I currently work as a Software Engineer, and I have a story to share with my fellow developers and engineers

No matter what field you belong to, everyone is delusional about their skills to some extent.

For a newbie who just learnt how to write basic programs in a language like Python, he/she is already “qualified” for Google!

I say this from personal experience because I was in the same boat when I first learnt Python many years ago.

Now let’s tie this back to our topic — Bad Resumes!

The Story of Don Joe

Imagine a person called Don Joe. Don thinks he is going to have $100,000 in his bank account next month from a business he started recently because the first couple of transactions have been successful. Don also decides to flaunt that he is rich so he can attract girls and eventually date the prettier ones.

But to Don’s surprise, most girls start to look through his false claims of money more easily than he imagined. What gives him away is that he still wears ordinary clothes, drives an ordinary car and upon further searching you can find his house which is also pretty ordinary.

Some girls are too busy to analyze Don’s personality and end up judging him based on the words he has to say about himself. They finally reject him because based on the words he said, the girls don’t think he has any quality they are looking for.

In some cases the girls just can’t date a person from outside their city.

The remaining few decide to give him one chance out of curiosity but reject him after the first date because he fails to buy them an expensive dinner. Thats the least he can do if he claims to be rich, right?

Ultimately, Don realizes that even if he actually has $100,000 in his bank account next month, he cannot mislead people by calling himself rich right now.

In this little analogy, your bank balance refers to your skills and experience

In my many attempts to create an appealing resume, here is where I went wrong

DONTs

I applied to places which required more work experience than I had

I failed to highlight all of my contributions for the skill I am actually good at

I failed to use important keywords in my resume

I overly formatted my resume and made it harder for ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) to find the relevant keywords

I applied to jobs which had been posted 3 or 4+ weeks ago

After many hit and trails, I finally have an answer to what makes your resume get more hits

DOs

Keep the formatting to a minimum. I use a resume created by Indeed (for free) because they are ATS friendly.

I confirmed this on Jobscan where I got a better match rate with my Indeed resume than my formatted one for a specific job description. Both of them essentially had the same information.

I confirmed this on Jobscan where I got a better match rate with my Indeed resume than my formatted one for a specific job description. Both of them essentially had the same information. Write all of your contributions for your work experience in a PAR format. PAR stands for Problem — Action — Result

Example: Administered cloud deployments using custom automation tools built with Ansible / Python. Reduced the downtime by 40% during maintenances

It is very important to have most of the relevant keywords from the job description on your resume. Do not force the keywords though



If the description says it is looking for Python , Django and React.js , and if you have never worked with React.js, do not put it on your resume just for the sake of getting a match. You will mislead your employer and will eventually fail the pre-screening tests.

Jobscan can be a very helpful tool here

keywords from the job description on your resume. Do not force the keywords though If the description says it is looking for Python , Django and React.js , and if you have never worked with React.js, do not put it on your resume just for the sake of getting a match. You will mislead your employer and will eventually fail the pre-screening tests. Jobscan can be a very helpful tool here I usually apply to jobs where I have experience in at least 80% of the relevant keywords (hard skills). This approach saves me multiple rejection emails

If a job description says they want a developer with 5+ years of work experience, and your resume clearly says that you have 2 years of work experience then save your energy and do not apply. If an employer was okay with 2 years of work experience, then they would have written so in the job description.

In my opinion , job descriptions are to be treated as the ultimate source of truth .

experience, and your resume clearly says that you have 2 years of experience then save your energy and do not apply. If an employer was okay with 2 years of work experience, then they would have written so in the job description. In my opinion , . Projects do not count as work experience. Been there done that

Recruiters will look right through you on that one

count as work experience. Been there done that Recruiters will look right through you on that one Be very clear and honest about your visa situation. If the employer says they cannot sponsor ( H1B ) and you may require sponsorship to work in the future, then it is better to find an employer who will sponsor in the future even if you have temporary work authorization right now .

Apply early . If you apply to positions which have been open for a few weeks, then there is a good chance that the position has been filled already. This is especially true for Fortune 500 companies

. If you apply to positions which have been open for a few weeks, then there is a good chance that the position has been filled already. This is especially true for Fortune 500 companies If a recruiter will look at your resume instead of the ATS, they will only look at it for about 30 seconds and the probability of going to the next page is very less. Make sure all of the relevant information and keywords can be scanned by human eyes in 30 seconds on your resume.

I hope this information helps someone, because after I completed my studies and was available in the job market, it took me a few months to figure out how applying for developer and engineer positions work when you do not have 5+ years of experience!

I saw an exponential increase in interview invites after I started following the points I have mentioned in this article