Java/J2EE CV guide

Is your Java/J2EE CV good enough? How to make your Java/J2EE CV stand out?

Java/J2EE CV Guide
By K. Arulkumaran

Website: http://www.lulu.com/java-success

Also download a free sample of Java/J2EE CV from the above site. I have taken the questions and answers approach with lots of Java/J2EE related examples to help you write your interview winning CV. Examples should be taken as a guide only and apply your own content & formatting.

Java/J2EE CV guide

Copy Right 2007 The author has made every effort in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information. However, information in this book is sold without warranty either expressed or implied. The author will not be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused either directly or indirectly by this book.

First Edition: June 2007

Java/J2EE CV guide

Table of Contents
Q. Q. Q. Q. What is a CV? What a CV is not? ______________________________________ 4 Why is your CV a very important tool? __________________________________ 4 What are the key sections of your CV? __________________________________ 4 How to make your CV standout from the crowd?__________________________ 4

Q. What is a Profile / Professional Summary section? Give some Java/J2EE specific examples? ______________________________________________________ 8 Q. What is a Career objective / what you strive for section? Give some Java/J2EE specific examples? _____________________________________________________ 10 Q. Q. What is an Achievements section? Give some Java/J2EE specific examples? 11 What do you list in Skills section? Give some Java/J2EE specific examples? 12

Q. What is an Employment history section? Give some Java/J2EE specific examples? ____________________________________________________________ 13 Q. What do you list in an Education/Qualification section? Give some Java/J2EE specific examples? _____________________________________________________ 14 Q. What other skills can you include in your CV? __________________________ 15

Java/J2EE CV guide

Q. What is a CV? What a CV is not? A. CV stands for Curriculum Vitae, which means Course of Life. A CV is not
your entire life history or a shopping list of every job you ever had or every little Java/J2EE task you performed at your job or a one size fits all application.

Q. Why is your CV a very important tool? A. A CV or a Resume is an essential marketing tool in your job search and career progression. When writing a CV, look at it from your employers' point of view in order to stand out against the competition (i.e. other candidates). Preparing effective CVs presents a real challenge due to length, which can make them boring and result in important information being buried or lost in a long document. As a result your CV should be concise (recruiters dont have time to read each CV from cover to cover), your top skills and experience should be prioritized in the first or upper most section of your CV, well organized with the following sections: Contact details, Profile, Career objective(s), Achievements, Skills, Employment history and Education and last but not least your CV should be nicely formatted (i.e. easy to read, concise, and not cluttered). Your CV will often be used as a basis for discussion at your interview, for example how did you go about improving the performance by 40% at MQR banking Ltd. So be prepared. Your CV should give your recruiter the confidence that you could do the job and interest in your skills and achievements to wanting to get to know you better. Your CV should market your strengths not your weaknesses. If you cannot market your skills and achievements then who can? Remember that your CV is your prospective employers first contact with you. Q. What are the key sections of your CV? A. Contact details (name, phone & email), profile, career objective(s), achievements, skills, employment history, education and other kills. Hint: A recent graduate's CV, for example, will go straight into education after the profile section, whereas a seasoned professional should list educational qualifications after their employment history section, typically on the second or third page of your CV. Q. How to make your CV standout from the crowd? A. Thousands of CVs float around the job market every day many of which compete with your CV. A well written CV can give you a 30%-40% chance of securing a job by getting you an interview with the prospective employer. So the role of your CV is to generate enough curiosity and interest for the prospective employer to wanting to interview you. On average prospective employer(s) take about 30 seconds to browse through your CV and consider interviewing you. So you need to prepare a CV that is:

Java/J2EE CV guide

Results oriented: e.g. reduced the monthly commission batch (Java based) runs from 75 hours to 18 hours at XYZ Ltd. Driven by Key Areas: e.g. identified and fixed transactional, concurrency and performance issues for ABC Ltd. The key areas are transaction, concurrency and performance. There are other key areas like design concepts (e.g. OO), design patterns, security, scalability etc. Driven by sought-after technologies: e.g. redesigned and migrated a poorly performing and outdated application to Spring, Hibernate, JMS and JSF based system for MQR Banking Ltd. The sought-after technologies are Spring, Hibernate, JMS and JSF. Highlights strengths: e.g. designed and developed a Java NIO, Multithreaded, Spring 2.0, and Hibernate 3.0 based transactional application, to serve 2000 concurrent socket connections in a secured manner. This indicates that it is a decent size, mission critical and a transactional system. Credible: e.g. mentored junior developers by providing technical guidance and motivating them to meet the tight deadlines at Online Banking Ltd. Name of the company is given for the credibility. You could also include the URLs of the web site(s) you built and/or the project names like Amazon, Endeavor etc. Ordinary CV
Starts with a standard format with Elaborate contact details Elaborate career objective(s) Education details listing every course detail & certificates Employment history listing every trivial and non-related task. Large skills list and/or failing to include relevant and highly sought after skills.

CV that stands out

Starts with Concise contact details (e.g. 3 lines). Profile or Professional Summary, which is the sales pitch for you. If this section is impressive, then the reader will be encouraged to read on and find out more about you. (E.g. 6 - 8 lines or 4-6 bullet points). 4 years of experience in design/development of Java/J2EE based systems. 1 year as a technical lead and 8 months as a Java/J2EE architect. Solid background in Object-Oriented analysis and design. Good at various design patterns (GoF, J2EE patterns etc) and UML.

For job seekers with no or little experience can highlight on their academic achievements like sun certification, Java test scores, self-taught projects, open-source community projects (e.g. Apache), university projects etc. With each new job and experience you need to work towards improving this

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section with more experience based sales pitch as opposed to academic one. An outline of Key Achievements or Accomplishments section (3 - 6 achievements). Most CVs only describes the tasks or activities instead of results. What the employers are looking for is the impact of your tasks or activities on the organization. Hint: study the key areas described in Java/J2EE Job Interview Companion and relate that to your tasks or activities. Example:

Reduced the monthly commission batch (Java based) runs from 75 hours to 18 hours at Sure Insurance Corporation. Identified and fixed a hard to reproduce concurrency issue for the XYZ Inc. Redesigned and migrated a poorly performing and outdated application to Spring, Hibernate, JMS and JSF based system, which performs 40% faster for MQR Banking Ltd.
For job seekers with no or little experience can put the emphasis on skills/knowledge gained through selftaught projects, open-source project contribution, university projects, community projects, part-time employment etc. Relevant industry specific Java/J2EE skills section. Remember to include highly sought after skills such as Spring, Hibernate, Struts, JSF, EJB3, IoC, AOP, TDD etc. If you do not have any commercial experience then at least get familiarized with it via self-taught projects, tutorials and/or learning the fundamentals. It is better to mention that you are familiar with it than to say that you have no awareness or dont know the fundamentals of these frameworks/technologies (but never lie). I landed on most of my jobs with the self taught small projects and learning the fundamentals followed by succeeding in the interviews and then gaining the commercial experience. Some are luckier than others where they first gain the commercial experience of the sought after technologies but some fail to learn the fundamentals (i.e. Can code but cannot answer any technical questions on its core concepts). List your current and previous posts and how you applied some of the major strengths and highly sought after skills in Java/J2EE. List all the major projects and tasks you have worked on and your specific

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contribution. Also mention where you applied some of the key areas like design concepts, design patterns, fixing performance issues, concurrency issues, transactional issues, memory leaks etc. Also be aware not to turn this section into only technical stuff or a shopping list of every trivial task or a project. Example: Designed and developed a Java NIO, Multithreaded, Spring 2.0, and Hibernate 3.0 based application to serve 2000 concurrent socket connections in secured manner. Mentored junior developers by providing technical guidance and motivating them to meet the tight deadlines for EFT project at Online Banking Ltd.

5-7 pages packed with irrelevant and trivial information.

3-5 pages (depending on how much expertise you have) of nicely formatted (easy to read & easy on the eyes) CV highlighting your key strengths and sought after skills with results and contributions. A name of the company is included to give credibility to claims. CV is made relevant to position you are applying for e.g. senior developer, architect, team lead etc. CV can also be tailored to the industry type like finance, insurance, telecommunications, software house etc. It does not take much long to produce customized CVs based on the job specification. Important information is in the first page (Unless you impress the interviewer in the first page he/she may not read your remaining pages). If you are a seasoned professional then draw on your hands on Java/J2EE experience. If you have little or no experience then draw on your academic qualifications, certifications, self-taught projects, community projects, university projects, assignments etc.

One size fits all CV. The same CV is photocopied or reprinted as required. This is wasting an opportunity to present you in the best possible way.

Important information is scattered throughout the pages in the CV.

Normal phrase:
Designed and developed a Java/J2EE based online system for the XYZ Ltd.

Phrase that stands out (results oriented, key area

and/or key technology driven): Designed and developed a Java/J2EE based online insurance system, which serves 2000 concurrent users, transactional and secured for XYZ Ltd. Why does it stand out? Shows that you have worked on a large transactional and secured application. Key Areas are: transaction, concurrency and security. Reduced the monthly commission batch (Java based) runs from 75 hours to 18 hours at Sure Insurance Corporation.

Improved the Java based batch processes at Sure Insurance Corporation

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Why does it stand out? Results oriented i.e. 75 hours to 18 hours. Key Area: performance

Mentored junior developers at Online Banking Ltd.

Mentored junior developers by providing technical guidance and motivating them to meet the tight deadlines at Online Banking Ltd. Why does it stand out? Results oriented i.e. Meet tight deadlines. Key Area: People Skills, Leadership skills, Ability to handle pressure etc.

Redesigned and migrated a poorly performing and outdated application for MQR Banking Ltd.

Redesigned and migrated a poorly performing and outdated application to Spring, Hibernate, JMS and JSF based system for MQR Banking Ltd which runs 40% faster. Why does it stand out? Key technologies driven. Lists popular and sought after technologies/frameworks such as Spring, Hibernate, JMS, and JSF, which would be of interest to the recruiter/employer. Also results (i.e. 40% faster) oriented. Key Area: Performance

Familiar with XSD, XSL, JAXB and JMS.

Familiar with XSD, XSL, JAXB and JMS due to selfeducation and self-taught project and keen to apply this knowledge in a commercial project. Why does it stand out? Puts more credibility and shows that you are a pro-active learner.

So the bottom-line is that you need to phrase your sentence such a way that the employer/recruiter wants to interview you and not the other person who has done exactly the same thing.
Q. What is a Profile / Professional Summary section? Give some Java/J2EE specific examples? A. This section is where one gives a brief statement about oneself such as what drives you, maybe key attributes or reasons for being hired. Convey your technical expertise in Java/J2EE and awareness of popular emerging technologies/frameworks. Don't list all the skills here (you can include the rest in the skills section). Just pick your major strengths like design experience, team lead experience etc and highly sought after and relevant experience like Spring, Hibernate, EJB, JSF etc. Mention the personal qualities the employer might wish to see like mentored developers, met deadlines, conducted design workshops etc. You can also

Java/J2EE CV guide

mention the relevant industry experience like finance, insurance, telecommunications, software house, consultancy etc. Should contain 6-10 lines or 4-6 bullet points. Only list the attributes that will be of interest to your next employer. Example 1 (mid to senior level): 4 years of experience in design/development of Java/J2EE based systems. 1 year as a technical lead and 8 months as a Java/J2EE architect. 3 year Java/J2EE experience in financial sector and 1 year in insurance sector. 2 year working experience and excellent knowledge in EJB, Spring, Hibernate, JSF, TDD, AOP, IoC etc. Experience in Websphere, MQSeries, and JBoss. Solid background in Object-Oriented analysis and design. Good at various design patterns (GoF, J2EE patterns etc) and UML. Excellent knowledge of XML, SQL, XSL, Web Service etc. Experience in Test Drive Development (TDD) and agile methodology. Improved the Java based monthly commission batch runs from 75 hours to 18 hours at Sure Insurance Corporation. Published author on Java/J2EE. Example 2 (mid to senior level): I am an experienced professional with 6 years in Java/J2EE technologies ranging from the design and development of complex model-view-controller based systems to the integration of legacy mainframe systems. I have extensive experience of using open source frameworks like Spring, Hibernate, Struts, and JSF to implement enterprise applications. I am also a keen proponent of agile methodologies and have successfully introduced agile techniques into projects which I have managed. I am seeking a challenging position as a software designer/senior developer, ideally in a project team developing large scale enterprise system. Example 3 (graduate or a junior developer): A self motivated Java developer with 1.5 years experience. I have excellent communication skills and problem solving skills with proven ability to work successfully either individually or as part of a team. I have an aptitude for learning and applying new technologies, which is evident from my self-taught project(s).

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Example 4 (graduate or a junior developer): 1 year hands on experience in Java/J2EE programming from my current employment (6 months) with XYZ Ltd, university projects (Online Web store and an online library system) and assignments. Additional 6 month hands on experience from a self-taught web store project utilizing frameworks such as Spring, Hibernate, JSF and processes such as test driven development (TDD) with iterative approach on a JBoss server. [Hint: shows that you are a pro-active learner, passionate, can handle challenges, dedicated and you have some experience & familiarity with the new and soughtafter technologies. Also makes the recruiter more curious to learn how you went about your self-taught project and what challenges you faced.] Hands-on experience and good working knowledge of Java, Servlet, JSP, JDBC, JNDI, XML, SQL and good understanding of singleton, factory & MVC design patterns. [Hint: basic Java/J2EE] Familiar with XSD, XSL, JAXB and JMS due to self-education and keen to apply this knowledge in a commercial project. [Hint: It is better to have some familiarity and understanding than total unawareness] Sun certified Java programmer. [Hint: mention score if it is high] Secured 85% in the Java test conducted in my university exam. [Hint: Brainbench certificate etc] Trained in Webshere application server etc. [Hint: shows that you have some formal training] Hint: If you are applying for a graduate or a junior position then mention any sun (e.g. SCJP etc) or other certifications and training (e.g. Websphere, Weblogic etc) you acquired. If you are a seasoned professional then sell your character (e.g. team lead, architect, mentor etc), experience (e.g. 4 years in design/development, 2 years in finance, experience in TDD, EJB, Spring, Hibernate, JSF etc) and achievements (e.g. improved batch runs from 75 hours to 18 hours). If the content of the profile section (about 6-8 lines) is impressive, then the reader will be encouraged to read on and find out more about you. Q. What is a Career objective / what you strive for section? Give some Java/J2EE specific examples?

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A. A brief section outlining your career goals. To show you are a passionate Java/J2EE developer and ambitious or that your goals are in line with the employers expectations of their existing personnel. Should contain 2-3 lines. Example 1 (mid to senior level): To build complex (transactional, concurrent, secured, scalable etc) Java/J2EE based systems. Strive for creating systems based on sound technical designs by applying OO design concepts and software patterns. Example 2 (graduate or junior): To build commercial Java/J2EE systems with the view to learn and apply best practices, standards and the development team objectives to thrive in a dynamic environment. Q. What is an Achievements section? Give some Java/J2EE specific examples? A. The Achievements section is one of the most worthwhile of the all the sections. As long as an achievements section is well worded, regardless of its positioning on a CV, there is rarely a reason not to include it (although you could incorporate achievements into the description for each job on your CV). This section has a list and summary of achievements performed at work and outside (mainly if you are a graduate or junior) of it. This is my favorite section. As a professional, you need to take pride in your accomplishments. Convey your achievements in Java/J2EE, which had benefited the application, department or organization. In addition to technical skills bring your personal qualities like passion, ability to communicate effectively with technical staff as well as business users (i.e. non-technical), problem solving skills, ability to think in high level as well as drill down to detail, ability to handle pressure, ability to recognize and respond to objectives of an organization, ability to work in a team as well as independently etc. You can also mention your teams' achievements in addition to your specific contribution. List 3 to 6 achievements which you feel will be in line with your next position. Do not list achievements which are not in line with what you want to do next. Example (mid to senior level): Redesigned and migrated a poorly performing and outdated application to Spring, Hibernate, JMS and JSF based system, which performs 40% faster for MQR Banking Ltd. Identified and fixed performance and transactional issues for Fine Australia Technology.

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Reduced the monthly commission batch (Java based) runs from 75 hours to 18 hours at Sure Insurance Corporation. Mentored junior developers and provided technical guidance and motivated them to meet the tight deadlines at Online Banking Ltd. Designed and developed an Internet application to web-enable an insurance company's legacy mainframe applications. Hint: The first bullet point shows that you have not only the design skills but also you have the currently sought after skills like JSF, Spring, Hibernate & EJB. The second bullet point shows that you understand the key areas like performance, transactions etc. The third bullet point indicates that you are results driven. The fourth bullet point shows that you have people and leadership skills. Examples of work done and the name of the company (e.g. like MQR bank) gives credibility to your claims. Example (graduate to junior level): Passed the Sun certification with the score of 92%. [Hint: Brainbench certificate, University Java test result etc.] Self-taught a web store project utilizing frameworks such as Spring, Hibernate, JSF and processes such as test driven development (TDD) with iterative approach on a JBoss server with the help of online materials, books, forums and mentors. [Hint: It is an achievement to self-teach a Java/J2EE project] Best customer service award. [Hint: Outside work achievements to interpersonal, communication, problem solving and analytical skills] sell your

Q. What do you list in Skills section? Give some Java/J2EE specific examples? A. List your major Java/J2EE skills. Only list skills that are current and relevant to the Java/J2EE positions that you are applying for. This section is very important because the recruitment agents find it easy to match the job specification they received from the employer with your skills matrix. It is also useful for you to list the skills you gained through not only work experience but also through other channels like selftaught projects, university projects, open-source projects and assignments. Example: Technical skills
Design Skills 3+ yrs UML (Rational Rose, Visio), Object Oriented Analysis and Design (OOAD), GOF Design patterns, J2EE Design patterns, EJB Design patterns etc

Java/J2EE CV guide
Java 7+ yrs JDK 1.5 (8 months at MQR) J2EE 6.0+ yrs

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Collection, Multithreading, RMI, Sockets, Applets, SWING, Reflection, Generics, Auto boxing, type safe enums etc JSP, Servlet, EJB, JMS, JDBC, JTA, JNDI, LDAP, Spring, Hibernate, Struts, Tapestry, Annotations, AOP (Aspect Oriented Programming), IoC (Dependency Injection), Web Services (JAX-RPC) etc Spring 1.2.6 & 2.0, Hibernate 3.0, Tapestry 4.0, JiBX Websphere, Weblogic, JBoss, Apache Tomcat, MQSeries, Tuxedo JOLT, SonicMQ, MapXtreme etc XML, XSLT, XSL FO, FOP, XML Buddy, JiBX, JAXB, Castor, SAX, DOM, HTML, CSS Java Script, Shell Script Eclipse 3.1, Websphere Studio Application Developer, JBuilder, JDeveloper, Visual Age for Java. Star-Team, CVS, Subversion, Visual Source Safe etc Oracle 8i/9i, Sybase, PL/SQL, Sybase Stored Procedures, DB2 UDB, DB2 on AS/400, DBVisualizer, DB Artisan, TOAD, MSAccess etc NT, Windows 2000, UNIX and DOS RUP (lite), Xtreme Programming(XP), Agile methodology, JUnit, DBUnit, Ant, Maven, JMeter, Open STA, etc Visual Basic, MS-Access programming, MS-Excel Macros, Word Templates etc Quick Rules

Recent open source 2 years Middleware 4.5+ yrs

XML/HTML 6+ yrs

Scripts IDE

Source Control Database and tools

Operating Systems Development methodologies, deployment & Testing Microsoft

Rules Engine

Q. What is an Employment history section? Give some Java/J2EE specific examples? A. List your current and previous posts (Most recent first i.e. reverse chronological order) and how you applied some of the major strengths and highly sought after skills in Java/J2EE. List all the major projects and tasks you have worked on and your specific contribution. Also mention where you applied some of the key areas like design concepts, design patterns, fixing performance issues, concurrency issues, transactional issues, memory leaks etc. Also be aware not to turn this section into only technical stuff or a shopping list of every trivial task or a project. In addition to

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technical areas mention any team lead experience or mentoring junior developers, how you managed to meet a tight dealine, how you worked well with the business users? How well you applied your knowledge, etc. Dec 2006 Present
Position Tasks/Achieve ments

XYZ Ltd

Senior Java/J2EE designer/developer - Design & development focus Designed and developed a Java NIO, Multi-threaded, Spring 2.0, and Hibernate 3.0 based application to serve up to 2000 concurrent socket connections. Designed a JSF/Websphere/Oracle/Spring/Hibernate based web application. Lead the technical team and mentored the junior developers. Worked closely with the business users, analysts, infrastructure team, testing team and project managers to come up with the detailed design.

Oct 2005 Dec 2006

Position Tasks/Achieve ments

MQR Bank

Senior Java/J2EE designer/developer design/development focus - contract Migrated a poorly performing and outdated application from SWING, EJB 1.1 session beans, entity beans and Websphere Apps Server based architecture to an EJB 2.1 Session Beans, Spring, Hibernate , Tapestry, JiBX, and JBoss Apps Server based architecture. Integrated other sub-systems through JMS, MQSeries, XML and XSL. Developed JMX services to be run on JBoss Apps Server.

Q. What do you list in an Education/Qualification section? Give some Java/J2EE specific examples? A. List the most important qualifications. Example: BSc in Computer Science MSc in Computer Science Hint: If your qualifications are not related to the computer field then you can say Example:

Java/J2EE CV guide BSc from Institution name MSc from Institution name

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Q. What other skills can you include in your CV? A. You can very briefly mention other vital skills such as communication, presentation, documentation, analytical, problem solving etc. Example: Other skills:
Communication, Planning, and Team Work Presentation and Documentation Skills Analytical/Planning/ Problem Solving Skills Plays a major role in my consulting jobs in successfully completing my projects and effectively managing people and time. Presented technical designs and strategies through fortnightly operations meetings and annual conferences through work and as part of my degree. Applied tools and strategies such as Gantt charts, Fish bone diagrams, Tree structure, flow charts, 80/20 rule, SWOT analysis, prioritizing tasks on the basis of Urgent vs. Important, Cash Flow Diagrams and Multi Attribute Decision models etc.

This is a guide only and you can be more innovative if you put some effort and thought into preparing your CV. Good Luck.

Website: http://www.lulu.com/java-success Feedback: [email protected]