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Resume

The ticket to becoming the next Jeff Bezos

Do you really need a resume review?

One of the biggest misconceptions students have is that getting 1 interview out of 100 applications means they have a bad resume. That is simply not true and should be avoided for the sake of time and stress. You should be detailing your "callback rate": (number of interviews) ÷ (number of applications) as soon as possible. If you have a 10% callback rate, that means you get 10 interviews per 100 applications. Unless you are from an Ivy League school or have a strong network, 3–5% is a good benchmark to aim for. Even then, this could be quite challenging depending on the market and your experience level. My general rule of thumb for applying for jobs is if you are able to get at least 3–5 interviews in a season, don't worry too much about micro-tweaking your resume. Focus on acing those interviews and getting the offer.

Template

I personally recommend Jake's Resume on Overleaf. It's clean and probably one of the most used templates out there. Keep it plain and simple; colors and fancy layouts don't really make a difference, if at all.

GPA and Coursework

If it's above 3.0/4.0, keep it. Otherwise, leave it off. Coursework is more of a personal preference. Some resumes I've seen get more interviews for specific coursework such as machine learning. Nothing crazy, but if you have extra space, go for it. Just don't list every CS course you almost failed.

Structure

Don't do a summary. There are specific cases where it's okay, but generally you're mass-applying to specific positions and a summary only takes up space that isn't read. "I'm a passionate engineer looking for XYZ!" is not useful when you're applying for a "YouTube Team Intern" position.

Use this order: Education → Experience → Projects → List of Skills → Awards / Certifications.

Bullets

The holy grail: unless a senior tech recruiter advised you not to, default to Google's XYZ format. You can play around with it as you get more to write, but there are 3 main things to focus on:

  1. What did you do? — A lot of you are very good at this… maybe too good. e.g. "Developed a new feature with XYZ tech"
  2. What did you create? — e.g. "Built a heartbeat tracker with Spring Boot"
  3. What was the impact? — e.g. "Built a heartbeat tracker with Spring Boot that is used by over 1000 unique users"

Obviously there's way more nuance, but impact and numbers are the most important—most of you are already familiar with points 1 and 2.

Try this ChatGPT prompt with each bullet point:

You are a senior tech recruiter reviewing a resume. Please review the following bullet point and follow the Google's XYZ format. Focus on what the business impact is and what are some metrics I can use.

Soft Skills

For 95% of companies, you do not need a soft skills section. I hope you know how to communicate and collaborate with others. If you don't, you will have a hard time getting a job or promotion regardless.

Awards / Certifications

Personally I think it's great to have. I don't have any evidence of it helping immensely, but if you have room, go for it. It's a testament to your hard work and, depending on which kind of award or certification you have, it can be a great conversation starter during the interview.

Always put down hackathons and other competitions you've participated in, especially if you won something.

Skills Section

Don't list every single skill you have. Focus on the most popular buzzwords in the industry. The easiest way is to look at job postings and see what skills are most commonly required. The skills section is mainly for ATS (Applicant Tracking System) to pick up on, and less for human readers. As long as it's decently grouped, you should be fine.

Recommended groups:

Languages, Frameworks, Tools, Databases.

For those with internships or more experience, add:

  • Cloud / Infrastructure: AWS, GCP, Azure, etc. + Docker / Kubernetes
  • Observability / Monitoring: Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, etc.
  • CI/CD: Jenkins, GitHub Actions, etc.
  • Testing: JUnit, Mockito, etc.
  • Code Quality: SonarQube, Checkstyle, etc.
  • Code Documentation: JavaDoc / Swagger, etc.

Conclusion

For those that are not in Ivy League schools nor have a strong network, it's possible to not get any interviews even with the best resume. There are a couple of factors to consider:

  1. Market conditions — Market sucks, can't do much about it.
  2. Your experience — Unfortunately the first one is the hardest, and the second may not be any easier depending on your first internship's company prestige.
  3. Luck — Some people might disagree, but I assure you, nearly half of the applications you send are not even read. You could be the next Mark Zuckerberg but recruiters don't have time to read every single application.

In this case, what do you do?

  1. Keep applying.
  2. Spend more effort reaching out on LinkedIn to recruiters / hiring managers. This will minimally force them to read your application. Can be tough and time-consuming.
  3. For those that don't have internships:
    • Projects — Not a to-do app but something more long-term and ideally production-based with real users. More to come on this in my Project Recommendations section.
    • Hackathons / Competitions — Not only a resume booster; a great way to network with other students and professionals. Some top-tier hackathons also reward job offers or interviews.
    • Clubs / Organizations — If you're introverted, it's tough, but join a few to see if there are any benefits. Sometimes you can network with recruiters or alumni to help increase odds.
    • Keep studying — And don't lose college life over it.

For those with internships:

  • Make sure to do well on those internships!
  • Create a brag sheet that details what you did and the impacts you made. This is a great way to beef up your resume prior to full-time.
  • If you were able to get an internship at a top-tier company: (1) Congrats! (2) Stick to it and strive for a full-time offer, unless you have an offer from a similar or better company. Full-time is not much easier than internship in the current market, and your learning opportunities are already among the best.

Obviously I didn't include everything but this should give majority of you a good starting point. For a more detailed resume review / consulation, Take a look at my paid plans.