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Discussion on: Critique My Resume!

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itsasine profile image
ItsASine (Kayla)

Convention thoughts

  1. Being in the US automatically means remove the photo. There's too much around discrimination, especially in California where they are super mindful of it, to include that you're a white dude with a family right there. Put it on your personal site but your resume would likely get binned quick if you look like a future lawsuit. Your application could be the best they have and it would still get binned if it seemed to much like your photo swayed that opinion (yes, you have basic white dude name of Ryan, but even just adding in that you have a family is enough to make things squicky)
  2. Normally I would say any working adult should put exp at the top to be conventional, but since you're trying to pivot more technical (as per your summary), I'd keep it structured as is 👍 If you're applying for jobs that take cover letters, use them! Show off more of what you have in your summary by describing your passion for tech and how math translates with analytical soft skills and stuff (note: I'm a math major who sucks at wording that part -- I know it's a useful connection but can't explain it well)
  3. Your projects I would try making more bulleted to be skimmable (or at least easier to highlight what you care about). Technologies used: * React * Next.js etc

Personal opinions

  1. You already wove your skills elegantly into your projects, so your Skills section doesn't enhance your candidacy at all. I would use that space to buff up something else, but I know some of my coworkers adore skills scoring and I don't. Hiring is full of personal quirks like that. IF you want a skills section, maybe use it to highlight your best stack or your desired stack (but don't apply if it's not in that stack)
  2. Nitpick: if you own your domain, I wonder why you don't at least have a vanity email for inquiries that forwards to your Gmail like ryan@doylecodes.com. Migadu will do this for free.
  3. Consistency: pick a convention and stick to it for how to list your credentials. Your work is Position, Company, Location, tab tab tab, years while your education is more like Company; Location -- Position, Year and your projects are Position, tab tab tab, link. For what it's worth, I liked Position, Company, Location, tab tab tab, years the best but you do you.

Awesome things

  1. I thought the summary was super clean and conversational. Like you were telling me why you want a tech gig. Objectives rub me wrong (your objective is to get the job you applied for, no shit) but your summary nails it to me. Cover letters are where you can dive more into your motivations for moving careers.
  2. You have a really solid balance of whitespace. I know above I was like "moar bullet points", but overall, your resume is quite readable.
  3. Seriously, we're only nitpicking because we care. Hiring is super subjective and the most important thing is that you are comfortable with how you're portraying yourself. Do you read this and think it explains why your experience got you to this point and how it will position you well for the next step? Does it read like you would say it in an interview or telling someone at a party what you do? In its current state, I think it does.
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doylecodes profile image
Ryan Doyle

Ahhh thank you so much! I love the nitpicking. I feel like the moment I had the idea to post it here was because I was right at the point where I was starting to nitpick everything myself, but figured...I don't actually hire people so what am I even nitpicking?!

It's really super helpful that everyone is giving tips like, "you're a white dude in CA get rid of the photo," (should have been obvious if I think about it) while also giving super specific personal opinions because it helps with seeing how people process these things. Obviously I can't take all the advice and make every change, but there is a lot of consensus with certain suggestions and also a great deal to learn from how people perceive what you put forward. Thanks again!