Building a Resume For Your First Dev Job

Building a resume for your first dev job is difficult because you don't have any employment history to show off on your resume. You might feel like you don't have any experience.

BUT if you have built projects, done any freelance dev work, contributed to open source in any way, then you have meaningful experience that demonstrates your abilities.

Here is how I put my resume together:

I used Figma to build my resume because I am comfortable using it.You can use whichever tool you are most comfortable building in.

Basic Format:
Every resume should show your experience, skills, education, blurb/bio, and contact info.

• experience: The code you have written.
• Skills: The technologies you know how to use.
• Education: What you used to learn your skills.
• blurb/bio: A quick summary of who you are as a developer.
• contact info: Link to your portfolio site, email, phone number and any other relevant contact info.

The Design
Now we need a nice, simple design that stands out and straight to the point.

Here is my design for my resume:

The Experience Section
The experience section should have a few examples of code you have written, a description of the code, and how it works. You want to convey to the reader of your resume that you know how to use the skills you have. Also remember that most companies have software that screen applicants by using keywords.

Here is my resume with the experience section filled in:

The Skills Section
The skills section should list the skills you have in the development field.

Here is my resume with the skills section filled in:

The Education Section
The education section should list where you learned your skills. If you have a CS degree or graduated from a coding bootcamp you would list that here. But if you are like me, and you are a self-taught developer, then you may list the courses you have completed.

Here is my resume with the education section filled in:

The Blurb/Bio Section
The Blurb/Bio section should be a brief summary of who you are and what you can do as a developer. You want the reader of your resume to be able to understand who you are as a developer even if they only read this section.

The Contact Info Section
The contact info section should have your portfolio site link, email, phone number and any other contact info you would like to add.

Adding Clickable Links
Adding clickable links to your portfolio is a nice touch that allows the reader of your resume a quick and easy way to see a live site of your work.

Resume File Format
You should always export your resume as a PDF and name the file YourName_resume.pdf so that whoever you send your resume to can find it easily.

Here's My Finished Resume