How to Write an Effective Technical Rsum

Getting your rsum writing right is an important step in your developer journey.

Have you ever been a part of the job search processbe it an internship or a full-time opportunityas a student or a new grad?

If yes, you already know: getting past the rsum screening step, and landing that interview call can often be harder than the actual interview.

Over the next few minutes, you'll get to know some actionable tips for rsum writing, that you could use to revamp your rsum. This post is inspired by Jessie Newman's webinar for WWCode, NYC chapter.

Let's get started.

What goes on a rsum?

Let's start with this question:

What are companies and hiring managers looking for?

Well, they're looking for candidates who:

• can improve the company's products with their technical expertise,
• be enjoyable to work with, and
• can contribute positively to the company's culture and growth.

Even if the recruiter skims through your rsum for less than a minute, you should stand out as a prospective candidate, yes?

For this to happen, the content on your rsum should be:

• Recent: Always present information in reverse chronological orderstarting with the most recent experience first.

• Relevant to the role that you're applying to.

• Clear even to a reader who has no context.

Typically, your rsum should only be about a page long. And that's all you've got to make an impression on the reviewer.

As they say, "You're much more than a one-page rsumbut your rsum should not be more than one page.

Format of a rsum

There's no one recommended format to draft your rsum. However, the following sections should typically be present:

- Name and Contact info- Objective (optional)- Education- Technical Experience- Skills- Leadership | Volunteering

Let's now visit each of these sections, and see how you can best structure each of them.

Name and contact info

Include your name, your email address, links to your portfolio/GitHub.

Be sure to check if your email address is professional enough.

Include social media handleslike LinkedInonly if you've updated them.

Objective (optional)

Include the objective section only if you aim at providing some context to the reviewer.

Every line should tell the recruiter something that they don't already know.

For example, if you're a CS major applying to a software engineering role, your objective isn't going to provide any context to the recruiter.

On the other hand, suppose you're a professional accountant, who's looking to break into software development. Then, the objective tells the recruiter upfront that you're trying to switch careersand they won't look for a CS degree or developer experience as they skim through your rsum.

Education

Always cite details of your educationstarting from your highest qualification first.

If you're a Master's student, only mention details of your Master's and undergraduate degree. Some companies do have a certain cut-off GPA, so be sure to include your GPA.

Some people do include Relevant Coursework subsection in their Education tab.

However, you should use it only if needed.

Being a CS major, doing courses in algorithm design and analysis, and operating systems isn't any interesting to the reviewer. If you're from a non-CS stream, but have supplemented your coursework with courses from the CS bucketyou may include them in the Relevant Coursework section.

Technical Experience

This section should account for nearly 80% of your rsum, and should include:

• Relevant work experience and
• Projects

We'll talk about this in greater detail in the next section.

Skills

You should always organize your skills by categoryordered by proficiency.

Here's an example:

Languages: Python, JavaScriptLibraries: NumPy, pandas, scikit-learnTools: Git

You should always remember to demonstrate your skills in the other sections.

For example, if Python is the language that you're most proficient inyour projects should be indicative of your proficiency.

Leadership | Volunteering

If you've been volunteering, involved in open-source communities, mentoring and the like, you may include them in this section.

Ensure that you're communicating your interests and impact clearly, and keep this section short and towards the end of your rsum.

How to describe your technical experience

This section is the most crucial section in your rsumbe sure to draft this section carefully.

Here are a few suggestions on how you should explain your experience and projects.

Do not list down your job responsibilities.
Write what you accomplished.

Do not tell what you learned.
Instead, explain what you built with that knowledge.

Do not use weak language.

Avoid phrases like:- Helped build, - worked as part of the team,- helped implement

Use strong language that's impactful.

Say:- Built,- Worked on,- Implemented

Do not be vague when specifying impact.

...worked on speeding up the inference pipeline --> # not quantifying impact

Quantify impact wherever possibletalk numbers!.

...worked on speeding up the inference pipeline by 30% by reducing the inference time to 2.5 ms --> #quantifying impact

Do not include many projects without explaining each of them.
Explain your projects clearly in detailprioritize quality over quantity.

• Be sure to specify the programming language, and tech stacks used.

Built a ____ using JavaScript, React.Used Python to code a process scheduler.

• Never leave the recruiter guessing why the project is interesting/relevant. Explain clearly.

Now that you know how to draft all major sections in your rsum, let's list down a few concluding points.

Points to remember

• Have a rsum for every role that you'd be applying to.

If you're interested in both software engineering and data analytics, be sure to draft a dedicated rsum for each of these roles.

• Don't be terse in explaining your projectsincluding portfolio links doesn't suffice.

The recruiter may not have time to look at your portfolio. So your rsum should do the talking for you.

• Do not use fuzzy language just to make your projects sound look cool and complicated.

Prefer using simple and clear language insteadjust the way you'd explain to your friends.

And you've reached the end of this post on best practices in rsum writing.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading all the way up to here!

Hope you found this post helpful. If you know someone who'd find this useful, do share with them as well.

If you're currently looking for opportunities, I wish you loads of luck in your endeavors.