78
Chapter 5
Deconstructing
the Résumé
In the previous chapter, we told you what makes a good résumé, and
it was things like conciseness, structure, accomplishments, and so on.
But seeing a bunch of Aϩ résumés does you only so much good.
In this chapter, I’ll show you two mediocre résumés and one
great one. We’ll walk through what’s good and bad about all three.
You will develop a more trained eye to evaluate a résumé and will be
better able to apply this thought process to your own résumé.
Though names and some identifying details have been changed,
these are all real résumés from real candidates.
Please note: Due to limitations of page size, we will not review
the length of the résumé or the formatting. Additionally, for
brevity reasons, we have included only excerpts of résumé
sections.
CH005.indd 78CH005.indd 78 1/6/11 6:56:12 AM1/6/11 6:56:12 AM
Deconstructing the Résumé 79
Résumé A: Bill Jobs
Objective
Seeking a full-time position as a software
engineer where I can contribute to the
success of the company.
1. This objective doesn’t
add anything. All it
specifi es is that the
candidate is looking for
a software engineering
position, which should
be obvious.

raises the question of
how comfortable he is
with them. Will he be
able to tackle questions
of these topics?
Employment
University of Maryland. College Park,
MD ( Jan. 2010 – Sept. 2010)
Graduate Assistant
Implemented back end using Java Servlets.
Implemented Servlets to manipulate
weather buoy data and generate XML
for Fusion Chart to visualize data.
■
■
4. These descriptions are
very vague—I can’t
get a good handle on
what exactly he did.
What was the goal?
What did he
accomplish?
(continued )
CH005.indd 79CH005.indd 79 1/6/11 6:56:13 AM1/6/11 6:56:13 AM
80 The Google Résumé
Wrote Java scripts to provide rich and
dynamic user interface.
Assisted in setting up Tomcat server on
Linux.
■

Developed blog poster using PHP for
posting blog on company web site.
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
6. He’s listed a lot of
items here under his
job. When you list
this many, it almost
certainly means that
you have a lot of junk
mixed in.
7. Again, the descriptions
are vague. Language
like “Implement the
back-end logic, which
generates a diagram
based on a sequence of
rules” could be a bit
clearer.
8. On the bright side,
Bill does know to focus
on his accomplish-
ments rather than his
responsibilities, which

necting the peers of a P2P network. Chord
consistently maps a key onto a node.
Information Retrieval System
(Language/Platform: Java/Linux)
Developed an indexer to index corpus of
fi le and a Query Processor to process the
Boolean query. The Query Processor out-
puts the fi le name, title, line number, and
word position. Implemented using Java
API such as serialization and collections
(Sortedset, Hashmaps).
Achievements
Won Star Associate Award at Capgemini
for outstanding performance.
Received client appreciation for increas-
ing productivity by developing Batch
Stat Automation tool.
■
■
11. He’s listed an
award, but he hasn’t
explained the
signifi cance. What is
Capgemini? What’s
the award for, and
how competitive is it?
12. Bill mentions that he
increased productivity,
but by how much?
Quantifying his accom-

written communication, it
must be true! Unless you
have just oodles of space
and nothing to do with
them, I’d suggest leaving
off these “soft skills,”
since they’re completely
subjective.
Employment
Microsoft Corporation. Redmond, WA
(2007–2010)
Principal Program Manager, Microsoft
Windows
Managed release cycle of shell
components.
■
3. Steve’s bullets are, by
and large, responsibili-
ties. The difference is in
stating the outcome.
“Managed release cycle
and reduced alpha-
to-market time by
23%”—now that’s an
accomplishment!
CH005.indd 82CH005.indd 82 1/6/11 6:56:14 AM1/6/11 6:56:14 AM
Deconstructing the Résumé 83
Improved UI and refocused team on
simplifi ed components. Ran focus
groups and customer service feedback

4. These bullets are a bit
closer to accomplishments,
but could still stand to
demonstrate the results in
a quantifi able way a bit
better.
5. The major problem with
these bullets is that it’s
hard to see the relation-
ship between what Steve
did and program manage-
ment. Assuming that’s
his chosen career path,
he could probably pick
accomplishments that
are a bit more relevant.
6. Finally, the fi rst bullet is
a bit lengthy and offers a
lot of extraneous
information.
Net Systems. Pittsburgh, PA
(1996 –2001)
Senior Administrator, Information
Technology
Managed network of 1,000 computers
to reduce power usage and maintain
maximum uptime.
■
7. Almost without exception
these bullets are respon-

Education
Washington University, Dec 2001
Bachelor of Science, Computer Science
Awards
Recipient of Five Microsoft “Ship It”s
Dean’s List, 1995
Won Microsoft Gold Star Award:
2008, 2009, 2010
Honorable mention, West Coast
Hackathon. 2003
Microsoft Innovation Award: 2008
Recognized for Contribution to
Microsoft SQL Server. 2003.
■
■
■
■
■
■
9. Well, now this is unfor-
tunate. Finally we’re
at the bottom of his
résumé, reading very
carefully, and we discover
that Steve’s won some
pretty impressive awards.
Steve should cut the
list’s interesting awards
(Ship Its, Recognitions,
Dean’s List, etc) and just

extracts metadata from saved video
transcripts and provides metadata to a
system-wide search database.
Redesigned video fi le format and
implemented backwards compatibility
for search.
■
■
■
1. Geena uses a substantial,
quantifi able accomplish-
ment for the very fi rst
bullet. She kicks things
off on a good note.
2. Though it’s never easy to
explain why something
was hard or easy on a
résumé, this candidate has
done a fairly good job.
3. The “tangible” accom-
plishments are reasonably
clear—we can guess as to
why backwards
compatibility matters.
Microsoft Corporation. Redmond,
WA (Summers 2005 –2007)
Software Design Engineer, Intern
Visual Studio Core (Summer 2007)
4. Two of the four bullets
show quantifi able results.

5. The fi rst bullet is
valuable in its own
way— it’s a highly
visible feature, which
speaks to her credibility.
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA (Fall 2005 – Spring 2008)
Courses: Advanced Java III, Software
Engineering, Operating Systems.
Promoted to Head TA in Fall 2006;
led weekly meetings and supervised
four other TAs.
■
■
6. The important points
here are the course names
and the fact that she was
promoted. Both items are
immediately obvious.
Education
University of Pennsylvania, May 2008
Master of Science, Computer Science.
GPA: 3.6
Graduate Coursework: Software
Engineering; Computer Architecture;
Algorithms; Artifi cial Intelligence;
Computational Theory
University of Pennsylvania, May 2006
Bachelor of Science, Computer Science.
GPA: 3.3

Senior Design Projects.
Operating System (2006). UNIX-style
OS with scheduler, fi le system, text
editor and calculator. C.
Skills
Languages: Cϩϩ; C; Java;
Objective-C; C#.NET; SQL;
JavaScript; XSLT; XML (XSD)
Schema
Software: Visual Studio; Microsoft
SQL Server; Eclipse; XCode;
Interface Builder
■
■
8. Geena has kept her list of
languages relatively con-
fi ned. She doesn’t waste
time with listing things like
Offi ce and Windows, and
mentions only those skills
relevant to her career path.
CH005.indd 87CH005.indd 87 1/6/11 6:56:16 AM1/6/11 6:56:16 AM
88 The Google Résumé
Parting Words
Truthfully, getting your résumé into the “pretty good” stage is not
that hard. Most résumés that I see fail in one of three ways:
1. Too big. Having a multipage résumé does not make you
look more experienced—it just makes you look less con-
cise. You should keep your résumé to one page if you
have less than 10 years of experience, and two pages if

letter and should adhere to the standard cover letter format.
Your cover letter is a key marketing document; a strong cover
letter will make someone open up your résumé to learn more.
Why a Cover Letter?
Cover letters serve two purposes. First, they enable a recruiter to
quickly glance at a document to see if you match the position’s
requirements. Second, they allow the company to ask for a writing
sample, without directly asking for it.
CH006.indd 89CH006.indd 89 1/6/11 6:50:30 AM1/6/11 6:50:30 AM
90 The Google Résumé
Why isn’t your résumé good enough? Your résumé is a list of
accomplishments broken down by job. Your biggest accomplish-
ments may have to do with building a team to create a new feature,
or resolving an issue with a major supplier. That lets the recruiter
know that you can accomplish great things, but it doesn’t necessarily
inform her of your specifi c, relevant skills. She may be looking for
data modeling, or statistical analysis, or something more “warm and
fuzzy” like strong management skills.
Your résumé lets her know that you can get things done; your
cover letter demonstrates your relevance to the job. Essentially, it’s a
teaser. It’s a way to say, “I have what you’re looking for, now open
my résumé to see what I’ve accomplished.”
Additionally, in writing-heavy roles, your cover letter is a way
for the company to see your writing skills. Why not just come out
and ask for a writing sample? Well, fi rst, there’s no reason to have
you provide a make-believe business writing sample, as though you
were some second grader writing a letter to the president. Second, it
allows you to manufacture it too much. They want to see how you
write “in the wild.” You’d take extra special care to write well
if you knew they were examining your every word. (And now,

able to tip you off to a new opening that has only been advertised
internally.
Either way, your approach is the same: you need to identify
what you think the company would want and match that. You can
often extrapolate the company’s needs from looking at the compa-
ny’s other job ads, or from looking at ads for the equivalent job at
other companies.
If you think this approach seems hard, you’re right. But the
good news is that you will have substantially less competition if you
pursue it.
Broadcast Letter
While all cover letters should be tailored, sometimes you have no
choice but to create a general cover letter. This is often the case
CH006.indd 91CH006.indd 91 1/6/11 6:50:31 AM1/6/11 6:50:31 AM
92 The Google Résumé
when using online job boards. The job board might encourage you
to post a cover letter along with your résumé.
What to do? You should be as specifi c as possible, while not
excluding yourself from any desired positions. If you’re looking for
a sales or customer support role, emphasize the skills that those posi-
tions have in common (communication, etc.).
Recruiters won’t expect your cover letter to be very specifi c but
will look at it for a quick list of your accomplishments and skill
set, so make sure to really emphasize what you’ve achieved in your
career.
The Structure
Cover letters can be so regimented that they remind me of madlibs:
“Name a skill set.” Design.
“OK, now, prove that you have it.” I’ve done design for three
Fortune 500 companies, including logos, business cards, and

■
While this letter certainly won’t win any awards for prose or
creativity, it’s short, concise, and gets the point across: that you match
the employer’s needs and that you can perform the job effectively.
Many candidates shy away from using bullets in “business”
writing—don’t! In cover letters, as in business, you don’t have
to be—and shouldn’t be—William Shakespeare; you just need to
communicate clearly and effectively.
Five Traits of a Strong Cover Letter
A cover letter is not a chance to tell your life story, nor is it a chance
for you to list every accomplishment you’ve ever had. A cover letter
should introduce you, demonstrate how your background matches
the job description, and state your interest in the position.
When writing yours, keep these fi ve suggestions in mind.
CH006.indd 93CH006.indd 93 1/6/11 6:50:32 AM1/6/11 6:50:32 AM
94 The Google Résumé
1. Tailored
Recruiters are busy and, frankly, often just looking for an excuse to
toss your application in the trash. One down, a few hundred to go.
Of course, they want to hire, too—their job depends on it.
Their job description will tell you what they’re looking for; it’s up
to you to show that you match it as closely as possible. If they say
they want a highly quantitative marketer, then you must address that
in your response.
Be wary of simply modifying an existing cover letter for a new
position. The reason is that it can be tempting to leave in lines that
are arguably important in general, but perhaps not as relevant to this
specifi c position. People have a funny tendency to get attached to
what they write and not want to remove parts of it.
Ideally, you should write a fresh cover letter for each applica-

Your cover letter should show that you can communicate in a
concise and structured way. All you need is three or four short para-
graphs that clearly address the company’s needs.
And remember, when people say that cover letters should be only
one page, they don’t mean one full page. Babbling is not rewarded.
4. Simple, Direct Writing
Though he may be the most acclaimed writer of all time, Shakespeare
would make an awful business writer. Subtle, hidden meanings that
high school sophomores need to re-read six times to even vaguely
comprehend—give me a break!
If you think I’m joking, check out this sentence I saw on a cover
letter:
In my quest to embrace new opportunities and challenges, I am
riveted by the chance to embark on a new path where I can utilize
to the fullest extent my immense technical comprehension and
where my dedication to personal excellence may thrive.
I suppose this candidate was trying to demonstrate his expansive
vocabulary, but no one would be impressed by this.
CH006.indd 95CH006.indd 95 1/6/11 6:50:33 AM1/6/11 6:50:33 AM
96 The Google Résumé
You should write to communicate, not to impress. Use short,
familiar words, and get to the point.
5. Professional
As a cover letter is often the best and only writing example a com-
pany has, being professional and using correct spelling and gram-
mar is extremely important. You should proofread your own letter
multiple times, and give it to a trusted friend to review as well.
Additionally, you should address the letter to the individual, if you
know his or her name. If you do not know the recipient’s name, never
assume a gender. Who would do this? Lots of people, it turns out.

three mobile platforms, with over 100,000 downloads on the
iPhone itself.
Additionally, I place high value on the long-term main-
tainability of a code base, and have implemented systems at
my previous company to improve code quality. Most nota-
bly, I restructured our coding cycle to match industry best
standards. Gone were the days of bang-it-out; developers
needed to write design documents for any external APIs and
have them peer reviewed by at least two people. All source must
be code reviewed before being checked in. Bugs at the “criti-
cal” level dropped 19 percent with the implementation of this
new system.
I think that Swords and I could have a wonderful work-
ing relationship; we’re compatible down to the last little
detail.
I look forward to talking with you more about this
opportunity. Please contact me at 206-555-9323. Thank you
for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Gayle Laakmann
CH006.indd 97CH006.indd 97 1/6/11 6:50:33 AM1/6/11 6:50:33 AM
98 The Google Résumé
What makes this cover letter so fantastic is that it shows a bit of
character while also demonstrating one’s relevant skills (that were
presumably mentioned in the job description). The discussion of
skills is backed up with evidence, and the candidate has obviously
done her research.
This is the kind of cover letter that’ll make your recruiter
salivate.
References

Articulate. You’ve worked with your references long enough
(hopefully) to know if they communicate well. If they sound
ditzy or speak with terrible grammar, they may not inspire
confi dence when they speak about your intelligence. You
want someone who can elaborate just the right amount and
can cite concrete examples.
Positive communicator. Not everyone who likes you will
be able to speak well of you. Some people are just too nega-
tive, while others may not be able to communicate clearly.
John, a Microsoft employee looking to switch careers, opted
to not have his manager give his review, turning instead to
his manager’s manager. “My direct manager liked me, but he
was a poor communicator— one of those guys who almost
never seemed pleased, even when he was. His manager, on
the other hand, knew my work very well, and was gener-
ally more prone to positive reassurance. The choice was a
no-brainer.”
Understands the desired position. A reference who
understands the position will be able to more effectively
communicate your ability to fulfi ll the responsibilities.
Available and eager. When a reference can’t spare the time
to talk to a prospective employer, it can seem as though
the reference isn’t sure about your skills. Make sure that your
reference is happy to do this favor for you, and don’t burden
him any more than necessary.
■
■
■
■
■

3. Refresh their memory. Your reference might have for-
gotten about some of your greatest accomplishments.
Remind her of what your responsibilities were, what your
accomplishments were, how you accomplished them, and
CH006.indd 100CH006.indd 100 1/6/11 6:50:34 AM1/6/11 6:50:34 AM
Cover Letters and References 101
what your greatest challenges were. At a minimum, if your
reference would be expected to know about some of
your accomplishments listed on your résumé, make sure
to discuss the details of these with her.
4. Update them. If you’ve taken any additional courses or
had any signifi cant experiences, describe these to your ref-
erence. These may come in handy.
5. Suggest areas to emphasize. While you can never ask
your reference to lie, offering suggestions on areas to stress
is acceptable and even helpful. If you want to make sure
that the caller knows that you’re a strong negotiator, you
can mention this to your contact. They’ll appreciate the
guidance—I know I would.
6. Discuss the bad stuff. Your reference will almost surely
be asked for your weaknesses or for examples of mistakes
you’ve made. Although this can be awkward to discuss, it’s
better to do so now than for your reference to have to make
something up on the spot. You can mention a few different
topics, and let her decide what to discuss.
7. Follow up. Thank your reference for his assistance, and
make sure to follow up with him about what happens.
This conversation should ideally happen over the phone. If
so, you should follow up with an e-mail reiterating the major
topics, and reminding your reference of the company name and

what you’re doing.
Bad references can be caused by many things. If you suspect a
contact is offering a negative review, you may want to play it safe
and remove him entirely.
What If Your Bad Reference Is Your Former Boss?
If you have personal differences with your current boss, this will
likely not present an issue. A prospective company should never call
your current company without your permission.
But what if you’ve left your old company and your hopefully future
company insists on speaking to your former boss? You have many
■
■
■
■
■
CH006.indd 102CH006.indd 102 1/6/11 6:50:34 AM1/6/11 6:50:34 AM