Discussion on: I'm a Full-Stack Engineer/Manager & Bootcamp Mentor, Ask Me Anything

Hi Brent! Thanks so much for the question.

Tips for a good resume
When I receive a resume through, I'm really only looking for a few specific things, which I think all interviewers are looking for

• Relevant Skills
• Practical Experience (Whether that's in a job, or through personal projects)
• Examples of Work

These are the basic things you must get correct. List your skills that are relevant to the job, give a short description of some projects you worked on & your responsibility within those projects, and some examples of work.

Here are some things you could do to make yours stand out from the rest

• Send in a "customised resume" for each job application. This might seem time consuming, but it will make you stand out in the market. You can do things like: put the relevant skills at the top of your skill list, or customise the description of your past projects to make them more relevant to the job you're applying for. The more contextual your resume is to the job you're applying for - the better your chances.
• Add screenshots of your projects to the resume - This is something that can spruce up any CV and I can tell you 99% of the CVs I receive have no screenshots in sight. When they do, they always catch my eyes and make me curious. Particularly if you're less experienced, this gives your potential interviewer a much better idea of what you can do without having to put much thought into it.
• Put across your personality but highlight the fact that you embrace learning and challenges (if this is true) - Hopefully that's true because coding is a life-long learning process, and if it is, make this clear with a sentence or two on how you love keeping up-to-date with technology and love solving problems. Showing a passion for this type of thing is important and I have interviewed people who are clearly averse to this and it does put me off. Stating up front removes some of the doubt.

I'll probably make a video discussing these things in further detail, but I hope that helps.

Gauging your level, whether you're Junior, Mid-Level or Senior
This does vary industry to industry, but depending on where you are in your progression, there are a few tips I can give you. I'll preface this by saying, ping me a direct message and I'll tell you where I'd place you if that would help - but on placing yourself, here are my tips:

• If you have just come out of a CS degree, Bootcamp or haven't landed your first commercial paying job yet, you're a Junior. Plain and simple - and employers won't take you any other way. Unless you've been practising exceptionally for many years and have multiple, highly complex personal projects, which will be a very small minority, you will be placed in that rank. Here's how I'd define a junior: A junior should not be expected to be responsible for deployments, held strongly to estimations (without contingency) or expected to go through processes without heavy peer review.
• If you've been a Junior for some time now, and you want to know where you stand, you should ask yourself the following: Can I complete my tasks proficiently with minimal help or guidance from others? Basically, if you find yourself completely stuck on multiple occasions throughout the day on tasks you're solely responsible for, you're still technically a junior. If you feel very self-sufficient however, you are likely moving to towards the mid-level range.
• Senior takes this a step further - do you feel comfortable talking to management and others on the "big picture" implications that changes, tasks and fixes will have on a system? Are you able to think about tasks across many axes at once, from time implications, resources and value to the business?

This is a packed answer for sure, please tell me if something doesn't make sense or you want me to elaborate more - this is a blog post in itself and it's very much my initial thoughts!

Thanks again for the question Brent!