Discussion on: Looking for Feedback on my Resume

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:

• The resume should match the job (have two, one for SWE/dev and one for mechanical eng). Never try to solve for both.
• Remove "some experience in" and "willing to learn", because it comes across as not being a self starter.
• Experience in so many languages looks like you like browsing, but not investing in an area. If you only ever did one language or part of a stack, you'd appear more attractive (solving a specific problem). (I honestly dont even remember what languages you listed.) (I looked again. I don't think you mention what languages you excel at, just what you have "some" experience in... Pick 2, 3 max.)
• I like the Engineering section, but note that estimating cost and talking to customers are things SWE dont often do. Point out specifically how that experience helps you in SWE. Something like, "organizing short-term, fast-paced projects required managing team's tasks and expectations, giving desirable estimations to management, and exceeding expectations"; something translatable.
• Merge the skills section to 4 points. I know it's hard. "Kill your babies". Imagine giving an elevator pitch about how you could hit the ground running, tomorrow (coding && translatable project mgmt).
• Don't shy away from expressing your accomplishments in your education on the SWE resume. All engineering disciplines need problem solving and teamwork, and those skills are very transferable. Education should be at bottom.
• Remove ALL the writing (and teaching), because you're not applying to a writing job. You can mention your passion for writing and teaching one (1) time, unless you are applying to a writing/teaching role. Remove your 5-star review comment. When you mention writing, make sure to frame it by its success.
• I'll be the first to want to use monospace in everything, but it really is hard on the eyes. I suggest finding another font you love that's easier to read. Lato, Roboto and Open Sans are popular; something sans serif is preferable these days. I do looove the color choices, and i think working them in will be eye catching.
• You might like to add a progress bar-type of skill section for languages/tech to show your experience level (like, Javascript xxxo, Python xxoo)
• I just noticed you built and maintain the company website! That's too hidden. You could put two titles, maybe "web dev", and put website item at top (cus its most relevant to SWE). I want to see if people have "done this before" and can do it again. I suggest adding what you used to build the site. (Also just noticed the database work and other efficiencies you contributed. Very cool! I suggest not mentioning the page count of the manual - makes me think you would rather wax on writing manuals than engineer.)
• Put any links you want them to see with your contact info, like github or linkedin. Remove other links. Remove photo. Add address. Remove titles: "writer, teacher". Remove degrees unless they're relative (is that mech eng stuff?). Make your goal more specific: 'full-time position as jr backend Python dev in Sacramento' etc.
• Instead of 'experience working remote', which is kind of ironic now, say something like 'highly productive/engaged working remote'.

Good luck!!