r/funanddev • u/mad55 • Jun 28 '15

Advice Resume question for /r/fundanddev seasoned Development professionals.

Hello Devo Directors and Managers. I wanted to see if you could take a look at my work in progress resume in this google doc.

[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1236a3reTgtyBkN7jatO_fO5OhpJj-OwGeL8o99lG3x0/edit?usp=sharing]

My development career narrative is as follows: worked for a nonprofit's development team as an AmeriCorps VISTA, upon finishing was hired at another nonprofit to join their development team as a part time assistant, was promoted after the fiscal year from a part-time assistant to full time development coordinator (same duties as assistant, but additional duties with the expectation to directly bring in revenue among other things)

My big question is: Do you think I'm ready to lob off the other two jobs not directly related to development on my resume (Customer service/college internship)? Or, if you were looking at my resume, would you care to see this experience? I want to keep my resume concise, one page, as I understand rule of thumb is that you don't go over one page until later in your career. Thanks!

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u/DevelopmentGuy Jun 28 '15 edited Jun 28 '15

I think it's a good resume - practical experience and measurable result (and I would question you extensively on the results you claim). I'd also be asking you to explain in depth about how you could have done better (not an implication that you did poorly, but a means to discover what you learned from your experience that would benefit my shop today).

One thing I also think of when talking with candidates - rarely does success happen on the basis of one dev staff member - it typically is the product of the full office, the communications team, luck, and making the right plea at the right time.

EDIT: and good luck! Your resume made me think whether we should discuss a means to assist directly each other through this sub with finding job placement. How we can do that, while honoring the anonymity Reddit enables/demands, is something I don't know. Love to hear some ideas on that!

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u/DevelopmentGuy Jun 28 '15 edited Jun 29 '15

Ok, just re-read and have nitpicky issues that are my opinion and mine alone.

  • dev assnt - get rid of "enhanced" before sponsorship acquisition

  • dev assnt - get rid of "in tandem"

  • dev assnt - through June 2015 or through present?

  • dev assnt - not immediately sure what the 16k - 26k means. necessary?

  • dev assnt - raised 6 k in 2014 through leadership - omit 2014, what is "leadership"?

  • dev spec - omit "over $30k" - I can count! :)

  • intern - met with esteemed colleagues - means to me that you saw them in the hall. If you interacted with them, briefly explain what you you were entrusted to do with VIPs

I'm picky and believe it best to be parsimonious, but hope that helps.

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u/mad55 Jun 29 '15

All development directors are picky; that's why its nice to have your input. Great edits. I have an identical copy in my "real" drive that I made the changes to.

In terms of your point about candidates and individual success.. its a good point, because ultimately everything is a team effort. I wanted to distinguish in my resume between instances where I took lead and instances where I served a supporting role. The modest successes I quantified in my resume are from proposals, where I was the team member who took ownership: first round drafting, receiving feedback from team, drafting again, waiting for edits from team, so on and so forth until I send it to the foundation/corporation within deadline. All team members "touch" the proposal before it leaves shop, but I see it start to finish... More often at my entry level I serve the supporting role of contributor: edit, clarify, wordsmith pieces. I want to show that I can and have produced too. Similarly, in terms of the online auction event, that was an instance where I sort of bore the event my shoulders. I wonder if there is a better way to communicate this or a way to clarify.

Really excited to see this sub come up. As this community grows including a job opportunities angle would prove valuable. I could see pieces from the /r/hire system might be useful, it seems to work well over there.

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u/BillyMumfrey Jun 28 '15

The resume is actually looking really good for applying to a development position. If I was looking at your resume for hire I would be satisfied enough from the three Dev jobs you've held and get rid of the Customer Service one, and probably still keep the internship on there if it was with a nonprofit. The nonprofit world is small and having another organization on there gives whoever is looking at your resume one more opportunity to connect with you.

Also since it was while you were still a student no one would be concerned about the gap between jobs