The Google resume
by Gayle Laakmann McDowell, Vanessa Hart · first published 2011
67% recommend33% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Offers practical, concrete advice on writing a technical resume, including a what-how-what-impact format for work history bullets. It suits engineers preparing to job-hunt.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"The information you need to land the tech job of your dreams. Whatever your industry, there's no denying the desirability of the perks and salary enjoyed by employees at Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and other top tech companies: casual attire, free and unlimited sodas (or even food), flexible hours, onsite luxury gyms, and funky offices. Yet getting a position at such a company is far from assured. Hiring processes and requirements are unique, and the competition is stiff. The Google Resume gives you the only book available on how to win a coveted spot at one of these top national tech f
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> In Germany, you ALWAYS put a photograph in your resume. Not really. The more educated people are about this topic (e.g. have read "The Google Resume" by Gayle McDowell, which I highly recommend), or have had startup experience, the less common it is. We all should stop doing it, everybody will benefit.
on “Limecv – A LaTeX CV Document Class” ↗There are some good books on the subject. Start with "The Google Resume" by Gayle McDowell. Then move on to industry specific books like Cracking the Coding Interview.
on “Ask HN: Laid off. Now what?” ↗You might want to read "The Google Résumé" by Gayle McDowell. It changed the way I apply to jobs, and it made a difference like day and night. I'm surprised to learn that there are people working in Tech currently finding it hard to apply. Where are you located? Here in Europe, at least in my experience, it's getting easier every day. Tech is incredibly popular, but demand is still even higher.
on “Ask HN: Is it harder getting a tech job now vs. 5 years ago?” ↗…go research the various algorithms and learn them. Although, I'd wait for Elements of Programming Interviews v2 which will include Java samples, as opposed to C++, but that's just me. McDowell's The Google Resume also has some useful tidbits in it.
on “Ask HN: I have $2k for books, training and confs. What should I spend it on?” ↗The best advice I ever got regarding how to write a technical resume was all cribbed from Gayle McDowell's "The Google Resume". The most salient piece of advice: Use a "what-how-what-impact" format in your work history's line items. To modify an example given elsewhere in the comments, instead of > helped reduce customers…
on “Ask HN: What do you want to see in a resume / GitHub profile?” ↗Person with great "resume and/or cover letter" only has proven talent in writing great "resume and/or cover letter". "The Google Resume" is a great book. It's written by a former hiring manager that's worked at Google, Apple, and Microsoft. Gayle Laakman also wrote "Cracking the Coding Interview" and runs www.careercup.com . Nobody…
on “Ask HN: Google is always hiring talent? How?” ↗…recommend "Cracking the Coding Inteview" [http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Coding-Interview-Programming-...] for serious prepping. Edit: It looks like the author of the above has a newer book out called "The Google Resume", probably worth taking a look at too.
on “A Strategy For The Dreaded Interview Coding Question” ↗Read a book called The Google Resume. I think it'll help you position yourself better in the market.
on “Self Taught Web Dev -What Should I Do?” ↗I'm finishing "The Google Resume" ebook I bought on Kindle for iPad. I'm determined to have several job offers by summer's end. I keep reading "Google is always hiring raw talent". That's all fine and good, but having applied for…
on “Ask HN: Google is always hiring talent? How?” ↗…Office not Required So Good They Can't Ignore You The 8 Traits Successful People The Box The Defining Decade - Why Your Twenties Matter - Meg Jay The Power of Habit Cracking the Coding Interview The Google Resume Brain Rules Automatic Millionaire Rich Dad Poor Dad Bootstrappers Bible Startup Nation The Lean Startup 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Ideavirus Traction - Gabriel Weinberg The Hard Thing…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗…found this article intentionally contrarian for no useful purpose. Gayle, the founder of Career Cup cited at the end, runs a business grooming programmers to work at large companies (see her book 'The Google Resume'). Google and other large software companies are notorious for asking puzzle questions. Jeff Atwood, founder of Stack Overflow, has repeatedly expressed a hate for these questions. I've bought one of…
on “The Trouble with CodeSchool” ↗…the author's bio on the book's Web site: > Gayle is the Founder / CEO of CareerCup.com and the author of two books: Cracking the Coding Interview, Amazon.com's #1 best-selling interview book, and The Google Resume. She has worked for Google, Microsoft, and Apple and served on Google's hiring committee. She holds a BSE and MSE in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School.…
on “Official sequel to Cracking the Coding Interview is out” ↗