Hi! My name is Ryan. I'm currently employed but actively looking to move into software. I have been rejected for quite a few positions so far, which feels bad, but I'm not giving up. If you're someone who hires people or has input into a hiring process, would you mind taking a look at my resume below and giving some feedback?
- What do you like?
- What makes you not like me?
- What questions does it give you, that it could explain more and be more clear about?
- What could I add/change that would help get me in the door to interview? I feel like I interview extremely well, and I end up befriending most people I talk to face to face. I just can't seem to get very many people to talk to me.
Some notes:
- I update my resume for every job I apply to in order to match the posting a little bit and show the hiring manager my best qualities. This copy is based on a job for a Customer Success Engineer, but it's about 85% similar to most other versions.
- I don't have any professional software engineering experience yet, but I've been programming for over 10 years, and am very experienced in many of the "engineering" skills--albeit in a more mechanical application--like design ideation, review, teamwork, professional communication, documentation, working to solve problems and build something, project management, etc. I'd like to showcase that, since I think those skills are often more important than whether or not I know a specific framework or something.
- I am applying for Mechanical Engineering jobs as well, so I leave the CAD/design skills and certifications on there as well.
There are a few revisions. Click here to go to the most recent one.
Revision 1
Here it is in screenshot form. Here's a link to it in Google Doc form if you prefer to see it in one piece.
Update: Rev 2
Based on feedback, I updated it to look like below. Is this any better? Worse? Link to actual document.
Update: Rev 3
OK, based on even more feedback, I got the machete out and really went to work on it. I cut out a lot of the prose and got it down to one page. I focused pretty heavily on my strengths and got rid of the stuff that maybe made it seem like I was trying to overcompensate for lack of skill or experience. I made this version a full, 100% software engineer position resume, cutting out what to me, feels like most of my mechanical engineering accomplishments. But, overall, I think I'm extremely happy with where I ended up. I plan on narrowing the scope of the Goal statement depending on what company I'm applying to, but other than that, I think this is a much better explainer of why I would be a good developer at your company.
Top comments (18)
Seems Like you have all the necessary soft skills in place (communication, multitasking, writing, leading, heck even being able to talk to people is a plus in software engineering(SWE)), thats an overall big plus and will make lots of things easier for you. The design of your resume is clean, I like it. (Not a fan of the font but thats personal preference)
BUT,
What I am missing is the common thread in your professional experience.
You are trying to give the whole picture who you are and what you are doing. The employer is looking for someone with a certain skill set and he needs to be able to skim your resumé (he has hundreds) and find the skills he needs. What I would do is:
Getting the first job in SWE is usually the hardest, don't give up too early.
If you are interested, I could send you my resumé. Its not a beauty (not a designer) but it got me a job.
Hope this helps and good luck.
If you have a minute, I created an updated version (see the update above). I tried to streamline things and, since none of my programming experience is professional software engineering, I tried to showcase my open-source/hobby work more clearly. Is that any better?
This is some really good feedback, thank you. I’ve got some solid action items to address. 😁
tl;dr: Important things first, leave out or shorten the unnecessary stuff.
I just checked your (first version of the) resumé again. You have "Create software tools [...], Implement company’s current website" in your current professional experience as the last points. You lost me at "Manage ~10 simultaneous....".
Do you have to directly deal with customers as a "Customer Success Engineer"? And if not I would remove/ shorten everything else from this work experience and extend on the implementation of the current website or the create software tools.
E.g: "Took over ye olde website of company x [written in ancient language] and implemented the current version of it [in just two weeks, ...] using [hype/ relevant tech stack] [url]. [optional: greatest achievement or problem and how you solved it]..."
Focus on outcomes and achievements (credits to Rolf Streefkerk))
RE: Version 2:
Keep in mind that hiring is completely subjective so these are all just my views. I come from a background in super large healthcare dev shops, so maybe startups or another industry that is full creativity would love it more?
That’s fair and very helpful. I appreciate the background too. I think you’re right. I’ll take the picture off and try to de-gimmick, get back to a more standard layout. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I could see that being the case for sure. Thanks again!
Hiya!
I agree with a lot of comments here already. Here are my thoughts on V2.
Someone glancing at the resume is looking for reasons to hire you. You should have your relevant experience and projects, or relevant education and past work, very clear. No other info should detract from the 'points' you want to collect from the recruiter and manager. If you have more good than bad points, you get in.
Some points:
Good luck!!
Thank you for taking the time to give such detailed feedback! I really appreciate it. I’ll definitely take it into account. It’s interesting seeing the different things that different people key into.
Small comment about your personal site (thepalos.com). Your resume there is not quite responsive on my phone (up to date iPhone 11). Because you name your skills in web dev, this would make me scratch my head (if I was invited as a colleague in a second interview, which is the only way I have ever participated in the hiring process).
Good to note, thank you. I’ve spent all my time on my blog assertnotmagic.com and kind of forgotten about thepalos. It’s good to know that that was something you noticed. Probably a good hole to patch. 😁
Quick suggestions:
Edit: I did want to say, overall looks good. Just tweaks and polish and potentially making it custom based on where you're applying.
That's great feedback, I appreciate it thank, you. The monospace font and raw markdown syntax are my attempt at a "unique design" and a bit of "personal brand." I'm torn as to whether or not it's too distracting and needs removed or if it adds a bit of personal touch/interest and I can keep it.
I'll definitely look at coming up with some more metrics and see if I can translate them to direct business value. I think that's a really good though.
And I think you're right on the "experience with" section. My goal was to show that I like to learn new things/languages and express an interest/openness to working with them, but the last thing I want to do is come across like I'm padding my resume. I'm sure I could be productive with them after a quick ramp-up, but I don't want to be phony either.
I definitely resonate and respect wanting to have a resume with some personality. Maybe limit the monospace to your name across the top, the headings and anything bolded? Just want to keep the body text readable. Maybe use a body font that's just not like Ariel or Helvetica for a little "oomph" I especially like the Google fonts which give a bit of uniqueness while still staying incredibly readable
I also really get the challenge in the "experience with" section. Especially when you're transitioning careers, it's tough to show "this is what I want to work on" and not getting shoehorned into only what you've already worked on. It's hard to communicate "I've done X for Y years, but I want to work on Z"
Maybe include data or lines that emphasizes how quickly you pick up tech? "Delivered ABCv1 in only X weeks after ramping up on Y language"
Mmm. That's a good compromise on both counts. I'll definitely look at that. Thanks for the detailed help!
Get rid of your skills section entirely and use those bullet points to apply them to your work experience (or at the very least, just list key points that shows you have experience in them, but you don't need to go into so much detail if it doesn't pertain to actual work you've done). It's too wordy and means nothing without you showing results. Tailor those bullets to each job to show your experience and results using them.
Move your education to the top. You have a lot of experience, but none professionally in software. This will show them you're working on your MS in CS, so you are qualified.
Get rid of your picture. It's unnecessary and the only thing it will do is introduce bias from the interviewer to your resume.
Get rid of the SolidWorks reference in education, unless it's applicable to the position.
Make your writing section less prevalent. It's cool that you've written about coding, but unless those specific articles pertain to your individual goals and you can show useful metrics on them, they're not worth so much real estate.
Focus more on your experience and recent projects where you can share real results.
Add outcomes you have achieved in your professional experience. Much of it is not focussed on what you're doing
Got it, thank you!
It Looks Okay !!