Whether you are in your final semester or have just started university, a great resume will definitely give you a leg up in getting that internship or landing your first job.
There is no silver bullet for building the best resume, and it is a widely debated topic. However, there are some simple modifications that you can do to your resume to make it stand out. The important thing here is to make sure you understand that this is a continuous process, and it takes a while to get to a version that actually helps you get interviews.
Here are some tips that will help make your resumes come to life.
1. Skills Section
It is tempting to add all the programming languages and tools you have used here; however, make sure you add only the languages and platforms you can explain during the interview. Most either completely ignore this section or overdo it. The ideal case would be to add the skills you have worked on and expected for that particular job.
Highlight the skills required for the job so that when a hiring manager skims through your resume, they can quickly notice those points and move you up the stack. One simple way to build a great skills section is to use the ResumePuppy skills builder.
2. Internships
Internships are a great way for students to understand the basics of working in the industry. Many things are not taught in the universities that you can actually pick up during internships, which will put you at an advantage while searching for jobs.
If you already have gone through an internship, make sure you mention working in teams and using tools for collaboration like Jira, Confluence, Git, SVN, Figma, or whatever you would have used during your internship. If you haven’t gone through an internship, it would be good to use some of these tools for your personal projects and mention them in your resume.
Though on the outside, Software Engineering looks like you would just be coding all the time, in reality, it is a lot of teamwork. Indicating experience with tools for collaboration will boost your resume.
By the way, if you want to apply for an internship with us, go ahead and create a resume on ResumePuppy, and email it to careers@resumepuppy.com
3. Projects
Projects are a great way to exhibit your interest and expertise in the field you want to work in. This section is where you get to write about the amazing things you have built and what tools you used to build them.
This section can also be a great conduit for connecting the skills mentioned in the Skills section. Hiring Managers would often be interested in knowing how and where you used certain technologies that you have mentioned.
Make sure to include projects that you are passionate about and are related to the job you are applying to. Use the STAR format to describe your contribution to each project
4. Education
Whether you attended a coding Bootcamp or University, it would be great to add it to your resume. Recruiters and Hiring Managers sometimes look at credentials and could be the deciding factor between being considered and getting rejected.
Be sure to mention the courses taken during your time at University. These will help fill the experience gap, especially if you have taken a particular course that might help you in the job.
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5. Target
It is important to note that your resume is a platform for you to tell your potential employer the best story about yourself. Therefore it is important to put the most relevant experience and skill for that job in your resume.
Take a look at the Job Description and make a note of all the skills that are required for that job. If you think that you do not have those skills and it is the job of your dreams, go ahead and take those courses on Udemy, Udacity, or any other MOOC sites. This will add to your knowledge base and indicate to your interviewer that you are deeply interested in that particular skill. Most of these courses also have capstone projects at the end and will give you a glimpse of what it is like to work on those skills.
Read this to learn how you can create a super-targeted experience or project descriptions from scratch.
Also, take note of the exact skills mentioned. For example, if the Job description mentions that you need to know JavaScript, CSS, and HTML, you have mentioned AngularJS on your resume. Technically if you know AngularJS, you would have some idea about JS, CSS, and HTML; however, a recruiter might totally miss it, and your resume might get rejected.
This is a very controversial topic and has been heavily debated. Usually, students stuff their resumes with many keywords and include all the projects and awards they have won. This might help in a small percentage of companies that use old formats of Applicant Tracking Systems. However, it might work against you with modern systems that are in place. At worst, it might indicate that you might be a jack of all trades but master of none. So target wisely and without malice.
TLDR;
- Indicate the right skills for that job and avoid adding too many skills that you are not comfortable with.
- Mention the tools, software, and languages used during your internship, and if you haven’t done one, take courses on those and mention them in your resume.
- Connect the skills in the Skill section to the projects.
- Mention the courses taken in the Education section to cover any gaps in experience for that particular skill.
- Target your dream jobs by upskilling yourselves, mention relevant experience/projects based on the keywords in the job description, and avoid keyword stuffing.
BONUS: Simplicity is key. Use ResumePuppy to create simple eye-catching LaTeX resumes that have landed hundreds of interviews!
