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Is it the economy? The bubble finally popped? Or am I the stupid one.
Anyone willing to share some tips for someone just starting out in the industry?
[Name redacted resume attached] https://docdro.id/kzogpyB
I work for a smaller company so my approach to resume review might differ from others, but a couple of things stand out:
* As an interviewer, I'm not especially interested in the fact that you took "Modern Physics" or organic chemistry. These might be relevant to a particular role, but in the context of a generic resume they come across as filler.
* Your projects and work experience are grouped by language, rather than chronology or complexity. I'd prefer either of those, since they tell me more about what I should ask you about. By the same token: it's good to list your own "level of proficiency" with each language, so that I can confirm that against my expectations.
I would restructure and reorder your resume entirely: your past experience is a little thin, so start with a personal statement (who you are, what you're interested in doing), summarize your projects and work experience, and list your awards and comments at the end.
Edit: And, to be clear: you aren't stupid. Resume construction and follow through is arguably harder than any junior role you actually end up in will be.
First, you can view your name in your GitHub. Might want to remove that for HN.
Your GitHub activity is also private. I would just remove the link if you don't want to make it public.
I also don't like your GitHub picture. I would use something else or no picture. Put a BIO in your GitHub if you're going to keep it.
Regarding your resume, I would put the awards near the bottom. Start with any job experience, then education.
Limit your resume to one page.
Regarding experience, I would like for you to expand on the work you have done. This is the most important thing to me. I think this is too light. Be generous with yourself regarding your work. Tell us a little about what you did & what parts most interested you about the tech.
Chinese & English is good. You can probably put this in your header, along with some other highlights. You may even move some awards to your header, as in next to or below your name.
Projects is good, but I really want a list of your proficiencies, and probably even more important, what interests you as a new developer.
Save anything else you want to highlight for your cover letter. Write a really good cover letter. I know. It's super annoying. Keep it to a paragraph or two and be happy with it before you send it. Proofread.
Hiring has slowed down a lot, especially in tech. Startups along with large companies are really just not hiring much.
But, you should still be able to get some interviews. If you're not, you're doing the right thing here - get as much feedback as you can. And follow up with those emails a few times.
- Keep it to one page. Not a hard and fast rule, but generally recommended. The times where 2 pages is generally more acceptable is when you're a senior engineer with serious breadth of experience.
- Maximize space on the page. Goes along with the previous point, but your resume can be tight. I personally used a smaller font with less spacing.
- List fewer, but your most prideful projects. Interviewing and reading resumes leads to fatigue fast. When I have to read resumes, I have to read a ton, and they all start to blend in.
Then reach out to engineering leaders at growth stage startups. They are always resource constrained. And generally speaking they hire for potential at the entry levels based on demonstrated passion for coding and systems design via Github and/or blogs.
And yes, fix your resume with the other tips in this thread.
Eventually after your name, you can make a little statement of your motivation, like a personal "mission and vision" but be careful, that can be dangerous if you do not know what you are doing. I wouldn't do that for a junior position.
In your cover letter, keep it also short and simple: make emphasis in your motivation to work there and what you can offer.
The github profile does not add much, tbh.
Last but not least, but that is a very personal preference: I do not like the title "Resume" it is pretty obvious what it is, I prefer the format where your name is there.
Some resume tips (not a professional, just a software engineer who has looked at lots of resumes): - Keep it to one page. Not a hard and fast rule, but generally recommended. The times where 2 pages is generally more acceptable is when you're a senior engineer with serious breadth of experience. - Maximize space on the page. Goes along with the previous point, but your resume can be tight. I personally used a smaller…
To do that, you first need to differentiate yourself from the 1000s of other entry level applicants. Some tips:
1. Determine if you want to apply for a specific type of role. As an entry level person who just needs a job, this is hard. But think about the employer. THey want to get Resume from people who could fit into what the employer/team is doing. So lets say you decide to find employers/teams where Java is heavily used. Go apply there.
2. Write a really good Cover Letter and do not send it generically to every employer. A generic Cover Letter is as good as No Cover Letter. Research the team and send them a unique one along with your Resume. Yes, cover letters can work in 2022 at least for entry level people.
3. Go on Linkedin and look for the companies/teams that sell product/service in areas you have interest in. If your skills match their current product/service etc, reach out to someone like "Director of Technology" etc directly. It can never hurt but only help. Be specific. I would say something like
"Hey John, I hope you don't mind me reaching out but I was wondering if there are internship opportunities in your team. I see that you do xyz and I am very interested in this field and have some experience with tools in the area as well. Can I email you my detailed Cover Letter and Resume ?"
Get creative if you want to separate yourself from the others just like you. There are jobs out there but without experience, they are always harder to find because you need to sell yourself more.
In line with the other comments, which I find extremely good. Just follow the KISS principle: first experience, then education, last languages (with skill level). Awards, Projects and further comments, at the end, if there is place for that in one page. Maybe if they are asking for somebody with BLAS experience you can add that specific point, but if not, maybe better do not even mention it. Mind you: you are searchi…
Not a huge deal at all but if you're from a decent university then making it standout is important. (This is for inter ships and new grad)
To get a job as an entry level person, you either need to demonstrate that you have all round skills and you can fit into a team OR you need to target specific companies/teams that could utilize your existing experience (.e.g Java developer) To do that, you first need to differentiate yourself from the 1000s of other entry level applicants. Some tips: 1. Determine if you want to apply for a specific type of role. As…
I honestly have no clue what to write for a cover letter. Everything that I write just ends up sounding fake / makes it obvious that I just want a job for money's sake (which for me, at the end of the day, is what it comes down to).
I actually received the opposite advice from some others I asked, where they said to just use the shotgun approach and send as many applications as I can. I'm struggling to understand what order of magnitude of openings to apply to, should it be tens? hundreds?
Thanks again for all the help.