Can we control attrition rate at minimum level?

ATTRITION: This is a debatable topic in itself. Many hours of discussions have gone into this topic, just to understand why employees leave a company and what companies should do to control attrition. Let us admit that attrition can not be stopped. No matter what the company does or how best the company is, employees will leave (exception, Google for obvious reasons).

So companies come up with innovative approaches to put a plug to perennial problem. Some approaches include providing better remuneration (salary for those who talk straight), to provide better facilities and benefits, to provide out-of-this-world working environment, etc. etc. Some employers provide one of these facilities while some provide more than one, depending upon the levels.

But recently, I have noticed a "really innovative" yet draconian way to curb attrition - DO NOT ALLOW EMPLOYEES TO VISIT JOB SITES!! This crude approach is being followed by none other than one of the respectable MNC companies - Capgemini!!! Yes, Capgemini India is following this strange (they call it strict) policy to stop employees from accessing any job sites when they are on Capgemini network. 

Did we say we are in a democratic atmosphere??? 

Or does this mean that the company is too worried about tons of employees leaving them every quarter?? 

God only knows... :)

Capgemini's draconian ways to control attrition

Turbulence in Capgemini: Lay Offs expected!!

Capgemini Group recently concluded Rencontre event in Barcelona, Spain. Rencontre is a Group level (i.e. global) event where all top head-honchos of all BU's and SBU's of Capgemini Group come together to discuss performance for the current year and plan for the next steps of action for forthcoming year.

Rencontre is typically considered as a turning point for Capgemini Group - every year. In 2006, Capgemini had launched I3 Program as the direct result of Rencontre of that year. Under this program, there was a lot of restructuring and subsequent lay-offs. The situation is more or less similar for Rencontre 2010. In Rencontre 2010, Capgemini Group had launched, yet again, a new program which met with huge applaud by the audience there. This is known as "PEOPLE MATTER, RESULTS COUNT" program - there is no formal name yet, but this is the tagline of the program. Subsequently it will become tagline of the Capgemini Group.

What "People matter, results count" actually mean is that: Capgemini Group gives increasing importance to its people. But - it is a really big but - results or performance is what finally counts. Here are some of my observations - purely my own interpretations, and some of the predictions of things to happen in Capgemini Group in coming days.

1. To me, these two statements are self contradictory.
2. If people really matter to you, why there is a contradictory statement of Results?
3. Why suddenly Capgemini realized that People are its important assets? Was it disregarding its most important asset until now?
4. This Program is just a reaction of Capgemini to the increasing threat posed by Indian Pure Players. Capgemini is not (and has never been) proactive. This Program is a reactive approach...
5. Just like its last 2 global Programs (as result of Rencontre), this Program may also be a huge hype in the beginning and eventually will bite the dust. Then next year, Capgemini will launch yet another Program!
6. There is a lot of confusion amongst its people, at least in India. Capgemini India is undergoing tremendous terbulence because of the latest Rencontre. There are huge restructuring exercises that are expected to take place in coming weeks.
7. PEOPLE IN INDIA MAY LOSE JOBS. There are speculations that there would be lay-offs in India organization of Capgemini Group. There may be similar situation in other departments of Capgemini.
8. There is huge chaos in India organization. Even the top management (like Directors, Vice Presidents, etc.) are not sure what is going to happen. They are not sure if their own jobs would be there!!

I would strongly request all my readers to exercise CAUTION while joining Capgemini. However, this is purely my own opinion...

IT industry Salary & Skills Report 2010

1. What are industry average salaries of IT people across India and across the world?
2. Which are the top rated and most preferred skills in the IT industry?
3. What is the average IT experience that matters in the industry?
4. What are the average salaries of various industries, including IT & ITES?
5. Which are the top IT certifications?

Do you have answers to any or all of these questions? Most probably not. That's the reason I bring to you snippets from the most prestigious IT SALARY REPORT. This extensive research has been carried out by ActiveTechPros. The content of this report is based on aggregated data provided by activeTechPros members. Information provided is for general informational purposes. activeTechPros does not guarantee the correctness or completeness of the data.


CLICK HERE to view snippets of the report [It does not open any window. It just expands a hidden table of contents.]

	Please find below charts that will answer above 5 questions for you. You can use these charts as a BENCHMARK to check where you stand as against current trend in the industry. Please click on the image to enlarge it.

Quitting easier than asking for a raise

A new survey has shown that finance workers would rather find a new job than ask for a raise. The survey was carried out by recruitment firm Robert Half. More than a quarter of finance workers said they never ask for a raise, and more than half thought they needed to quit their jobs in order to increase their salary.

Click Here to email your resume to 1000’s of top recruiters.

Robert Half director Andrew Brushfield said that more employees are willing to change jobs than ever before because they feel like they missed out on salary increases during the economic downturn. In addition, as the financial market strengthens, more corporate recruiters are trying to poach workers, making it even more tempting for employees to leave.

Employers need to be more aware of that otherwise they run the risk of losing more people. If someone’s tapped on the shoulder, they’re more able to secure a solid pay increase which when contrasted to the past couple of years is pretty significant. Change your life for $7.00. Get instant access to a lucrative freelance career. Click here to start your journey to earn $3000 per week - or more!!!

The firm surveyed 2599 finance and accounting workers from around the Asia-Pacific region, including 656 workers in Australia in March and April. The perception that jumping to a new job is better than negotiating is accurate, he said. Finance workers were able to increase their income by between 5 and 10 per cent when they changed jobs. But he warned employees that job-hopping to advance a career can also backfire, as recruiters look for experience and reliability in new candidate.

Infosys: Who got the highest payhike?

Surprisingly, the fattest pay package at the country’s second-largest IT exporter does not go to its chief mentor and non-executive chairman N Narayana Murthy, co-chairman Nandan Nilekani or CEO and MD S Gopalakrishan. But, interestingly, it goes to CFO V Balakrishnan with a hike of Rs 1.73 crore. Balakrishnan’s remuneration increased from Rs 63 lakh to Rs 2.36 crore last fiscal.

Balakrishnan was closely contended by BG Srinivas, head of European operations and an executive council member, was the highest paid employee at Infosys in the year-ended March 2009. Last year, Srinivas received a total compensation package of Rs 4.67 crore. Srinivas’ total remuneration rose by Rs 1.6 crore.

Srinivas was followed by Ashok Vemuri. US-based Ashok Vemuri, head of BFSI and capital markets, total compensation rose to Rs 4.04 crore from Rs 2.81 crore in the previous fiscal. Last year Vemuri, had received an annual compensation of $704,111 (a little over Rs 2.8 crore). Among the board members, Mohandas Pai earned the highest compensation package of Rs 2.59 crore. Last year, Pai was the third highest earning executive at Infosys with an package of $443,379 (about Rs 1.8 crore).

The current CEO and MD, S Gopalakrishnan’s total compensation package stood at Rs 92 lakh while co-chairman Nandan Nilekani earned Rs 91 lakh. COO SD Shibulal’s Rs 87 lakh was the lowest among key management personnel. NR Narayana Murthy, non-executive chairman and chief mentor, took home a commission of Rs 63 lakh only!

Online job scam: Lecturer held for duping lakhs

Yesterday, the Kanjurmarg (a Mumbai suburb) police arrested a 30-year-old lecturer for "allegedly" duping lakhs of people across the country of crores of rupees by offering unbelievable returns in a matter of a few hours. The accused, Arvind Ojha, who teaches science in a Thane college operated from his residencecum-office at Aashirwad Cooperative Housing Society in Bhandup. Ojha set up a company Cosmos Infomedia India Private Limited and had a website, earn45k.com. He tied up with telecom companies and SMSes were sent to mobile users which said, “Earn Rs 45,000 within 2-3 hours sitting at home.

Those intending to become members were asked to to pay Rs 1,000 as membership. The members received a ‘business kit’ that contained three books providing guidelines to earn quick money in hours. The kit contained three forms for enrolling more members. Every member was asked to send a cheque of Rs 100 in favour of five other members whose names are mentioned in the forms. They were told they would get Rs 45,000 in a few hours once more members signed up. But it never happened. This is a money-chain scheme.

One of the victims lodged a complaint on the mumbaipolice.org website. Further investigations are on as it seems that it is not the handiwork of one person.

WEBSITE CONTENT

Welcome to Cosmos Infomedia India Pvt Ltd. Are you tired of Internet jobs or part-time jobs, which do not fetch any results? Is financial independence your goal? Do you want to fulfill all your dreams? Then you are at the right place at the right time Mail order is—of course—a very attractive business for many reasons mainly because of its nature, which can be run from home in your spare time! There is no face-to-face contact, so its an Ideal business from anyone, a housewife, student, employed, unemployed, retired person...

WARNING: Please DO NOT fall trap to such business schemes / advertisements. They are all FRAUD. If you have also come across something similar, please comment here the details, or post a message on mumbaipolice.org website. Let's STOP FRAUDS.

(Issued in public interest with the help from The Times of India.)

Warning: Steer clear of great Nigerian job trick

Dr. S. Doiphode (35) from Kalyan (in Maharashtra, India) received a job offer in the UK via email late last year. He was asked to deposit Rs 1.95 lakh in a particular bank account for processing the visa and air tickets. Doiphode made the payment but when he got another email demanding Rs 2 lakh more, he lodged a complaint. Another Deepika Sharma from Kalyan, received an e-mail job offer for a foreign airline’s cabin crew. As demanded in the mail, she paid Rs 5.28 lakh in a Bank of Baroda account. When she failed to receive the appointment letter, visa and air tickets, she cross-checked with her relatives in the UK who informed her that she was duped.

These are just two gullible job seekers who fell prey to the online job fraud, allegedly orchestrated by Nigerians. In the past too, several people have been duped through such e-mails that offered the recipients a part of the huge bank balances left behind by their so-called relatives. In return, they were asked to pay in lakhs for the required clearances from various government authorities. The cyber cell of the Thane police recently busted two groups that indulged in such rackets. The police have been receiving about 14-16 such complaints in a month. According to the police, the scamsters — posing as fake companies — registered themselves with job portals seeking prospective candidates. “Once they got details of the candidates, they selected the victims,’’ a police officer said.

The police said that the scamsters even got fake websites of the UK High Commission created and registered with the Internet Service Provider by paying Rs 1,200 for six months. The officer said, “The scamsters used a software that enables them to hide the IP address through which the mails are sent. Even the service providers failed to track these IP addresses.’’ The main offices of most ISPs are located abroad, which makes our job difficult, said one police official. The scamsters tied up with locals to open bank accounts. In Doiphode’s case, the accused Tibakno Zeelesle got his landlady Elizabeth Jessino to open a bank account in Bank of Maharashtra. The police recently arrested Tibakno and Jessino. “She was offered a 5% commission of the total money collected by the scamsters,’’ the police said. They seized a laptop containing profiles of candidates and their email IDs. In Sharma’s case, the Kalyan Police arrested five persons, including a Nigerian, William Adams (37), from Cuffe Parade in January who had taken the help of 5 slumdwellers whom he befriended to open the bank accounts.

WARNING: DO NOT TRUST emails which claim to offer you lucrative job offers in the US, the UK, Middle East, or anywhere in the world and in turn demand you to deposit some money for processing. Note that NO COMPANY in the world will demand money from you to offer you a job, or to even process your application. If you come across any such instances, please INFORM THE POLICE immediately. DO NOT FALL PRAY to this Nigerian trick. (Excerpts from report published in The Times of India.)

Upgrade yourself to become more employable with University of Phoenix

The University of Phoenix is renowned all over the world for the quality of education it provides, the curriculum, and the most important reason: it makes its students "employable" anywhere in the world. This largest private University in North America was founded in 1976 and it strives to continuously meet the needs of the students. It has been a pioneer in offering flexi-time online learning courses to its students so that they can learn as and when they find time and at the comfort of their own homes! It has been an eye-witness to the revolutions in the education industry. And not to forget, its diplomas / degrees are recognized all over the world.

The University makes quality higher education highly accessible. Whether you’re seeking an associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s or even a doctoral degree. With the extensive support from the highly trained staff, it helps you reach your goal while you work — and much sooner than you might expect. It offers world class programs (both campus & online) in various streams like Business, Criminal Justice, Nursing / Healthcare, Technology, Psychology, Education, and Human Services.

Benefits: For campus programs, you can attend class just once a week. Classes are held in the evening and on weekends, though some campuses offer day classes. You need to complete assignments on your own, as well as with your learning team. For online programs, you can complete coursework through electronic forums. You can also receive lectures, questions and assignments from your instructor electronically. You're expected to study them at your convenience. It is expected that you should log in at least 4 days/week for direct courses of the University or 3 days/week for associate's degree courses through Axia College of the University. You choose the days and times.

The University of Phoenix strives to make higher education highly accessible. Financial options, including financial aid & company funding, are available for those who qualify. APPLY: If interested, simply visit the University's website & fill up a short form. The University staff will then get in touch with you... In this time of recession, equip yourself with advanced skills and make yourself unique!!!

Relocating? Think MoveMe for smooth relocation

With the biggest scam in Indian IT industry (and also one of the biggest in Indian corporate history) - the Satyam scam - taking an ugly turn where its founder being arrested & the Indian government desolving its borad, the things are absolutely uncertain. Though there are talks that the newly constituted Satyam board may only better the things in coming weeks, there is clear uncertainty among its employees over their future and lot of them have already started shifting. Well, I can't guarantee anything about future of Satyam, however, I can certainly help all my readers in ensuring a smooth transition, a smooth move whenever you are ready to change location.

I, recently, have learnt about a fantastic site - MoveMe.com, the expert that makes moving simple. I personally know how cumbersome it is when you're moving locations and especially when you have lot of stuff to move and are running short on time. Plus, you can't risk of damaging your precious stuff, belongings, and personal artifacts. That's where MoveMe.com can make a difference to you. You can trust MoveMe for all your needs on renting a good place, buying & selling property, moving family & pets and also moving people with physical disabilities. It offers everything that you'll need to physically move home… whether you need a removal company or a van to move yourself (man and van)- covering both national & international movement. It also offers great deals on (physical) storage solutions & quotes from reputed third-party vendors. And if you just want to change address (as mandated by your employer to claim the relocation benefits), it can never become so easy with MoveMe…

I have personally used this service and I am quite satisfied with it. I would advise you to first request removal quotes from them, compare them yourself and then make a final decision. Trust me; you'll not regret it later.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all job seekers...

This Christmas, I wish all my readers and fellow job-seekers a great & prosperous year. May all your wishes come true!

I am also pleased to bring you some of the fantastic job offers and promotional offers, which are guaranteed to provide you your dream job in this new year!

Tips to retain your job in current harsh economy (2/2)

Hate your job? In today’s harsh economic environment, it may be more practical to identify the reasons and fix them, than to fly off the handle or let yourself be defeated easily. Here are a few tips… (Source: Times of India)

... Continued from PART 1 of this series ...

Tip 4: Reinvent your work

A good way to bring freshness to the same old job is to find new ways to do it better than before. It is this innovative outlook that has resulted in newer and improved versions of products and services in the market. Besides, at a personal level, being creatively involved will keep away the negative thoughts.

Tip 5: Advertise subtly

A good number of people have quit their well-paying jobs simply because they feel their hard work is appreciated. Often, this gives some people reason to blame their boss. But there’s always the possibility that the oversight was not deliberate. Too often, employees keep rather low profiles, and thus remain unnoticed. If you’re feeling overlooked, consider that it may be time to get out of the shadows. There’s no call to brag about yourself; you can handle the situation in a subtle manner. When the opportunity—say, a regular feedback session—presents itself, take it to ensure that your boss is well aware of the efforts you’ve been putting in.

Tip 6: Tackle difficult colleagues

Often, the real reason people lose interest in their job is not the work itself, but the people at work. If there isn’t a single person in your office with whom you can get along professionally, it’s possible that the problem is yours, and not theirs. In today’s corporate scenario, the inability to work in a team is considered a weakness. But assuming the problem is not with you, and a problem colleague really is proving detrimental to your work, consider asking your supervisor to move you to another department, where you can meet new people, although you would also have to be ready to possibly do somewhat different work.

Morale of the story...

Looking for a change within your existing corporate environment maybe easier, if minor irritations are the issue. Giving in to the impulse to quit may seem the easy way out, but life may actually be easier if the problem can be reduced or fixed without giving up the job. Quitting is ONLY for smokers!

Tips to retain your job in current harsh economy (1/2)

Hate your job? In today’s harsh economic environment, it may be more practical to identify the reasons and fix them, than to fly off the handle or let yourself be defeated easily.

Everybody gets the blues sometimes, and that’s as true at one’s job as it is outside the office. When the ennui sets in, it gets harder to retain the spring in your step as you head out to work each morning. The stress begins to show. You start coming up with reasons why your job is not right for you. But at a time when employees are being handed pink slips, it has become harder to assume that the “right job” is waiting for you just around the corner. So don’t rush to type up that resignation — give your job one more chance. Here are some tips on changing your job from “boring” to “interesting”. (Source: The Times of India)

Tip 1: Be the vehicle of change

This really is the first step to any change. List the problems you’re having, and the possible solutions to them. Think about them, and you’ll find there are many small and big changes that could improve your situation. List those changes and start working to implement them—that effort will have to come from you.

Tip 2: Change your perspective

It’s all in the mind, say psychologists. Recall the reasons why, during your first few months on the job, you thought it was a great one. Unless your work situation has changed drastically, some of those reasons probably still hold true. For instance, Ritu, an operator in a call centre back office, hated the extended working hours at her workplace, yet spent a good five years at it simply because her colleagues were like an extended family.

Tip 3: Bring about real changes

Go back to that list of the positive changes you can make. Now is the time to bring them about. Often, the reason an employee wants to quit her job is that she feels she hasn’t got what she deserves from her seniors. If you think you’ve been denied the promotion you deserve, for instance, consider talking it out with your seniors. But before marching into your boss’s office waving your list of demands, review your own work critically—from the boss’s point of view. Of course, keep in mind that talking it out is best done only when you are on a strong footing.

... CLICK HERE for Part 2 of this series ...

Google advice to students: Major in learning

Management guru Peter Drucker noted that companies attracting the best knowledge workers will "secure the single biggest factor for competitive advantage." We and other forward-looking companies put a lot of effort into hiring such people. What are we looking for?

At the highest level, we are looking for non-routine problem-solving skills. We expect applicants to be able to solve routine problems as a matter of course. After all, that's what most education is concerned with. But the non-routine problems offer the opportunity to create competitive advantage, and solving those problems requires creative thought and tenacity.

Here's a real-life example, a challenge a team of our engineers once faced: designing a spell-checker for the Google search engine. Click Official Google Blog: Our Googley advice to students: Major in learning to know in more details.

Marten Runow & Performia ensure you never make wrong hiring decisions again...

“The importance of hiring productive personnel cannot be underestimated. The success of your business depends on it.” - Marten Runow, Founder and Chairman of Performia International

One can offer you great job opportunities. One can teach you outstanding skills. To excel in professional life, one needs exceptional skills - professional as well as business. No one trains you in these skills better than Performia. Over last decade, Marten Runow, a great philanthropist, observed that businesses are getting techies, but not skilled managers. This made him to conceive a world-class training institute which would help businesses around the world to spot & hire prospective highly-efficient personnel - Performia Training.

Performia utilizes sophisticated technology for online testing and interviews to filter out real meat from chaff. Through their extremely accurate & powerful systems, Performia helps companies become more successful in their recruitment process through more knowledge and better systems. After all, it is the vast experience of Marten Runow that is helping you to realize your hiring goals - it is quite evident from their testimonials! So get out of the traditional manual processes and get in touch with Performia International now!!

10 tips for writing a Job-Winning Developer's Resume

As seasoned job hunters know, the first step on the road to finding work is to write a resume that gets you the interview. Unfortunately, some of the traditional resume writing rules just do not work well in the software development industry. Here are 10 tips for writing a programmer resume that will increase your chances of getting the interview.

And these tips are not only applicable for a developer! Anyone looking for / switching a job can refer these tips (with proper customization)!

1. Provide a skills list up front

The hiring manager wants to know if you have the skills the company is looking for. An "experience" section gives managers a good idea of how much experience you have, but if you have a "skills" section at the top of the resume, their eyes go there first. Sure, you may be making it a bit easier for them to weed out your resume. But on the flip side, you might bring to their attention some skills they would otherwise overlook. At the very least, the hiring manager will appreciate the skills list.

2. Make the experience interesting

Most developers on the market have written a data-driven Web site or desktop application. To give a bunch of examples of these on your resume is not impressive. What does impress a potential employer is experience that has something unique about it, showing you've done more than just “Hello World” level work. If you've been working under unique constraints or in environments with high levels of transactions or zero tolerance for failure, that looks very good to the person reading the resume. So show me how your experience is different, and I will see you as different.

3. Root out grammar, spelling, and other common mistakes

Over the course of my time hiring, I have seen all sorts of grammar and spelling mistakes on resumes. One of the most embarrassing was when someone misspelled the name of the college he graduated from. Resumes do contain some unique grammatical conventions, and software development work in particular often revolves around acronyms or oddly spelled words. But that is really no excuse. Check your spelling and your grammar. This tip appears on just about every resume advice article I have ever read, but it clearly needs repeating.

4. Education counts, but not for much

Unless you are just entering the job market for programming or are applying for a very specialized position, your education is not terribly important. Sure, you need to put it on your resume, but list it last, please. The hiring managers who need or want to know about it can find it, and the others won't have to spend time on it. The world of programming changes often enough so that somewhere around seven years later, most schooling (except for “principles and theory” subjects, like mathematics or “pure” computer science) and certifications have little in common with the current working world reality.

5. Get to the meat, quick

The traditional resume format includes a lot of information that's just not needed, in the mind of the development manager. Your summary and possibly even the objective are two such sections. There really is no way to provide a summary that describes most programming pros in a way that is accurate, yet shorter than a resume itself. This is why most summary sections read like so much useless drivel: “Seasoned programmer with 10 years development,” followed by highlights of the skills section. Thanks, but no thanks.

The objective is often (but not always) just as useless. If you are looking for a change of pace, it offers a great way to keep the reader from pigeonholing you based on your skills and experience. The intermediate programmer looking to slide into a senior developer position can safely skip the objective. The senior programmer who wants to become a software architect or a DBA needs to state an objective. So avoid the summary at all costs, provide only useful objectives, and let the reader get to your skill set as quickly as possible.

6. Formatting matters

The formatting of your resume is important. While the days of mailing resumes printed on premium stationery are long past, it is still a document that someone needs to read on a computer screen and on paper. That can be quite a balancing act, believe it or not. This is not the time to show off your inner Picasso, unless the position you are applying for is of a visually artistic nature. This is the time to enhance readability. That means using a larger font (10 to 12 points), a common font that all computers have (if your document format does not bundle fonts within it), and one that looks good both on the screen and off. My recommendations are Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, and Helvetica.

Use enough whitespace so that the document does not seem too dense, which will turn readers off. At the same time, don't waste so much space that it takes eight pages to print 200 words. Of course, the format of the file itself is important. My experience has been that 99.9% of the recruiters out there will ask for your resume in Microsoft Word format if you send it in any other format, so make sure that you can provide a document in the standard .doc format. Always keep in mind that the resume is your primary tool for selling yourself. If readers can't consume the information in it, whether due to technical issues or readability problems, they will quickly move on to the next resume.

7. Be cautious with the length

Regardless of how your document is formatted, try to keep the length between two and four pages, unless there are extremely special circumstances. People who spend a lot of time doing short-term contract work can have longer resumes, and people just entering the job market can have shorter resumes.

Overall, it is tough to properly highlight your technical skills and more than one position in the traditional one-page resume format. Two pages should be the baseline for any intermediate or senior developer. But after about four pages, the reader’s eyes start to glaze over. Much like your education, the experience you had more than seven or eight years ago is not terribly relevant, but the hiring manager does like to see an arc of increasing responsibility or project difficulty.

8. Properly document your history

Programming is not like most fields when it comes to employment history. For one thing, many programmers are contractors, which leads to an employment history that can look like a train. In addition, the dot-com bust is not too far behind us, and IT has always been an industry with a lot of bankruptcies, mergers, and acquisitions.

The problem is, no hiring manager likes to see a long list of short-term jobs. If your resume has a string of such jobs, with job titles that get bigger and bigger, you look like someone who has no loyalty. On the other hand, if the jobs seem basically the same (or worse, get lower on the totem pole), it makes the reader think that you may simply be unemployable. If you have a legitimate reason for the short-term jobs, make sure that the reason is obvious. For example, mark the contracting/consulting positions clearly.

9. Don’t put the reader at legal risk

No hiring manager likes to be accused of prejudiced or discriminatory hiring. Not only is it unethical, but it is illegal. So hiring managers who are trying to do the job right will be familiar with the list of questions they can't ask an applicant. Your part of the equation is to exclude this information from your resume. The hiring manager does not need to know your marital status, ethnicity, nation of origin, age, religion, or sexual orientation. There are a lot of other things the hiring manager does not need to know, either. If you include these irrelevant details on your resume, the hiring manager will feel scared and skittish. Leave these details out, please.

10. "What a geek!"

In high school, you may have hated being called a geek. But today, you are trying to find work as a programmer. “Geek” is “gold” to hiring managers. Find a way to show them that you are smart, love programming, and are constantly growing, learning, and exploring new ideas. Talk about your relevant hobbies if you have any, like contributing to open source projects or volunteering to teach local kids programming. Let them know if you like programming or computers enough to deal with them outside of work.

It is a really simple equation for the hiring manager. While two candidates may be equal today, the candidate with passion will be far more advanced tomorrow than the candidate who treats it as “just a job.”