Resume Types I Hate: How to Write a Good Developer CV
The post was originally written for the Telegram channel.
When I worked in a bank, very often I had to screen resumes to understand whether a candidate should be called for an interview or not.
On the one hand, this saved time, because... candidates who were suitable for an interview reached interviews, on the other hand, I had to look at a bunch of incomprehensible, empty or irrelevant resumes that somehow ended up in the sample from our recruiters. With those recruiters who spent quite a lot of time at the bank, I was able to organize the work so that only relevant resumes were sent to me, but with new recruiters I always had to go through the stage when they send resumes of unsuitable candidates, also in the doc/docx format 😀
I have highlighted the following types of resumes that I don't like:
Summary for everything
In recent years, very often many people from other fields get into development, take courses to "get into IT" and rush to take a place in the sun as developers.
And I'm always pleased to see a developer's resume that lists a lot of experience-this sets me up for a more thorough review of that resume. But when you start looking closer, you realize that most of the experience on such a resume is irrelevant experience.
Classic situation: the candidate has 10 years of experience, of which 1 year of experience in IT and 9 years of experience as a merchandiser.
Don't discount your non-IT experience, but mention it in a separate block (you can add a link to a resume from your past life if you think it will add weight).
Summary without information
Very often you come across resumes where the candidate only lists places of work, positions and nothing else. There is neither the stack on which the candidate worked, nor an approximate description of the tasks/projects performed.
ABC Company - Developer - 04.2020 - 04.2023
And the description for the position can finish off this situation: "Wrote code"
Yes, at the interview in any case they will ask about your experience and what you did at work, but in order for your resume to be of interest to the recruiter and the responsible developer, the resume must be eye-catching. Especially now, when competition in the market has increased.
Summary with a lot of information
Once I came across a resume where the candidate listed the tasks he had done from JIRA. That's exactly what I wrote:
JIRA-1234 - Login button on login page JIRA-1235 - Logout button in menu
And so on.
It's important to find the middle ground between a blank resume and a resume where you describe all of your experience in each position. If you have a story to tell, you can always write a cover letter, it will be better for you and your resume.
The perfect resume
For me, the ideal resume is one that makes it clear what kind of candidate is behind it.
I highlight the following important summary points:
- Current work experience - do not forget to send your most recent resume to the recruiter.
- Technology stack for the latest positions - if our vacancy is urgent, then it is important for us to find a person who quickly understands or has already worked with our stack.
- A normal description of your work - what goals were achieved, what features (large) were implemented, numbers (reduced the size of the bundle by 200kb) strengthen the resume very well.
- Nice to have: a short "About Me" block and a link to your GitHub where something is. If you have an empty GitHub or are not active on it at all, then it is better not to waste time and not add a link to it.
And be sure to check your resume for errors (at least grammatical).
Your resume is your face.