Tala Amm

Posted on Feb 6

How I Built a Résumé that Passed High-Tech Companies (Google, Amazon, and Microsoft)!

#google #aws #microsoft #career

I’m writing this post after a long break, and honestly, I feel like this story deserved to be written.

I’m still a student. A computer engineering student.
I took an intensive full-stack development course that exposed me to a wide range of software engineering topics, but at the end of the day… I was still just a student with no previous job experience.

So when I say that my very first job application ever was for a
Part-Time Student Software Engineering Internship @ Google. Yes, I know. Bold. Maybe delusional. Definitely scary.

Was I excited? Absolutely.
Was I motivated? …not really.

I genuinely thought: “Nah. Will **GOOGLE* really look at Tala’s CV? Probably not.”*

But I shot my shot anyway.

And guess what?

They replied.

After a whole month, I got an email.
An actual reply.
An invitation to do an Online Assessment.

I was shocked. Like, sit-up-straight-and-re-read-the-email shocked.

(I’ll talk about the OA and interview experience in detail in another post 👀)

I did the assessment… and honestly?
I walked away feeling like I messed everything up. I completely deleted the idea of moving forward from my head.

But then. GUESS WHAT AGAIN???

They moved me to the interview stage.

Two technical interviews.

In the end, I wasn’t selected.
And yes, that was disappointing.

But I truly believe the reason wasn’t my technical skills, it was that my CV, portfolio, LinkedIn, and overall profile lacked extracurricular activities.

The recruiter literally encouraged me to:

“Get out of the classroom. Join hackathons. Be more active in the CS community.”

And that’s exactly what I’m doing now.

What did I learn from this?

1️⃣ Never underestimate yourself

Six months ago, if someone told me:

“You’ll get Google interviews before you even graduate”

I would’ve laughed.

Even though it didn’t work out, I walked away with something priceless:
self-confidence.

My first ever application was to Google, and I reached the last possible stage for a student internship. That alone changed how I see myself.

2️⃣ This was NOT a failure, it was a huge level-up

I always thought I wasn’t good at data structures and algorithms.

Now?

I can discuss and solve most problems put in front of me
I can analyze time & space complexity
I can think about optimizations
And most importantly... I can explain my thought process clearly

Compared to two months ago?
This is a completely different version of me.

So no, this wasn’t a rejection.
This was growth.

3️⃣ I got free feedback (lol)

I now know:

Where my weak points are in DSA
How technical interviews actually work
That I broke my fear barrier from interviews
That I lack extracurricular activities, and I’m actively fixing that

A review of myself and my résumé, for free?
I’ll take it.

So… how did I build my résumé?

Back to the main topic.

As a student who had never written a résumé before, I was lucky enough to have a Senior Software Engineering mentor.

I asked them for help, and they shared their own résumé as a template.
I didn’t reinvent the wheel, I followed the structure, adapted it to my experience, and built my first real résumé from there.

Was it perfect? No.
Was it a starting point? Absolutely.

We reviewed it together, refined it, and moved on.

Applying to Google: what I did differently

Before applying, I carefully read Google’s official résumé tips
👉 https://www.google.com/about/careers/applications/how-we-hire/

I especially used their XYZ formula to describe my projects:

““Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y], by doing [Z].””

Then I:

Read the job description at least 10 times
Highlighted what they were looking for in a candidate's resume, like:
- Relevant practical experience with: web application development, Unix/Linux,...
- Interest and ability to learn other coding languages as needed.
- Please include your expected graduation date (month and year) on your resume.

And I tailored my résumé specifically for that role.

Important details:

No images
No icons
One page only
Plain, selectable text (ATS-friendly)

How I used AI (the right way)

Once I had a solid draft, I used AI as a tool, not a writer‼️.

This was the idea of the prompt I used (you can improve it):

I’m applying for a Part-Time Software Engineering BS/MS Intern, 2026 at Google.
Here is the job description: [paste it].
Here is my résumé: [paste text or upload PDF].
Please analyze the job posting carefully and suggest edits to better align my résumé with the role, without adding false experience.

I iterated. Refined. Tailored. Rewrote.

But every word was mine.
No lies. No exaggerations.
AI helped me polish, not fabricate.

Final thoughts

My résumé wasn’t magic.
It wasn’t perfect.
But it was:

Honest
Focused
Tailored
Clear
And written with intention

And it got me further than I ever imagined.

After the Google rejection, I didn’t stop. I applied to student internship roles at Amazon and Microsoft, using the same résumé structure, the same tailoring process, and the same mindset.

And yes!! I did get moved forward in both processes.

That’s when it clicked for me: this wasn’t luck. The résumé was doing its job. And more importantly, I was definitely presenting myself properly.

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