Wow! Finally, an article on this topic that's actually solid advice through and through.
I want to emphasize a point you made: demonstrated skills. I can't tell you how many students think they can climb up the resumé pile with a bullet list of 20 technologies they "know" (seriously, most senior developers only really know 2-5 well) and a bunch of degrees and certificates. The problem with this strategy is twofold:
(1) Everyone pads out their resumé like this. Certificates and bullet points are like cheap filler for an empty CV. Virtually every resumé in the stack has them. Hiring managers know this. If the bulk of a resumé is like this, it is usually set aside.
(2) By themselves, certificates, degrees, and "I know X language" bullet points usually translate to little practical value.
I've had candidates with multiple certificates, 2-3 CS degrees, first-place prizes in hackathons, and 20 listed technologies...who couldn't even compose a basic function or loop. I wish I could say it was the exception, but it's unfortunately the majority, especially at a junior developer level.
Meanwhile, I've had junior developers who demonstrated solid foundational skills, and their resumés showed it by their projects. Some of them had few, if any, certs and degrees.
That is not to say a certificate or degreee is without value. They're viable learning paths. Simply do not acquire certificates and degrees to make your resumé look better. It doesn't work. Focus instead on actual projects. If you want to prove you know Python, don't get a Python certificate. Instead, work on a real Python project, ideally one you ship to real users.
Wow! Finally, an article on this topic that's actually solid advice through and through.
I want to emphasize a point you made: demonstrated skills. I can't tell you how many students think they can climb up the resumé pile with a bullet list of 20 technologies they "know" (seriously, most senior developers only really know 2-5 well) and a bunch of degrees and certificates. The problem with this strategy is twofold:
(1) Everyone pads out their resumé like this. Certificates and bullet points are like cheap filler for an empty CV. Virtually every resumé in the stack has them. Hiring managers know this. If the bulk of a resumé is like this, it is usually set aside.
(2) By themselves, certificates, degrees, and "I know X language" bullet points usually translate to little practical value.
I've had candidates with multiple certificates, 2-3 CS degrees, first-place prizes in hackathons, and 20 listed technologies...who couldn't even compose a basic function or loop. I wish I could say it was the exception, but it's unfortunately the majority, especially at a junior developer level.
Meanwhile, I've had junior developers who demonstrated solid foundational skills, and their resumés showed it by their projects. Some of them had few, if any, certs and degrees.
That is not to say a certificate or degreee is without value. They're viable learning paths. Simply do not acquire certificates and degrees to make your resumé look better. It doesn't work. Focus instead on actual projects. If you want to prove you know Python, don't get a Python certificate. Instead, work on a real Python project, ideally one you ship to real users.
One viable project is worth a dozen degrees.
Completely agree with avoiding 'filler content' on a resume, thanks for adding more value to this post by sharing from your experiences!