Newsroom

Tips when applying at cPanel

December 15, 2010

I look at a lot of applicants here at cPanel and have some tips for would be job seekers.  Many of these tips are generic and could help you get a job anywhere, but all of them will help you get a job here.

  • Choose your resume format carefully. 
    You worked hard to make your resume look the way you want it to; the format you send it in will ensure it looks that way when it is reviewed by a hiring manager.  Submitting a .docx to a mac shop could be a problem.  Sending in a .odt is troublesome because the formatting seems to get lost between different versions of OpenOffice.  I recommend using a .pdf so your resume will be intact when reviewed.
  • Name your resume file something other than resume.pdf. 
    Make your resume stand out and make sure it’s not overwritten by another candidate.
  • Spell check everything! 
    Recently I have received a few resumes where someone has trained the spell check misspelled words and they use them repeatedly 🙁
  • Write a cover letter for each job you apply for. 
    If you want the job, make the time to write the cover letter.  Avoid using your rubber stamp cover letter from that one time you applied at NASA, re-read it and make sure it applies to the job you want.
  • Don’t be coy when the salary question comes up. 
    Remember you’re not applying to be a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon.
  • Remove ancient operating systems from your list of skills. 
    Few people care if you are skilled with RedHat6 or WindowsNT.
  • Include the most recent versions you have worked with. 
    If you have installed RHEL6 or office 2011 put that out there.  It shows you are out on the edge keeping up with things.
  • Resumes are two pages at most. 
    If you have a third page it had better impressive.  If you saved your nobel prize in applied mathematics for the third page we’re ok with that.
  • Never have a fourth page. 
    If you have not convinced a hiring manager to want you in three pages you’re not going to on a fourth page.
  • Don’t lie. 
    This one should be simple but avoid putting skills down that you don’t have.  Typically when a lie is uncovered in an interview you will be removed from consideration.