O diar, ddaru’r penwythnos diwethaf dod a diwedd i’r rhestr hir o ffrindiau sy’n priodi eleni. Dwi i weld yn ganol yr amser ‘na o’m mywyd lle mae’n ffrindiau i gyd yn priodi, ac mae pawb wedi dewis y flwyddyn ‘ma i weld. Rhif 6 oedd y briodas ddiwethaf, a fi wedi gallu mynd i 4 ohonynt. Unwaith eto, mae’n rhaid i mi ddweud llongyfarchiadau wrthynt, a dymuno bywyd hir a hapus gyda’i gilydd.
Does fawr ddim siawns o seibiant flwyddyn nesaf chwaith, mae ‘na tri arall yn y dyddiadur yn barod. diar mi…
This weekend saw the latest in the long line of friends who’ve tied the knot this year. I seem to be at that stage in life where everyone is getting married, and they all seem to have picked this year. A list I knocked up has this year’s count at 6 weddings. Only four of which I was able to attend. Still, congratulations to all the happy couples from this year, and may they have a long and happy life together.
Next year will see no let up in wedding based activities, with at least another 3 scheduled so far… Ho hum…
B
O’r diwedd, dyma ni… rhyw benwythnos neu ddwy yn ôl, ddaru mi fynd lawr i Neuadd Gregynog ger bron Y Drenewydd i roi help llaw i benwythnos cyfweliadau “blwyddyn mewn diwydiant” Adran Cyfrifiadureg Prifysgol Aberystwyth. I rai ohonoch sydd ddim yn gwybod, mae’r Adran yn mynd a myfyrwyr yr ail flwyddyn i Regynog ar gyfer ffug gyfweliadau i baratoi nhw ar gyfer beth maen nhw’n debygol o weld yn y byd mawr.
Mae ‘na wyth ohonom yn cael ein gwahodd i adolygu’r CVs mae’r myfyrwyr wedi paratoi, ac wedyn yn cwestiynu’r myfyrwyr yn fanwl. Y syniad yw bod y cwestiynu ‘ma lot fwy trylwyr na’r rhai fyddant nhw’n debygol o weld yn y byd go iawn. Dros y noson gyntaf, ddaru ni (y cyfwelwyr) edrych trwy bentwr anferthol o CVs (o gwmpas 40 yr un) i geisio gweld os bod rhywbeth diddorol i ofyn i’r myfyrwyr. Mae David Goodwin wedi ysgrifennu traethawd llawn ar beth oedd yn bod gyda nhw (Saesneg yn unig), felly gwnâi ddim gwastraffu amser yn ail adrodd popeth. Gwnâi rhestru’r pethau dwi’n credu oedd yn bod:
- Rhestru modiwlau ar y CV – yn enwedig os bod chi wedi methu’r modiwl. Ddaru rhai o’r myfyrwyr rhestru bod nhw wedi methu’r modiwlau bas data, a bod gallu defnyddio bas data ar restr y sgiliau hanfodol.
- Peidiwch guddio’r sgiliau – Mae’n fwy pwysig i mi wybod bod chi’n gallu ysgrifennu mewn Perl neu Python, a llai bod chi hefo TGAU mewn Drama.
- Dwi ddim angen gwybod am Word, Excel neu Borwyr Gwe – Does wir ddim ots gen i pa mor ysgafn yw’r CV. Does dim esgus i restru porwyr gwe, a sa bod chi’n dallt sut mae pethau fel Pivot Tables yn gweithio, di Office ddim angen bod ‘na chwaith.
- Portffolio Gwe – Os bod chi’n mynd am swydd fel datblygydd gwe, mae’n syniad da cael portffolio ar-lein i bobl cael gweld eich sgiliau. Mae hwnnw’n siarad llawer mwy na mae “profficient in the use of PHP” yn gwneud.
- Peidiwch honni fod yn arbenigwr – Sa bod chi wir yn arbenigwr mewn rhywbeth, peidiwch honni eich bod chi. Mae’n beth peryglus ar y diawl. Ddaru un myfyriwr honni fod yn arbenigwr mewn sgiliau “trouble shooting”, a ddaru Clive (sy’n gwario rhan o’i amser yn dysgu sgiliau “trouble shooting” dechau gofyn cwestiynau manwl am ba ddulliau datrys trafferthion oedd y myfyriwr yn gwybod.
- Mae angen sefyll allan – Mae pawb yn yr adran wedi dysgu C, Java ag ychydig o PHP. Gwnewch rywbeth sy’n gwneud chi sefyll allan, ac yn dangos fod chi wedi dysgu rhywbeth tu allan i’r cwrs. OS bod chi wedi bod yn teithio’r byd, wedi dysgu cyfrifiaduron i blant mewn rhan arall o’r byd, rhedeg marathon neu rywbeth sydd yr un mor ddiddorol, mae angen sôn amdano. Mae cael hwnnw ar y CV yn mynd i wneud i’r peth sefyll allan fwy.
- Darllenwch eich gwaith – Mae cam-sillafu enw’r cwmni, y Brifysgol (do, mi ddaru ni weld hwn, sawl gwaith), neu enw rhyw dechnoleg bwysig yn mynd i beri ofn i’r cyflogwyr. Yn enwedig os eich bod chi’n honni fod yn berson sy’n cyfathrebu’n dda (cyn i chi gadael sylwadau yn dweud fy mod i wedi gwneud camgymeriad ieithyddol, dwi erioed wedi honni fod yn gyfathrebwr effeithiol tra’n ysgrifennu yn y Gymraeg).
Mae’r rhestr ‘na yn fwy neu lai yn dweud y stori gyfan. Dwi ddim yn honni fod yn arbenigwr ar greu CVs, a’r gwir yw os bod chi’n gofyn i 10 berson beth sy’n gwneud CV da, fe gewch chi 10 ateb gwahanol. Mae’r pwyntiau uchod yn sicr yn bethau sy’n mynd i gael fi i sylwi eich CV, ag mwy neu lai yn wir ar gyfer y cyfwelwyr eraill. Os bod chi’n anghytuno, gadwch i mi wybod, efallai fyswn ni’n gallu adeiladu syniad gwell o beth mae CV da ar gyfer y byd technegol yn edrych fel.
Wrth ddarllen rhai o’r pwyntiau o blog Clive am ei 14eg gwaith yn cyfweld yng Ngregynog, dwi’n gweld fi’n hun yn cytuno’n llwyr gyda’i bwynt:
The weekend is all about learning and I also observe that as invited Industrialists we forget just how much we have learned in time between our 2nd year in University and today. The students are very much work in progress, though a bit of a wake up call was due in most cases. Perhaps awake up call the Industrialists (Clive included) got when they were of a similar age.
Gwnes i ddysgu tomen yn ystod fy mhrofiad Gregynog fi fel myfyriwr israddedig. Pan wes i fynd ‘na ‘nol yn ’02 (dwi’n cofio bod yn ofn tra bod Clive yn sgrechian gweiddi ar un o’n grŵp ni), roedd fy CV fi yn WAEL DROS BEN. Gefais i sioc ar y diawl tra bod fi ‘na, a gwnes i ddysgu cryn dipyn.
B
Rhagor o ddarllen:
Better late than never I guess… a weekend or two ago I headed over again to the lovely Gregynog Hall to help out with Aberystwyth University Computer Science‘s “Industrial Year” interview weekend. For those of you who don’t know, the department drags the 2nd year students away for a series of fake interviews to prepare them for what they might encounter entering the world of work.
Eight “Industrialists” are invited to review CVs prepared by the students, and subject them to some intensive questioning. The idea being that these interviews are rather more intensive than the ones they’re likely to encounter in the real world. The first evening has us (the Industrialists) sift through a pile of CVs (something in the region of 40 a piece) to try and find something interesting we can use at the interview. David Goodwin has put together his thoughts on the CVs we saw, so I won’t bother going through it all again. I’ll sumarise my thoughts into the following list instead:
- Don’t list modules on your CV – especially if you’ve failed the module. One or two listed that they’d failed a database module when applying for a job which had “Databases” as a key requirement.
- Don’t bury the lead – IT skills need to be high up on page 1.
- You don’t need to tell me about Word, Excel or Web browsers – I don’t care how light your CV is, you really can’t list using web browsers as a key skill. Also, unless you’re familiar with how Pivot Tables work, or know some of the more esoteric features of Word, they don’t belong on there either.
- Web developers need a web portfolio – It surprised me to see that so few of the students maintained a blog, or a Flickr page, or any kind of web portfolio.
- Don’t claim to be an expert – Unless you’re actually an expert in something, saying you have expert knowledge of a key area is a dangerous thing to say. One student said he was an expert trouble-shooter and was immediately quizzed by Clive, who some of his time teaching trouble-shooting techniques to some of the largest companies out there.
- You need to stand out – All of your classmates will have learned C, Java and a bit of PHP. Do something that demonstrates you have learned something outside of the course. If you’ve gone traveling around the world, taught computing skills to kids in some isolated area, ran a marathon, teach zorbing or something equally as interesting, then SAY SO. Something that makes you stand out will mean you’re more likely to get an interview.
- Proof-read it… several times – Mis-spelling things like the name of the Company, the University you studied at or the trademark for an important technology doesn’t inspire confidence, especially if you claim to be an effective communicator.
These are my thoughts anyway. I’m not claiming to be anything close to an expert. The honest truth is, if you asked 10 people what a good CV looks like, you wouldn’t get a single, conclusive answer. The points above are certainly true for me, and are broadly the points expressed by the other industrialists. If you disagree, please leave a comment below, and we’ll see if we can work out a better picture of what a great IT CV should look like.
Reading some of the points in Clive‘s blogpost on his 14th year doing Gregynog, I can’t help but agree with what he said:
The weekend is all about learning and I also observe that as invited Industrialists we forget just how much we have learned in time between our 2nd year in University and today. The students are very much work in progress, though a bit of a wake up call was due in most cases. Perhaps awake up call the Industrialists (Clive included) got when they were of a similar age.
I learnt a LOT at Gregynog. When I went on that weekend back back in ’02 (I remember being terrified watching a classmate being screamed at by Clive), my CV was REALLY weak. It was the wakeup call I needed, and I learned a lot from it.
B
See also: