himself, it would be fun.
Takes a lot of time? May be you have more time to spend watching the works of other creators on that “income reducing electronic gadget” in your hand that is prefixed with the word smart. Stop giving excuses. It’s your life. Your choice.
Where to write ?
In a “Book”, is the simple answer.
There is something Divine about using a pen and book. It is usually said that our hand is the extension of our brain. What you write on paper, you will retain it for a longer period of time.
But then, all this was for presenting it in a resume, right? How can my resume be connected with the book?
You don’t. Every few days, may be, once a week or fortnight, you write a blog post about your new learnings. All derived from your own personal experience, distilled from your notes in your personal book.
How you present this is all upto you. May be you
- Write blog posts like a series of tutorials for the new concepts you learnt.
- Write a general post about a situation without mentioning any names and share your learnings with others who might benefit from it.
Practical suggestions
- Always carry a pocket book to write down small notes as soon as you notice your “learning” moment.
- Allocate time of about 3 to 4 times a week to write down your “learnings”
- Target to post atleast 2 to 3 blogs per month
Over a period of a year, you would have written atleast 20 or more blog posts. If you accomplish this. Then CONGRATULATIONS !!! You now have your own personal portfolio
This portfolio or blog is what you can mention in your resume. It shows your unseen professional personality with valuable quantitative data points to backup your understanding of various concepts. Proof that you just did not warm the benches at work, but applied your brain cells to add value to the product you contributed.
Creating a GitHub Repository with your code accomplishments is an added bonus
What next?
I invite you to use this blog “Share2Learn” as a platform to build your habit of “creating” content.
- Register here and I shall add you as a collaborator on the share2learn GitHub Repository.
- You can follow the steps mentioned in this discussion thread and start blogging.
Other collaborators on this blog and myself can help you when stuck up. This itself would be your new “learning”
Discussion
Start a discussion on GitHub about this article and let me know your thoughts or suggestions.