I want to run a resume-writing workshop sometime, because I remember having no idea what to do when I was a student. I was talking to Kamal about this a few weeks ago, and we realized we had the same non-advice:

“When I was helping with hiring, and I had to wade through a stack of 100 resumes to pick who to interview, I understood much better how to write a resume.”

Which is true, but really not helpful if you don’t have that experience and are trying to get a job. So how about this 2 hour workshop:

1. Get 50 people who work in the same field. (I’m thinking CS students here)
2. Print 50 copies of everyone’s resume.
3. Give everyone a stack of 50 resumes and tell them to pick 5 people to interview in 30 minutes.
4. Put people in groups of 3-4 and have them discuss the resumes and agree on 5 people to interview for 30 minutes.
5. Pair people up and have them give each other tips on how to improve their resumes for 20 minutes

I like this because it’s not about experts telling you what the right and wrong thing to do is. It’s instead about thinking through the process from the other side, and coming to your own conclusions about what the people hiring you might be looking for.

I don’t have a title, though!