Feedback needed for Remote Job Resume.
Hello makers. I am trying to land a remote job and have set a deadline to do so in 100 days. As part of this I have created a resume, which you can see here:
This is my first time creating a resume after college. So this is the very first version which I am assuming will undergo a lot of changes. Please provide your valuable feedback on structure and content.
If you are a remote worker please connect, I want to pick your brain regarding this hunt.
Thanks a lot!
I don't have a resume, and have never written one… but I think a little picture of you would be appealing! Just makes it more personal
@mubaris I will have to do A/B testing then :D Thanks, Tomas for pointing that out, will add that to the resume.
I think the general thought behind having a photo on your resume (or business cards) is that it can lead to a negative bias. ("Oh, they look overweight, I'm not going to hire them") kind of situation (and that could be conscious or unconscious bias). I actually know someone who had this exact issue when she was looking for a job. She struggled to get a job because of how she looked, despite being very competent.
You're missing links to your GitHub (Gitlab or Bitbucket) and LinkedIn profiles. You might not use LinkedIn often but the decision makers and hiring managers do.
I would quantify your proficiency in programming. Don't just list what you know. Categorize based on your expertise.
Also, I would suggest asking remote hiring companies for their #1 objection for rejecting developer candidates and optimize your resume against that.
Good luck on your job hunt @arnavpuri
Wow, couldn't believe I missed that! Thanks a lot for pointing out. And that's a great idea, I will definitely reach out to remote recruiters. Can I please bug you on twitter or elsewhere to ask for feedback on v2 of this resume?
@helengriffinjr Hi Helen, can you kindly look at the resume here and give feedback :)
- Make 2+ variations of your resume for
- contributor roles (e.g. full-stack dev)
- lead roles (e.g. lead dev)
- leadership roles (e.g. sr dev, CTO, co-founder)
- Any non-leadership roles switch "Co-founder" to "lead developer" or "Developer" titles.
- I'm learning about this myself. Either the algorithms are going to disqualify you as overqualified or during interviews - recruiters, hiring mgmt will worry/debate your loyalty and question if it's safe to invest in you. You don't know how many times I've been asked "Is my startup closed? or "You're done w/ this right?".
- Remove "phone", "email", "website" labels. - info self-explanatory for human and machine.
- Depending on the company and role you're applying to, edit your profile sentence to focus on the customer aka your future boss' problem.
- Change "Looking for a challenging role to expand my knowledge on artificial intelligence and user experiences" to "Looking apply my knowledge on artificial intelligence and user experiences on [ customer problem/value proposition] and similar challenging but rewarding roles.
- Link to your GitHub/gitlab/StackOverflow profile
- Link to your LinkedIn profile
- Link to your professional work from your resume (if you can).
- If you're applying to lead or leadership roles tease folks w/ few metrics on your projects/products to entice them into asking for an interview.
- It's not just about code, it's about how can you help them hit their quarterly business goals.
- Remove (2011-2015) - that was 4 yrs ago. You don't need dates to use this social proof.
- Skill section leave as is if you'll link to some code base - if not it might be better to link to HackerRank or some other place to display your proficiency.
- Your portfolio doesn't match your resume. Your portfolio gives more info on you as a person but not your expertise and craft. Do #5 and #7.
I would also add:
- photo. Mubaris say recruiters don't like that. I am in recruiting positions for over 25 years and I like it. It's not about choosing "nice people" or something like that. But it gives a personal touch. Just pay attention to put serious picture, can be bw one.
- As Helen already mentioned. If you look for a Developer job, Adding Repo's and Stackoverflow Profile (if you have a nice one) makes sense. LinkedIn is for sure very good. Just make sure, that your profile there is up2date and information is "synced" with what you write in Resume. I get a lot of Resumes in company I work for and when i check Linkedin vs Resume there are sometimes "funny" differences, which don't help in getting a well first impression and trust from the recruiter. And that's the most important first step with the resume…
- Not so sure, if naming for Roles like "Co-Founder" is so helpfully. Can be, if the recruiter is looking for a leader, a guy which is having business thinking beside tech skills etc. But can also be contra productive, making a recruiter thinking that you are to much kind of a FREE-lancer, getting a job, doing then a lot of side projects etc. I know, that's stupid thinking of a recruiter, but there are much of them out there. So personally I would more tend to write there eg Full-Stack Developer.
Btw… You would qualify as a Full-Stack Developer. If you want, you can build your Online Resume here (my side project ) : https://fullstackjob.com/register?type=candidate
Thanks a lot for taking time in writing this detailed honest feedback, really appreciate it. I will definitely make changes and update the resume to accommodate these points. And I am signing up on the website right away. Is there a way to download the pdf Resume? Also, can I ping you on twitter or here again for the feedback on v2?
@altafino Hi, I will be finishing the profile on fullStackJob today 💪 would love your feedback on it once I am done. Updated the resume
Something no one ever does when they generate PDF files is set the "initial view" magnification value. So when I opened your PDF on my computer on my big screen, the zoom level was 262% (huge). Whenever you create a PDF, always, go to "File -> Properties -> Initial View (tab) -> Magnification -> Set to 100% (From within Acrobat).
Your Phone, Email and website in the top right corner, remove the extra line break between each row. Remove the "Phone:", "E-mail:" and "Website:" labels - these are all quite obvious types of content already. Top align that text with the top edge of your name.
I'd consider putting your name all on one line.
I assume "AI/ML Enthusiast" is more of a "sub-title"? I'd treat it like one, leave "Full Stack Developer" big and bold, but then Shrink and use a lighter grey for the "AI/ML Enthusiast", assuming you are you looking for a role specifically in "AI/ML". If not, then I'd maybe leave it off or put it in your "Profile" section.
I'd top align your horizontal red bars with the left section titles (Profile, Experience, etc.) rather than centering them.
Your red left section titles (co-founder, freelance developer, etc.) I'd make the font-size smaller, it fights too much with your main larger titles
Make sure your top sentence under each red bar is the same distance from the red bar, right now they all seem different. The distance between the red bar and "Brownfingers" is probably the most ideal spacing, make all the others match that one.
Why are your lines so short (width wise)? Feels a bit weird and you have a Widow (India) on one line (never leave one word on a line)
Indent your bullets (bullets and the text), I'd start the bullet icon where the text stars now for the bullet. You have decent line-height between lines for your bullets, but the line-height between each bullet row is too short. I'd double what you have now probably.
9B. The bullet icon is a bit generic and feels a bit large to me, I'd either make it a smaller solid dot or pick something more interesting (but not weird). Discs or Squares are just a tad more interesting and shows you gave it a hint of thought, maybe make them red as well. Don't use check marks.
You may want to consider stopping the 4 thin red bars at the margin on the right rather than the edge, then run your text to that same margin.
All your margins should be equal, right now your bottom margin is smaller than the other 3.
"Have created a lot of mini projects…" this seems a bit wordy. Maybe just "Created small projects using Flutter, learn more: https://bit.ly/arnavpuriapps". You say "a lot" but when I go to the link there are only 2 apps. Maybe just don't even add this text and link?
You use "Built" sometimes and "Created" other times, make pick one or the other? Seems like they mean the same thing?
Is it "E=commerce" or "E-commerce"?
Are sentences within bullets supposed to have a period at the end? May want to research that, feels like they should but I'm not sure on what the standard actually is.
Ok, I think that is it.
Bonus: Maybe bring over the fonts and the red color to your website so that both pieces feel at least a bit consistent with each other.
Wow, thanks a lot for such a detailed and thorough feedback. Now I will have to make you proud :) That PDF initial view, I would have never thought of, will try to get it right to tiniest details. :D
Hi, Micah, I have updated the resume as per feedback and added some more. Couldn't get to the initial view part because I don't have acrobat yet. 😅 Resume Link What do you think now?
Is all good, just the design and some details. You can download a better template. This is my template: https://www.fajarsiddiq.com/resume
Yo Fajar! I am going to copy your page on my personal site 😁 Can you see my new resume here and give feedback
@arnavpuri hehe!!! nice i just saw it. Use this: much faster https://www.resumemaker.online/
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