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This week, I'm sharing my best career and job hunting tips. So far, we've talked about coffee chats and how to find open roles. Today, let's talk about how to write resumes that actually get you called in for an interview. Let's dig in! (If you don't want to wait for the full series, everything I'll be sharing is instantly available in my Go Make Things members digital garden. You can even bookmark you favorite stuff!) The Applicant Tracking System (ATS)Thanks the internet and remote work, many recruiters receive hundreds or thousands of resumes for jobs they have open. And because submitting a resume online is relatively easy (compared to printing and mailing a physical paper resume), it's pretty common for recruiters to receive applications from people who aren't always qualified for the role they're applying for. Recruiters are often hiring for multiple jobs, and it's nearly impossible for them to read through every resume they receive. An Applicant Tracking System (or ATS) is a piece of human resources (HR) software that collects and tracks resumes. It's most powerful feature is that it can automatically filter resumes. Recruiters can provide keywords for each role, and the ATS scans resumes for those keywords and tries to determine how good of a match for the job the person is. If the ATS doesn't think you're a close enough match, your resume never gets seen by a real person. If your resume does make it past the ATS, a recruiter may only glance it for a few seconds before making a snap decision to read it more closely or move on to someone else. The good news: once you understand how the process works, you can design around it. Summary of QualificationsThere's a good chance that you have an "Objective" section up at the top of your resume. It probably says something like this…
This is a bunch of words that doesn't really say much of anything. It basically boils down to, "I'm looking for whatever job you have available." And while that may be true, it won't help you get your resume out of ATS hell or inspire someone who looks at it to keep reading. So how can we fix it? Replace your objective with a "Summary of Qualifications" A Summary of Qualifications is a short blurb that summarizes why you're such an awesome developer. Ideally, it's one or two sentences followed by a short bulleted list of skills. Here's an example…
A Summary of Qualifications increases the number of keywords for the ATS to find, and shows recruiters why they should keep reading past the seven second mark. Each skill or area of expertise you point out should be supported later in the resume. Focus on OutcomesWith your resume, the goal of every section is for a recruiter to be able to skim it and easily pull out the important stuff without reading in detail. Here's a really effective format for listing past job experience…
It's pretty common to see things like this under job experience on a resume…
The thing is, (almost) everyone else who applies for the role will have those things, too. Tasks make you an expense. Outcomes make you an asset that adds value to the organization. You want to show the recruiter why the things you've done matter by talking about the value you created for the client or the organization that you were working for. Here are some examples…
Every time you add an experience to your resume, ask yourself, "So what?" You won't always have numbers to back up what you've done. That's ok! Describe the impact of your work, even if it can't be quantified with data.
Customize Your ResumeA recruiter's Applicant Tracking Systems scans resumes for those keywords and tries to determine how good of a match for the job the person is. Often times, the recruiter sourcing candidates isn't a technical expert. As a result, they'll often just pull the keywords they use directly out of the job description. Many times they won't use synonyms or alternative words with similar meaning, simply because they don't know about them. The easiest and most effective way to make it past the ATS is to pull keywords directly from the job description, and make sure you use them in your resume. Under your Summary of Qualifications, adjust your specialties and list of skills and experiences to match the ones listed in the job description. Update the language you use under your past experience to match the words used in the job description. Don't lie, of course! You should actually have the experience you're including on your resume. But don't get creative with your word choices either. If the job description says "React" and you have experience with that, write "React." Don't just use "JavaScript UI Libraries" and assume the ATS or recruiter will know those are the same thing. For example, here's a real job description I found on Monster.com.
If I had experience with React, I would include "ReactJS" in my Summary of Qualifications, and in any work experience where I used it. I would not write "React." I'd write "ReactJS," because that's what's in the job description. If I didn't have React experience, but I had worked with some similar library like Vue or Preact, I would instead write something like…
This lets you match the keyword while still being honest about your experience. If you understand the concept of state-based UI, you can learn different libraries relatively easily. And that's a conversation you can have with the recruiter, after the ATS puts your resume in front of them. StructureThere are two different ways to structure a resume:
A chronological resume focuses on the places you've worked. Right after your Summary of Qualifications, you include a reverse-chronological list of places you've worked, including your job title, summary of your work, and some bullet points with key tasks and outcomes.
A project-based resume focuses on things you've done. Rather than immediately listing your work history, you instead provide a list of key projects you've worked on, including what you did, the problems you solved, and the impact of those projects. You can structure them just like work history, but the project, not the place, becomes the focus.
Note: You can find ready-to-use templates in both formats with a Go Make Things membership. Which one should you use?A chronological resume is what most folks think of as a traditional resume. It works great when you've got at least a few years of experience in the industry, and even better if you've worked at companies that have name recognition. A project-based resume is less common. But, it can be a really good choice when you have little (or no) industry experience yet. It lets you demonstrate your skills by featuring projects (learning projects, open source projects, pro bono work, and so on) before you've done much formal work yet. You can still list employers, but you do it in a shortened format after your projects: typically just the company name, job title, and years of employment.
This resume structure is a great choice when you don't have much experience, but it's also a good fit when you have a lot of experience at a small number of employers or have worked primarily as a freelancer or in an agency. Keep it ShortYou may have heard that resumes should always be one page. That's wrong. For someone straight out of college, maybe, but if you have any amount of experience, it's OK to go on to a second page. You don't have to fill up the entire second page either. It's far more important that you showcase your experiences and how they match the role. I recommend the One-to-Three Guideline:
A few detailsThere are a few small details that can have a big impact on the quality and polish of your resume.
Because ADHD brains have a limited working memory, it's easy to miss stuff like this. Some recruiters don't care, but others use it as an easy way to disqualify otherwise great candidates. If you can, have a friend look your resume over first! What's next?Tomorrow, I'll talk about how to nail your next interview. If you're interested, I also have some resources or negotiating a salary that I can share next week. If you have any questions between now and then, get in touch and ask! Like this? A Go Make Things membership is the best way to support my work and help me create more free content. Cheers, Want to share this with others or read it later? View it in a browser. |
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