>Be compsci student >While still in college I decided to

>>17833656
was it a full time job to expand and maintain the system? if yes then put it down as 4 years of experience in a FAMILY business. this is different from working for someone else.

if no then specify it was over the course of 4 years but not a full time thing.

>>17833664
No, I worked on it alongside my studies and I focused on achieving goals.

How, more specifically, do I specify it in the resume?

>>17833679
>Work experience
>4 years - Casual - Company Name
>Over the course of 4 years alongside academic pursuits, built, maintained, expanded, whatever, this system for this company for this purpose

that's like, my initial draft anyway. you can word it how you want. i probably would change it slightly over the course of like an hour cos i'm like that.

just say developed system for a small business that has grown to include multiple users high volume of traffic etc. all with your continued updates. word it differently but you get the jist.

>>17833691
And I just stop selling myself as having "4 years of experience" right? Which would mean I could just sell myself as a "recent graduate with experience on web development" or so?

>>17833699
In order to not make others believe that I've REALLY worked for 4 years like others would expect, am I right?

>>17833699
>taking advice from someone that spells it jist

>>17833707
yes, don't sell yourself as 4 years of experience. what you said is fine. but you shouldn't undersell yourself either. maintaining the system over the course of 4 years and seeing how it has grown and it's still going well, is a big and important thing. the fact that it's been reliable and all that over those 4 years is excellent

as long as you mention with the "4 years" that it was part time or casual, it's fine.
you could even give them an average number of hours you worked a week over those years, if they were to ever ask, it would be handy to have that in mind.

>>17833719
>maintaining the system over the course of 4 years and seeing how it has grown and it's still going well, is a big and important thing. the fact that it's been reliable and all that over those 4 years is excellent
Not just that, but also the fact that I've learned a ton about software development. I gotta sell it properly - I've learned a lot, but it's not been 4 years of a full-time job.

>>17833719
>you could even give them an average number of hours you worked a week over those years, if they were to ever ask, it would be handy to have that in mind.
Will have that in mind then! I think that I can draw a weekly average from that if asked.

Thank you guys for the suggestion! It's time to go fix my resume and LinkedIn.

>>17833730
actually - did you get paid for that? if you weren't paid, it would be better to describe it as a 4-year ongoing side project in your free time kind of thing.

like how in game development you might work for 5 years on your own game but only in your free time.

if you were paid then you can't call it 'in your free time', i think?

i don't know, this was just an additional thought i had.

you're welcome. i'm envious of you and your experience.

>>17833743
>actually - did you get paid for that?
Yes I did.

>i'm envious of you and your experience.
Wha- Really? How? Why?

>>17833707
you need mention many things in your resume

1. who you worked for family company revenue growth of this company

2. how long you helped this company

3. what specific technical skills you learned & specific tasks you did

windows ? unix ? what web server ?
database ? coding ?

all that needs to be in resume

1 & 2 give some credibility to company
3 answers what you did the hiring mgr is looking for

spend some time reading the job ads for computer geeks many websites for this even craigslist has them

>>17833800
Let me answer that. Please do tell me if I'm doing it right or what I should be saying.

>1. who you worked for family company revenue growth of this company
What I usually say is that my work made calls for support much less constant. Usually there would be several calls per day, whereas now we're lucky if there is any.

It didn't revenue growth per se because this depends on how sales go and it's far from my responsibilities, although my modifications do make selling the system far easier than before. The system is now more robust for everyone and if my mother wished it she could just go out and add new clients to the system seamlessly and in matter of minutes, whereas before she would spend at least one whole week trying to set up a new client.

>2. how long you helped this company
4 years and still helping. I'm thinking of leaving once the module I'm currently working in gets rolled out, although I will probably help with support.

>3. what specific technical skills you learned & specific tasks you did
Skills: Application of OOP for production, best practices, design patterns, Symfony, PHP, Git, JavaScript, jQuery, SQL Server, IIS, PHPUnit, YAML... I even learned Drupal to make a website for a client, so I also learned Drupal and SASS.

Specific tasks: Design, implement and test solutions, help users go through the system, and troubleshoot any bugs and issues present.

Is this okay? Of course I'll embellish it and format it properly in my resume, but how about the idea?

>>17833747
oh sorry i left the thread.

because i wanted to get into IT and be good enough at it that i could just do that confidently on my own but it just seems like i'm not cut out for it. particularly because it gives me anxiety when there is a big project. like.. can't sleep for days, kind of anxiety.

i did a course for game programming, it was 3 years for a diploma in singapore (diplomas in singapore seem to have a different meaning/value to other countries). i did very well, very high GPA, first year i was at the top of the entire cohort.

but at the end it felt like i still didn't have the tools to properly make a game on my own. i did the little projects throughout, and they were alright. but the main project, and the internship i did in japan, lead me to believe it would give me far too much anxiety to work on any real project.

maybe i didn't try hard enough, i don't know. but considering i did so well in the course, i think i did try very hard. idk. either way i gave up on it and i just got whatever job i could find. which i don't really mind. at this point, i just want a job that doesn't give me severe anxiety and make me want to kill myself when i get home.

i'm envious because things seem to be going well for you in terms of work experience and that kind of stuff anyway. you have an excellent thing to put on your resume that i honestly think would be highly regarded. totes jelly

but i gotta go so good luck with life anon.

>>17833827
you're moving in the right direction :)

do internet search for resumes & see what other peeps put in theirs

and again go look at the job listings & start sending a 1 page resume

you really should not have any problem getting multiple yes multiple job offers

>>17833830
Wow I'm super sorry. If I could suggest something, try working on a bigger scale project by yourself. It could be a game, or a web system which are easier. No need to put yourself under a ton of pressure. Do it slowly and at your own pace. And always remember: test, code, refactor.

>>17833832
Thank you! I will do that. I've worked on my resume a lot and I think I could learn one thing or two from other folks doing their own.

I hope so too! I'm already struggling getting job offers to be honest, so maybe my resume is lacking in those areas.

Again thank you!

>>17833832
yes this guy is right OP. i didn't mention formatting and including additional info for your resume when applying for IT positions, because that wasn't your question.

an IT resume needs all your technical skills. languages/technologies/environments you know, how proficient you are with them, etc.

try to leave out the stuff that is obligatory and assumed at this level. an obvious example is to not include something like "consistent and readable syntax formatting".

also in >>17833827
>help users go through the system

try to phrase things in HR speak. this would look a lot better if it was something like
>provided training and support to system users

i had 0 work experience but i still got a job because i worked hard to make my resume look really good, and make my academic results seem more important than they were.

>>17833858
>try to leave out the stuff that is obligatory and assumed at this level
I have a question about that. For example I mentioned

>Application of OOP for production, best practices, design patterns

I kinda want to believe this is the bare minimum too, but aren't there people who outright don't use any of these? I'm unsure.

>try to phrase things in HR speak
Oh yeah I was trying to word my ideas as they came, but yes I totally gotta format my resume in a more formal language.

>and make my academic results seem more important than they were
How did you? I failed two courses (both with the same professor) and my late courses weren't outstanding. Although I'm currently working on a thesis which involves AI, so there's something.