vodori

As you may have heard, we're hiring. The ranks of Vodoriland have been growing steadily for a long time, giving us occasion to read a lot of resumes and conduct a lot of job interviews. And as you'd expect, we've learned quite a few things about what we like to see from a prospective candidate—and what we don't. 

Whether you're a Vodori hopeful or trying to land a job at a company like ours, these tips should help your resume and cover letter earn more gold stars and raise fewer red flags. 

1. Rid your resume and cover letter of any typos or grammatical mistakes. Often, it helps to have someone else look them over to be certain. Sure, you're not applying to be an English professor, but your attention to detail shows in your writing. That's something we require of everyone who works here. 

2. Make sure your cover letter states which position you're applying for. Do you want to join us as a developer, an analyst, or an in-house juggler? If you force us to guess, you'd better show up for the interview ready to juggle. 

3. Spell our name correctly. (It's right there at the top of this page, if that helps.) Also, while we're on the subject, spell your name correctly.

4. Do not use a cut-and-paste cover letter. Take the time to customize it for the job you want. Let us know how your skills align with the job posting in your cover letter.

5. And yes, you still need to include a cover letter (either in the body of your email or as an attachment). If you send us a resume without a cover letter, we assume you're sending your resume to any email address you can find—and we won't get the opportunity to learn as much about you as we'd like.

6. Including your name in the file name of any documents you attach sure makes it easier for us to keep things organized. 

Don't let this be your resume's fate.

7. If you list a programming language or technology on your resume, be prepared to answer specific questions about it. We don't ask "Do you know C?" We ask "Using C, how do you implement TreeSort?"

8. Be judicious with the skills you claim on your resume. Most developers have a higher level of expertise at one language than the others that they list.  Few people are experts at anything after three years of experience. We're very happy to teach people what they need to know on the job - and we'd rather have you present yourself as an eager student than a know-it-all.

9. In general, don't artificially pad your resume. It's often hard to know what to include in your resume, but its length should be commensurate with your experience level.

10. If you're a designer, your resume should be designed by you (we can tell). The standard Microsoft Word templates are not acceptable. Also, your resume design should match your portfolio site design—think of yourself as a brand.

11. Also for designers: more important than your resume is your portfolio. Explain your role in creating or working on each piece, and relate the design considerations you made for each project you showcase. If we don't know how you contributed to the work you're showing then we can't accurately determine if your skills match the open position.

12. On the flip side, if you're not applying for a design job, resist the temptation to get too gimmicky with your resume. Naturally you want to stand out, but unorthodox formatting and random color schemes aren't the way to do it. We may take that as a sign that you don't trust your talent to stand out on its own.

13. Avoid expressions like "I believe I'm the perfect/ideal candidate." Everyone says that, and no one is. We aren't perfect and you might not be either. Explain why you'd be an excellent candidate in concrete terms. Humility is a very alluring quality.