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by starwind0 3107 days ago
Personally I have never really seen the point in writing one. My resume has all my abilities and even a bit about me. The recruiter is going to scan the resume and let the computer decide if I get the interview. That said the smarter thing you can do is copy the job posting, attach it to the end of your resume. I usually do it in micro print and white, as it's just for the machines.

Speaking as someone that has interviewed a lot of senior level engineers in the last 2 years. The fastest way to get a black mark is to hand me an 6 page resume. Frankly as a lead, with 10 resumes on my desk.. most of whom don't have the right skill set. The last thing you want to do is make me hunt to see if you can do the job. Cover letters in the rare case I got them, I didn't read at all. If your resume interests me I'll look at your linkedin.

That said, I am a senior / lead android dev. So I don't exactly hurt on the job front.. I have noticed the smaller the company the more they want you to know about them. Especially start ups (the more obscure and small the higher the expectation)

3 comments

> That said the smarter thing you can do is copy the job posting, attach it to the end of your resume. I usually do it in micro print and white, as it's just for the machines.

That's an interesting hack. And I suppose if I discovered an applicant was trying to game the system in this way, my distaste would be outweighed by my admiration.

This sounds like a brilliant idea, but if any recruiter ever found the text, it might be a red flag for the employer. Have you ever had it come up in an interview process?
Can you not manage time sufficiently to spend 2 minutes reading a 6 page resume and hopefully spending a good 15+ minutes thinking about what u just read?

  minutes = 20; // 2 + 15+
  n = resumes.size(); // 6
  Time t = contemplateResume(minutes, n);

  // If you manage time sufficiently,
  // you'll not be spending that much time looking at only the first indication of a candidate's fit for a role
Spend more time on your people then. They're your exponentials.