Let's help get some fresh talent in the industry. Help out another person by checking for spelling, grammar, making sure their resume is easy to read and any other tips you have come across your journey you think will benefit someone else.
The rules are simple:
Juniors:
Post a link to your resume / cv below for others to review, or get extra eyes on.
Seniors:
Please give feedback and reply so we don't all pile on the same one (but you can absolutely provide additional feedback).
*if you don’t want your personal info out there please replace with placeholders so the layout isn’t messed up. *
This thread was started on Twitter. Feel free to follow along in any or both places!
Top comments (349)
Would love some feedback on mine.
I have a website version that uses Print CSS to adjust down to a printer friendly version.
My thought was that since I'm trying to get a web design/development job having a resume website would be kinda cool and nifty that I can just print off a copy, wherever I am.
Perfect resume because its form itself speaks to your area of expertise. It paints you as having very specific skills, and that's usually a good thing. While a narrow focus can mean some people will not respond, it means that you will hook the ones who ought to respond.
Thank you for the kind words. That's definitely what I was going for. I'm trying to get a job making websites, so why not have my resume be a website? Most places only have an upload field for the resume, but then I can just go there, print off a fresh copy as a PDF and upload it.
Hi Jack.
I like the look of this immediately, but there are a couple of things I would change:
I really like the way you talk about "Professional Highlights" and "Projects I'm Proud Of". This gives me the impression that you're selecting things you think will interest me as a prospective employer, rather than turfing out every project you've ever done. Saying you're proud of something and showing it off is also a great way to impress people.
I am loving the printed version. Really stands out compared to the 'wall of text' most resumes are these days. My only concern is the non-tech centric roles; but I have no suggestion on how to deal with that given your experience and how tightly coupled they are to the next step in career path.
OVerall, I am digging the design Jack. Well done.
Thanks for your feedback David. I was definitely trying to stand out with the design.
I've had a couple people mention having my time at Target on there. The only reason I included it was to prevent the "Why'd you take a year off?" question. I've read that having employment gaps isn't the end of the world, but if there's a gap and the answer is "Oh, I just worked at Target" that seems worse than not having the gap.
I love it, it's simple and beautiful
But in Hong Kong, the job hunter only Ctrl+F the exact word, didn't know what is that
They will ask do you know .net if you know C#
Finally, CV will become "Word Wall" :(
I love the interactive Website Jack.
Thanks Gareth!
Might just be me, but I always notice when a site doesn't have a favicon or has the wrong one such as the drupal one when they don't give their own. So I would say get a favicon. Looks nice otherwise.
Wow, this is impressive and you just graduated! NICE WORK!
One suggestion I have would be to get a little more detailed on some points to help you really stand out. It will also help people get a firm grasp on what you can do the more detailed you are. For example:
I am personally a big fan of tailoring my Resume. You have A TON of awesome skills, but sometimes that makes it a little overwhelming to read. When you are applying, look at the job description and maybe try to whittle down your Skills list to those that you think would be most important for the job. That way if someone is reading your resume they can easily see you have the skills they are looking for.
When I first graduated I also put some of the relevant classes I took under my education section. Something to think about if you want. I also added notes about any organizations I was involved in or led that I thought might convey I had skills the employer was looking for.
Did I mention I LOVE your font?! :D Keep crushing it!!!
I agree with all of this. That’s all I have to add. 😂
+1 to what Molly said, I wish I would had such experience to show when I graduated haha.
Definitely trimming down the skills to the most relevant for the job you're looking for is important.
OK, I'm going to poke as many holes in this as I can:
Consistency (i.e. evidence of attention to detail and caring about your presentation) is important.
Some of the skills are written as "Frontend - React, Vue, Bootstrap" and some as "Version control using git or svn". I'd recommend picking a style and sticking to it. Keep capitalisation consistent between technology names and use a dash to separate the label from the list instead of the word, "using". There's no reason for some lists to have "and" or "or" before the last item and some not to. I'd leave it out, because that makes the text look a little less dense on the page.
Lines like "provisioning of customer accounts in vendor systems" are pretty vague and look like filler to me. If I was interviewing you I'd maybe ask you to elaborate but I might make the assumption that you just put it in there to make the list have more than two bullet points.
Remember that when someone (well, someone like me) looks at a CV we're noticing the weakest parts and we're thinking that if the candidate included that bit, it's because they couldn't come up with anything better. The best CVs make it look like the candidate had just shown us some examples of how good they are, leaving the reader to imagine that everything else they've done is up to the same standard.
This is the most interesting line in your CV:
Instead of that I might choose to write this:
Obviously it depends what you did and that might not be completely accurate anymore, but I'm trying to put the emphasis on you doing something. I'm also trying to avoid contractions like "/yr" and words like "utilize" which make things sound buzzwordy. I've also changed the voice so instead it's not so passive and it's more about you. I know some people say that you shouldn't use words like "I" too often in your CV, but, well, I don't agree :P
I don't think you need to include the heading on every page1. Reviewers are probably either going to be reading this on their screen or on a printout that they're bringing to the interview, so they're not going to get anything mixed up. This means you get more space on the page to sell yourself and you don't need to use titles like, "... continued".
The Education section seems padded compared to the rest, because it's spread out with extra line spacing and includes irrelevant information. When I read things like "August 29, 2018" I think, "why do I care what day you graduated?" It's also inconsistent with the way you write dates for the work experience.
I think this covers everything for that section:
The classes you mention will already be covered by your skills list... except I notice they aren't. You thought it was important enough to mention that you learned C++, but it's not something you list in your skills. My interviewer brain asks, "did you fail that course?"
I could also suggest you shorten the skills section to just include the skills relevant to the position for which you're applying. Maybe you could keep a copy of this "master" CV and let it flow over a few pages. Knock yourself out with writing this copy but trim it down for each role you apply for by removing things that don't matter.
Maybe change the heading "Work Experience" to "Relevant career history" or something2 because "work experience" is a phrase associated with people interning or still in education, and might put people off who just glance at the document.
It looks like you have a lot to offer, all I'm suggesting really is that you tidy it up a bit.
yes, I know you only have two; I'm being wildly general. ↩
that's terrible, too, makes you sound like a robot. But I can't do better before my morning coffee! ↩
Here is my CV I would like to hear what you think about it and what should I change to make it better :)
Thanks for this opportunity!
HOLY awesomeness! I can't believe you have done all of that and you are only 23!
Now I am not sure what it is like when applying to other companies outside of the US but here is my feedback if you were applying to US companies.
Overall, make sure you are only putting on the CV what the employer needs to know about you to ensure you can do the job they are hiring for. You have so many awesome accomplishments but not necessarily all of them should be on a CV and not necessarily all of them will be relevant for the job you are applying for.
Hope that helps!!!
Hi Molly, thank you for taking the time to check my CV and give feedback! Yes, luckily I could do a lot of things during 2017 and 2018 that helped me to have some accomplishments in my CV after graduating from the university.
I applied to almost all companies in Europe, but I will definitely take your advices to improve it. I didn’t realize on putting classes/subjects that were related to the job I applied, will do that and take out my high school degree.
Also I will polish the other sections to make the CV shorter and better!
Thanks again!
Hi Santiago.
I like your CV, and there's not much I'd change. This is therefore mostly a proofreading!
"What I expect about a company" sounds a little odd - if not a little entitled - to a native English speaker. I might say, "What I am looking for in a company" instead.
The same with beginning sentences with, "also" which is a very European thing to do. "Also I worked" reads better as "I also worked" or even simply "I worked".
There's no need to say "During my internship" in the section which is headed "Research internship". Remove that phrase and get a bit more space to write in more achievements.
I'd reverse the order of your sections to something more like Skills -> Job history -> Education -> Publications... because honestly, once you have any job experience, people stop caring about what you learned at university or school. First eyes on the page will likely be HR people or recruitment agents who are scanning for keywords1
You don't need to list your references on your CV (at least not in the UK, I don't know what it's like elsewhere) as it's understood that you will be asked for them if and when your CV generates enough interest to get you to an interview. Leaving them off saves you space you can use to expand on your skills. If you still feel you need this section, I'd suggest you remove the introductory paragraph ("The people listed below...") since it's unnecessary.
As to that, the intro text to the "Technical Skills" section is also unnecessary. This section and the references section are the only places you use this style. It looks a little odd pressed up against the bullet list and doesn't add any information to the document.
I'd rename "Extracurricular training" to "Training" or put it in the education section. I'd also rename "Technical skills" to "Skills". If you do that, then all the labels on the left-hand side of the document will fit on a single line, which in my opinion will make the page look neater.
I'd work on the margins, too - your name in the heading and some of the dates (see: "February 2018 - May 2018") are pressed up too close to the side of the page for comfort, and they make the whole thing look a little ragged.
Welcome to the world of Javascript === Java. ↩
Thank you very much Ben, for giving me such a good feedback! I really appreciate the time you took in checking my CV. I will change the writing to make it more clear and improve de margins (I totally agree that they don’t look very well)
Don't know how it is in Europe but normally one page is ideal here in the US. Also the gray background would make this a pain to print out I would think. Content wise looked okay though!
If I can give my two cents, I studied in London and got some pretty awesome CV tips when doing my master.
The recommendation there is also that your CV should fit in one page. My guess is that other countries in Europe are also like that - so research the country's "CV Rules" before you apply. :)
I would also tell you that over there you don't need and actually shouldn't include your picture.
Thanks for your feedback! I will need to summarize if I apply to jobs in US (though 2 pages wasn’t to much). Regarding the background you are right, although I like how it is in digital format, if I need to print it is inconvenient with that colours.
Glad my feedback was helpful. I can't design for shit but I can critique. :P
I think it does look good digitally but is bad for print. The problem with that though is if I get a digital copy, I'm not going to look for a print copy. I'm just gonna be sad.
Totally agree with that haha!
Hello guys, thanks for this thread. I'm trying to get my third job in software engineering, precisely in the front end side of things. Here is a link to my CV, drive.google.com/file/d/1MzAdhjT__.... Thanks in advance for any feedback. Appreciated
Hi Alexander.
I have mostly presentational tips for this one:
Your intro paragraph is important but it reads slightly clunkily:
I suggest a couple of minor tweaks:
I'm not sure how to rephrase the "passion" part and sill keep it in the same voice as the rest of the paragraph, and I'm worried that putting too many things in that opener will make it less punchy.
Hope this helps!
Hello Ben,
Thanks so much for the feedback. I am so grateful for the time you took to go through my resume and give this detailed feedback. It really means a whole lot to me. I will go over your recommendations, suggestions, and advice and follow suit accordingly. Once again thank you and do have a nice day ahead.
Regards,
Alexander Nnakwue
Overall feels professional just that I would changes the following. Firstly it's the amount of titles for packt publishing find one title that you wrote down and stick with it. Lastly I would remove the word intern from Sparkplug. Since I won't consider someone a intern when they you had graduated from university and had been working with them for 3 years after they had graduated, that is not a internship but full time work.
Wow. Thanks for the tip Max. I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks again. Regards
Alexander
I second that view. Nicely constructed CV that gets to the point. Just remember to adjust and highlight particularly impactful experience based on the position/company you are applying, you’ll do just fine!
Thanks Michelle. I will take in your feedback and implement accordingly. Regards🤗🤗
I think your CV is pretty solid, nothing to say :D
I see you freelanced at Packt Publishing, I reviewed a couple of books for them ages ago!
Thanks for the feedback rythms, feels good to hear. Yes I freelanced with Packt a while back. Also doing same with Appress ATM.
Firstly, you have it to 2 pages, which apparently is the magic CV number! I absolutely love the font and style. Its crisp and clean and you can glance the skills quickly and easily.
I really like this, I would interview you.
I can't express how amazing of an opportunity this is!
Feel free to tear apart my resume. I value any feedback!
I am a student that is searching for internships, trying to leverage my current experience.
Thank you to anyone that is able to give me advice/feedback :)
Hello another iOS Developer :D
I like the beginner to advance ranking. I also like the breakdown all your experience.
Just a reminder that any tech you list is interview-fair game, so make sure you are in fact comfortable with what you list and can answer questions about it. Next, position your skills for the job you want, not the job you have. You have a lot of various experience and I would encourage you to think about where you want to take it. Good luck!!
I couldn’t agree more, thank you so much! I’m in a tough position, because I’m a DevOps intern currently and I love it so much, but I practice iOS development in my free time so I’m trying to find an internship that would see my DevOps experience as valueable, but I agree on what you said because I don’t want to seem wishy washy.
Thank you so much for your advice, it’s always exciting meeting other iOS people!
Devops is valuable anywhere you go!! If nothing else than to provide insight into the whole process. It's always tuff getting started, my comment was primarily something to keep in mind as you go further into your career.
One thing that blew my mind.
How did you give yourself 5 stars (100% knowledge) on Atlassian Suite(Jira/Confluence)?
I am pretty sure even the main contributor/creators don't have the 100% knowledge of the product.
I hadn’t thought about it like that, I agree completely. Thanks!
Hi Bailey,
I would add a few thoughts...
First of all, I come from the school of thought that you highlight your most impactful item based on where you are - your most impactful is eduction at the moment. There are definitely different camps on this one, but I would swap.
I would also put a small (read sentence at most) intent at the beginning to direct the resder you are interested in an internship in x, y or z. I think that could help drive reality.
Love the visual on the left. Hope you have the career you want in tech!
It's a marvellous idea @kaydacode
And here's my resume. Would love to get some feedback :)
I am python, javascript engineer and I am trying to land a remote job as backend developer.
1) for your skills at the bottom, how are they ordered? It doesn’t feel obvious looking at it. Either make sure they’re listed from strongest to weakest, or just list them alphabetically. Alphabetical listing makes it look less haphazard.
2) anywhere you can, add numbers. I know from your resume that you worked on apps. Refactored some controllers. How big were the apps? Did you have to deal with concerns of scale? How many controllers did you refactor? When you say “almost all” that could be three or fifty depending on the size of the app. When you implemented caching for an app, what kind of performance gains did you see?
Thankyou for the feedback Jess :)
Currently I have listed my skills in the order of strongest to weakest but since the intent is not easily visible, I'll try experimenting with alphabetical ordering or a small hint denoting the strongest to weakest order.
And I definitely agree with you that I will add numbers to measure each metric, builds a clear picture.
Hello Shashank; your looks pretty impressive. Very well filled out and the sections are well separated. I like that you list the tech used during each position. The one issue that really stings is the capitalization. Python, Docker, etc should be upper case. Also, add the months to to the employment dates. At the moment it looks like you work at each place for exactly 1 year.
Good luck in your search.
Hey David, thanks for the wonderful feedback :D
I'll add capitalisation for key words and adding months is a very valid point, I'll incorporate that too. Thanks again.
Great idea, thanks! Definitley will take advantage of this.
Here's my resume I just updated it, so it may be lacking of some things.
Warning: since I'm not a native english speaker I may have spelling errors. Any kind of feedback is welcome :D
Hi Miguel,
really love your intro and your goals, you have a strong CV.
A few notes:
I'm not sure about listing udemy's or udacity's courses in your CV, you've already established you're self taught, unless you have a certificate or something there's no need to list the courses.
I was aware of one of those spelling errors, they're quite embarrasing... Thanks for pointing them out!
I'll reconsider about mentioning the online courses, maybe they don't really give more value to my resume.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to read it and provide feedback, I really appreciate it!
Hello!!
Great idea!!!
Here's the link to my resume. I hope everyone feel free to give any feedback, as I really need it!
Thanks to everyone!
reminder anything technology wise you include make sure you're ready to be interviewed in it.
I would prefer a more skim-able approach. By that I mean, less wordy, straight to the point especially under your experience. What languages did you use? Why were you an asset to the team? What did YOU accomplish? Do you have any measurements (lowered load time by 3 seconds, for example).
For someone with over 10 years experience I'd love to see more elaboration under your experience.. might as well finish filling out that last half of page :)
Under technical skills, you have an extra / in front of React.
Personal preference to move experience before education.
Overall looks good, I think some minor updates would really be beneficial. Good luck!
Hello Kim!
I'm so glad to receive your feedback! Now, I'm going to review and consider your advices!
Thank you so much!!