Overdone Resumes

I recently helped a friend with his resume. I have some experience with this from coordinating the CIS internship program at PCCC, though I am certainly no expert. My resume is about two pages long at this point. I'm certain it could be improved upon, but I basically have only needed it to send in a book proposal to Pearson and to apply to teach part-time at Bergen. Since I am not an active job seeker, I have not done a lot of work on it.

Though I coordinated the internship program, our former internship coordinator was my resume expert, so I sort of learned by watching her edit resumes. When we would work with our students to get their resumes done, I would help them with the basics (list your jobs, what sort of responsibilities did you have, etc), and she would come around and really polish the resumes.

This Career Builder article discusses some of those cliches, and how you can clean some of them up:
Link to article

Of course, if you are an active student, your college probably has a Career Services office that will provide you with free resume help. I'd say that is something to take advantage of, whether you are at Passaic, Bergen, or elsewhere. Otherwise, once you start looking for a job, you will end up bugging a friend or maybe even paying a professional to do it.

Productivity Software and Being Productive

Programs in Microsoft Office generally fall in to a category of software called productivity software. The idea behind this is that users should be able to use the tools to save a company time, and hence money. Programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are tools many companies view as useful.

However, I hear that many companies are not impressed with the technology skills of students graduating college, and that seems counter intuitive at first. I think the issue is only partially technology-related. For example, I am in the process of teaching PowerPoint to my 101 class. I try to make the comparison between the things businesses like students to know and the things students want to know how to do. The things students like to do in PowerPoint include animations, slide transitions, and sounds. However, in a business environment, those things are generally not used. As a matter of fact, in many medium to large sized companies, employees will be using a standard company template and just adding the data they would like to the slide.

What a company would look for is certainly part technology, but also part English. A company would expect a new hire to be able to take a paper and summarize it in to a presentation. This involves very little technical know-how. If a new hire takes that paper and types in complete sentences on the slides, or spends a lot of time playing with animations, the company will not be impressed. I try to get across a few key pieces of information, for example, don't write in complete sentences on each slide, summarize data and try to use the 7x7 rule (no more than  words per line, and 7 lines per slide), and use the notes pane, especially if you plan on sending a presentation out via email (this will allow a blind user's screen reader to give a blind user a similar experience to a non-blind user).  As you can see, those are less technology issues and more using the technology to achieve a task.

Similarly, I see a disconnect between the technical aspects of Excel and the application. Every semester, I put the percentages for each component of a grade on the syllabus. Let's say tests are 40%, lab projects are 40%, and the final is 20%. With that information and knowledge of what grades the student has received, this spreadsheet should be pretty easy. However, I find most students seem to have no sense for how they are doing in a class unless I tell them.

In a business environment, this is the type of problem a new hire may be presented with. Given a certain situation you should create the formulas to get an answer. If a new hire can't figure out how to do that, is that a logic problem or technology problem? I'd argue logic problem, providing they know how to enter formulas.

Companies expect new hires to really understand the technology. It isn't just remembering every point and click, because even I forget specific tasks sometimes and have to Google it. It is also understanding the capabilities of each tool and being able to apply it to the tasks you face.

My last job before I started teaching full-time was at a highly technical company. People did amazing things with programming, but they were still doing really silly things like using a paper log book to keep track of problems. If one wanted to log something, one had to go to a specific person's cubicle and write it down on paper. I made the suggestion that we create an Excel spreadsheet and just put it on the network (in a configuration management system - don't worry about the details). Of course, I didn't try to force it on people, because that never works. I made a suggestion to my manager, and he asked me to create a prototype. He loved it and made it policy. Soon people were asking me how we could generate reports to show only open problems...show ones that were more than a month old...replace a text column with a pull-down menu...validate data...etc. This little spreadsheet took on a life of its own, but made a lot of information available to management, things they would otherwise have had to have someone tabulate by hand. It also helped reduce mistakes. This was me applying technology to an existing situation, and this was something that helped me stand out. In a very technical company, I got promotions and gained the faith of management because I could not only use Excel, but also because I had the vision to see where it could make things more efficient. I did a lot of things that helped streamline processes, and was on the fast track as a result

I think many students have a built-in understanding of computers that people thirty years older than them do, but they don't always know how to apply the tools to real-world problems. If you can do so, you will do well in the real world.

Web Templates

Back in the stone ages of the mid-1990's, I developed Web pages by hand. Some of my students seem pretty impressed that I can still code a page by hand, and seem to want to do things that way as well. My advice at this point is to not do it that way. A good working knowledge of HTML can be useful in order to tweak a page, or if you are writing a script to generate a dynamic Web page. However, for static Web sites, it generally makes a lot more sense to just use a Web development tool such as Adobe Dreamweaver.

As someone who is not a graphic designer, I would have problems making attractive Web sites. If I were really planning on doing Web development, I would either find a graphic designer to work with, or plan on purchasing some sort of package. Many times, designers or design companies will sell templates to Web developers for this purchase. For example, a site like Project Seven sells some really nice designs that I would never be able to create for $60. The nice part is they are designed for use with Dreamweaver, and should cleanly plug right in to your interface.

I look back on some of my early Web work, and it was clumsy, but by purchasing the rights to something like that, I'd be able to make some really professional sites with very little effort.

Charging for Web design work

One of my former students emailed me to ask about freelance Web design work, and how much to charge. This is always a very difficult question, and I don't know many people who are comfortable setting rates coming out of college.

Keep in mind that companies will pay what sounds like a really high hourly rate because they are not subject to the overhead that their regular employees have, such as health benefits, office supplies, and other such items.

The difficult part in freelancing early on is figuring out how long things will take. I found as a programmer I had no sense for how long projects would take me to do. People would ask me how long things would take, and I would think it should be a 2 hour project, and I would spend 25 hours on it. I developed that sense over time. Classes like Systems Analysis and Design were great in theory, but when it came to applying the lessons, I fell a little short.

Customers don't really want to pay based on how good you are, so generally, customers should not see your hourly rate. I would suggest creating some base packages. For example, a 5 page Web site should cost X, a 10 page Web site costs Y, etc. You want to be clear with a customer what they are paying for. I found a company that does something like that here, for reference.

You can see they have a base package for $600. For a basic 5-page site, $500-$750 seems to be the going rate. This would generally include the basics of meeting with them, gathering content, designing it, having the user test it, fixing the errors they find, and making the site live. In reality, the technical end of the work will probably take less time than the other components of the project.

Other stuff that is extra, and this is where I would run in to issues. If the customer wants e-commerce stuff, or they want Flash animations, that would be stuff that would cost extra. When they describe the requirements, that is when you have to determine the cost of it. If they describe a Flash animation, keep in mind that is rarely a two-hour gig. Flash animations, Web programming, and e-Commerce projects should include testing and bug fixing time. There have been times where I wrote a program in an hour and then spent 5 hours trying to hunt down a bug. Flash programmers can charge rates of $50-$75 an hour, so a site that is heavy on customization like that will be more costly.

What is very clever is that there is a maintenance package is $50 a month for two hours worth of work, and additional hours are extra. You may want to offer options like "10 hours of updates over the next year for $250, or updates at an hourly rate of $40" rather than constraining someone to a number of hours in a month. By offering a package deal, you may have someone pay for the 10 hours even if they don't need them, just because it looks like a better deal. Also figure most updates will be small changes, so a lower hourly rate is fine.

You can of course work with people on price. There are people I've been eager to work with, and made allowances for them.

You also have to decide if you are going in to the hosting business, or if you are going to arrange for the customers to host things elsewhere. I generally would not want to get in the middle of a transaction between a customer and a Web hosting service. If this is the case, make sure you provide them the username and password for the site. Even if they don't use it, it's professional to make sure they have access to this. I've dealt with people who have no clue about this, and if they ever need to change hosting sites, it's a pain for them. Same idea goes for the domain name purchase. You can direct them, but you probably don't want to be the person in the middle since domain names do need to be renewed.

If you are not doing the hosting yourself, you have to assume some customers may have a URL purchased and a hosting agreement, and others will not. If the customer does not have the infrastructure in place, there is some startup work you have to do to get them up and running, and that may be something you want to charge for. This may be something you want to charge $100 for.

I would recommend the customer set up a billing arrangement directly with the hosting service (like godaddy). If you end up in the middle, your credit card is the one the hosting service has on file. If, however, you are planning on hosting sites yourself, that is something different.

You should always have some sort of portfolio available. For my PCCC students, your capstone project can be a start, but you may want to expand on it and upload it to a server somewhere.

The main problem I think most customers have is that they don't understand that you don't provide content. When they pay for a site, you are taking their existing information and turning it in to a Web site. You will need to meet with someone in their organization, and they should be providing you electronic copies of the information they want on the site. Some customers think you are going to actually write the text for the site, and (unless you want to do this) it needs to be made clear that this is their responsibility, and that you don't provide proofreading services.

As you get better at doing basic Web sites, you can probably get things done quicker and therefore make your business more profitable. You can also change prices as you go along. Notice the site I linked above also includes a year (2010 rate card). You can always change rates yearly (or project to project).

Workshops, and the role of computer training

I just finished a series of workshops with the group I work with at Montclair (PRISM) in conjunction with PCCC. It was very interesting to be working on a joint effort with these groups. I have been working for the PRISM project (and it's previous incarnation, CETERMS) since the summer after my sophomore year. They are a grant funded project that provides teachers with training in the math/science areas. It is actually the place I got my start teaching. Someone was scheduled to do a technology workshop and called out sick. I had been assisting the workshop coordinator, so I knew the workshop, and I gave the workshop that day. I've been doing technology training for them ever since. I've done Internet concepts (and for 1999, that was pretty forward thinking!), PowerPoint, data analysis with Excel...and a few more workshops. I also used to do their Web site (coding the Web pages by hand, instead of with a tool like Dreamweaver). Who knew I would turn out to be good at teaching and would turn it in to my career? I certainly did not, and I don't think the woman who runs the program foresaw this either.

Anyway, this summer presented a very interesting challenge. The theme that was chosen for PCCC and PRISM to work together was Forensic Science. I didn't really see any way I fit in to this, but eventually as I worked to liaise between the two groups, I noticed they had fingerprinting database software. Basically, it would be able to look up people's fingerprints and match them to a local criminal database that you create. It's not FBI, but it's good enough for training and small police forces. When I suggested including that, I was told that they did not have anyone qualified to teach it, and that people were waiting to go to training for the software.

The beauty of studying computers is that once you have a feel for computer interfaces, new technologies are easier to learn. I sat down in front of this program (by a company named Sirchie called ComparaPrint- though oddly enough, I can't find it on their Web site so I can link) and picked it up very quickly, and I have never seen a program quite like this one. I managed to learn how to use the software very quickly because I understand the concepts of databases. This software is basically a big database package, and since I understand databases, all the natural operations (adding a record, performing a query, generating a report) came pretty naturally. Likewise, back in my undergraduate days, I remember teaching myself a programming language called Perl by doing what we called "hacking around". I just sat down, played with the language, and learned the key things in one night. That was easy for me since I learned programming concepts at Montclair (as opposed to receiving training in a specific programming language). Montclair did an excellent job of using the programming language as a vehicle to teach programming concepts.

In most college programs, there is a mix of theoretical concepts and facts, and the general feeling I get is that if you teach students how to learn about their field, it will treat them well going forward. It reminds me of the old saying "give a man a fish, and you will satisfy his hunger...but teach a man to fish, they will eat for a lifetime". Most careers require evolution, and computers perhaps more so, so this is why I do not think it is critical if my students remember what tab the spell check button is on. My personal opinion is that Information Technology should not be a degree where you simply learn where to click around, but a career where you learn how to learn new technologies. This is why, even though I teach software in my application software training classes, I do tend to ask some short answer questions about how the tool can be used.

I had a lot of fun, and I do not think that many people (some of whom may be reading this now, since I did give out this blog address) realized exactly how short of a time I was using that tool.

Professionalism and what they don't teach you in college

All of a sudden, I feel like the committee that put together our schedule was brilliant.  They scheduled it on  the week of Daylight Saving Time, which gives us all a week to get used to the new time schedule.  If it were planned, I would be impressed, but I do get the feeling it was not actually planned and is just a coincidence.

I was thinking about something this morning, and it has to do with professionalism, and how these things are not formally taught in a classroom.  Specifically, I was thinking back to a moment about ten years ago, and how I personally didn't understand professionalism once I got in to the workplace.  My first place of employment out of college was an Internet startup, and the standards there were, shall we say, lax.  It was a rather informal environment, and it was a perfect adjustment for me coming out of college.

However, the Internet startup days were ending, and the company wasn't meant to succeed.  Many of the employees saw the writing on the wall and started to look elsewhere for employment.  A friend of mine worked at a place in Clifton, and I was hired there.  It was quite a change.  At Montclair State in graduate school, I remember we talked about this thing called COCOMO in a Software Metrics class, and we discussed how large companies and small companies differ.  I understood that on a logical level, but going from a company of 40 people to a company of 40,000 (really) was a culture shock.  Where I used to walk in to work in a football jersey and jeans, I now was expected to be in business casual attire.  Where I was used to not needing to be in the door EXACTLY at 8:30 am if I didn't mind staying later, I now needed to be.  Where I was used to being able to use the Internet at lunch time and at various points in the day to check personal email, it was now monitored and reported to supervisors.  I struggled with this, because I was doing a good job, and I didn't see why this other stuff mattered.

There was building access at ITT 24 hours a day, and there were times I needed to come in during off-peak hours to work on things.  I came in on a Sunday and worked 10 hours one day, because there was a limited number of systems we could use to test our software, and it made our lives easier.  Since it was a Sunday, and there was rarely anyone else there, I didn't think it was a big deal to come in wearing jeans and a t-shirt.  To make a long story short, one of the more established members of my department was also there, and told my boss, and he talked to me about it.  Another time, I was working overnight for the same reasons as I mentioned before, and I brought in music and a radio.  Since no one was around, I had the music playing loudly.  A similar situation arose, where someone mentioned it to my boss.  My reaction at the time was to wonder why these people were not minding their own business.  However, I sort of understand it now.  I had to drop my ego in order to really start to succeed in the business world.  I dressed the way that was expected, acted as if someone were around, even if they were not, and generally tried to behave the way other people in the company were.  I bristled at this, but it was my route to success.

I say this because I know employers complain about students sometimes, and the complaints typically are not about technical capabilities, but in the business savvy, or "soft skills".  A friend of mine was recently laid off, and I know from my personal relationship that they can be somewhat abrasive and irresponsible.  Companies, many times, make personnel decisions based on the way you fit in to a company.  Even if they say that they are laying you off because of cut backs, many times that is just a way to fire someone without having to show cause.  Things like dress code, business communication, taking constructive criticism...these are things that people are not necessarily taught.  My feeling is that college should be part of that.  When you as a student deal with a professor, it's a chance to practice interacting with a boss and authority figure.  When you are in college, some of the things you can get used to that will help you professionally are timeliness, maturity, responsibility, and how to be less egocentric.  These were some of things I had to learn, at least.

15 ways to be a leader

Trent, who publishes one of my favorite blogs, The Simple Dollar, recently had an article listing "15 ways to be a leader". It is a very interesting topic, because like anything else in life, I think leadership can be developed with the right energies. We rarely see as part of a general education curriculum a course that teaches these topics.

I think that, many times, people end up in jobs they dislike and never move up because they don't show any leadership skills. If you don't show leadership skills, why would a company promote you?

I even see this in co-workers. There are times when difficult tasks arise, and it's always the same few people who seem to be the ones who step in to those roles, and a bunch of others who don't take the initiative. I see negativity...there is a difference between venting to a friend who is a co-worker, and venting to a group of people how much things suck. I've tried to remain positive around people, even the ones who are negative. One of the other things Trent discusses is what to do when one is asked for their opinion. It's important to develop the skill of telling the truth when something is bad without hurting people's feelings.

Workplace morale is an overlooked thing sometimes, but I think anyone who has worked can tell you, a bad boss makes a good job horrible, and a great boss makes a bad job bearable.

Link to article

Resumes...resumes...resumes

The best way to get your foot in the door is of course ... to know someone.

But, barring that, a resume is nearly a requirement for many jobs, and having a good one certainly would give you a leg up.

If you are a student at PCCC, one of the first things I would do is contact the Career Services office. They can provide some of the initial guidance that you would need to set up a resume.

Larger companies will typically use a resume parser to automatically cut down on the amount of resumes they review. That's right - a human might not even see your resume! These software packages rank candidates based on the job criteria. This is why it is important to get your resume checked out by someone with some expertise, because they know what keywords to put in there.

It's also important to make small changes to the resume to emphasize the skills they are looking for (this also can be done using a separate "cover letter").

People majoring in the Information Technology program, for example, may see an ad that says "Security+ certification required". Why do they put that? Because they are getting a lot of resumes and someone told them "get me someone with Security+". If this keyword does not show up on your resume, guess what? You're not getting past the parser software.

One way around this, especially if you have other certifications, is to throw the keywords in the resume. Let's say you have a SSCP certification - this is similar in content to the Security+ exam. If you read an advertisement and it says "Security+ required" - don't just assume that the person will figure out that your certification is similar. You're trying to get in the door!

If the ad asks for something specific, I'd change my resume a little to make sure those keywords show up. For example, if you formerly listed SSCP, change it to say SSCP (similar to Security+ certification). This way, the resume parser doesn't ignore your resume.

Likewise, even if you don't have the certification, you can say that you are studying for it - for example, you could put under your education that you are "Currently pursuing Security+ certification". Of course, if it says "required", a human might still parse you out. However, if it said "Security+ preferred", that might be enough to get you in the door, if your resume fits the other qualifications.

All of the tips I really have are for tweaking and changing resumes - your first start should be to get your resume looked at by someone - like I said before, Career Services does good work, and the woman in charge (Adrienne Wolff) seems very good at what she does. If you're not a student or have graduated, you can always pay for this service (Google "Resume Consultants"). You may say "$200 is a lot of money!!". However, if this gets you a job paying $5 an hour more than you make now...or if it gets you a job when you are unemployed...it may be an investment worth making.

Thanks to David Csuha for getting me thinking about this.

How to turn the tables on human resources

What you have on your Myspace or Facebook, someone can find easily.

Try this. Log out totally, search for your name. See what information you can see about yourself.

This information can be used in electronic warfare, as David Csuha discussed recently in his Security Sense blog, but also can be used in scenarios such as job hires, and often is! According to recent estimates, 20% of companies use social networking sites like Myspace or Facebook as part of the hiring process.

For example, put forth a cover letter saying how responsible you are, and a company may check up on you - Googling your full name in quotes may lead to pictures of you falling down drunk because someone tagged a picture with your full name on Facebook.

If you are job seeking and this is your Myspace picture, change it.

What happens if interviewers search Myspace - will they find a public blog you wrote saying "hey, I'm at work and it sucks here, but it's nice to be paid to hang out on Myspace instead of working"?

What sort of comments are your friends leaving you, and what do those things say about you?

Here are some examples of what can happen:

• Pet snake confiscated by animal control
• Student denied teacher certificate
• Olive Garden GM fired
• AAA Workers fired over blogs

What's interesting is that you could even turn it in to a POSITIVE. If your Myspace or Facebook are well written, and you have a blog that details that you are really hopeful that your interview with company X goes well, and that you are excited about getting a chance to work with that company, it might be a good idea.

Freelance Computer Repair - How to Get Started

I was reading a post over on The Simple Dollar, and the site founder answered a question about how to start doing freelance computer repair. I figured this might be something worth posting here, since I assume some of my long term readers are former Information Technology majors.

First things first: Remember, you have an advantage over places like Best Buy's "Geek Squad", or Staples. Why? First of all, price. For the Geek Squad to visit you at home or in the office and repair the computer, they are charging $75 to $125 an hour. I don't know about you, but I can't see myself paying $400 to repair my home computer. You have a HUGE advantage in terms of price.

Secondly, many of you speak multiple languages. Staples or Best Buy may or may not offer that advantage. If you are bilingual (or trilingual, etc), that can only work to your advantage.

Thirdly, you have the advantage that, since you are in effect working for yourself, you care how the customer responds to you. If you help them, word of mouth can be very powerful for you. If you can fix their problem and help them out a little bit, they will tell their friends.

So, how do you get started?

Post Flyers
You can start by downloading a basic Word template with the little tear-offs down bottom (or, if you have Publisher, use the templates in that software). Remember, not everyone has computer experience, so list both a phone number and an email address. Do you speak multiple languages? Make sure you put that on there. Same with transportation - can you drive to them? Also, remember, people are concerned about cost - you may want to quote a price (more on that later) or simply say "why pay more money to Staples or Best Buy?". If you want to set up a basic, cheap Web site on a site like Geocities, do that.

Where should you advertise?
There are 7000 people attending PCCC, for example. If you advertise on campus, you have access to all those students (plus faculty, staff, administrators, and visitors). Remember, you have to get them stamped in A202A first, but they typically are very accommodating. Many local businesses will let you hang flyers as well, if you ask. Think of places people wait - a laundromat, a busy restaurant, train and bus stations, etc.

How much should you charge?
Well, this is entirely up to you. How much is an hour of your time worth to you? There are other factors as well. Are you doing something basic (like running a backup for the user)? Are you doing something more complicated (virus removal)? Remember, you are offering a premium service. I would say BARE MINIMUM ask for $30 an hour, and feel free to go up from there. If the person is nice, you can always cut them a break.

How do you keep people coming back?
First of all, be nice. Secondly, get it done right. Thirdly (is that a word?), go the extra mile. If you've cleaned up a virus because they didn't have a virus scanner installed, install a free virus scanner, and make sure they realize you are saving them $75 that they would have otherwise spent on packaged software. If they call you for something complicated and you fix it, ask them if there is anything else that annoys them, and help with that. Ask them to tell their friends.

How do I really build my business?
Get a Web site. You can do something free and very basic on a site like Geocities.com or one of the other 10,000 free Web hosting sites. If your business starts picking up, you might want to invest in your own domain name. Another way to invest in your business - you can get a free or inexpensive voicemail number, so people aren't calling your cell phone and interrupting you. eVoice.com is free for a basic service or $4.95 a month for the "Plus" service that includes a local phone number. Business cards are also a great idea - you can leave them with your satisfied customers, or hand them out. I've found VistaPrint to have excellent prices.

Hope this helps - I've gone through versions of this discussion in some of my classes, and I've always wanted to put it online here, and now here it is. Do you have questions or suggestions? Something else that worked for you? Please add them in the comments and I can address and/or add them.