What should go in your Tech Resume?

What should go in your tech resume?

Creating an effective tech resume is more than just listing skills and experience; the information needs to be presented in a meaningful way for the reader.

The person reviewing your resume is likely to feel a little uncertain about you; make it as easy as possible for them to be reassured.

One of the hardest things is to find the right balance of providing the right information in the right way, without putting in too many details. Here are some useful tips:

‍Before you even get started on the resume:

Write a cover letter that stands out. Write a few sentences to let the reader know you’ve looked into their company and understand what they do. If you’ve used AI to help get started, make sure you edit it REALLY well; no one wants to see “Acme Inc.” instead of the actual company name. A good cover letter goes a long way.

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1. Get the first few lines right

Most organisations don’t have time to read everyone’s entire resume. You need to put the super relevant stuff right up at the top so it can’t possibly be overlooked while your application is being skim read.

If your GitHub repo is on the bottom of the page, it’s not going to get looked at. If your relevant project work is on page 3, it won’t even be noticed.‍

Start with:

• Your full name
• Your phone number
• Your email address (don’t use an unprofessional one)
• Your mailing address (or at least state)
• Your current or sought-after title, such as “Junior Developer”
• Relevant employment visas/status if required for the position
• Links to relevant artefacts like GitHub repos, LinkedIn profiles, or a blog

2. Skills

Next up, demonstrate technical skills and skills that strengthen and support teamwork (soft skills). Technical skills are fairly common in the industry; you need to have these, they will be followed up on if you get an interview. But to get the interview, you also need to show that you get the big picture, that you understand software development is not just writing code and that you can work well with others.

It's ok to just list these out in bullet points on a resume for a junior technical role.

3. Relevance and experience are key

Demonstrate any relevant work history, and any irrelevant work history that allows you to showcase transferable skills. Did you work in hospitality? Great! That shows that you can communicate in a team environment, work in a fast-paced environment with competing priorities and interact with customers.

Don’t go too far back in time here, more than your last 3 recent experiences just provides more reading.

 4. Project work

Regardless of where you learned your technical craft, it’s likely you’ve completed a programming project with a group. Highlight these in your resume, and specifically explain what your role in the project was. Include links to the repo.

5. Education

Some employers value this more than others. That’s ok. Include your education, whether it be self-taught, bootcamp, or university degree.

6. Don’t forget keywords!

These days, most applications go through an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and these require keywords according to the job description. Use the right keywords according to the job description to get past Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). If a job requires “React.js” and you only mention “Frontend Development,” you might be overlooked.

7. Hobbies & being human

We all know that life isn’t just about working. Giving your interviewer some interesting talking points can be great to break the ice. Sometimes you may find yourself with an interviewer who shares your interests, and you can connect easier, but sometimes you luck out, so it can be a bit of a gamble. Regardless, it makes it easier to get to know one another as people.

‍A strong tech resume focuses on quality over quantity.
‍Relevance, clarity, and impact are the primary aspects of a powerful tech resume.
Good luck!