Resume Q&A and Videos

Should I put "incoming masters @ university" on my LinkedIn if I haven't started yet, but am applying to internship positions that are seeking this profile? I'm in a complicated situation where I'm also unsure if I'm going to end my undergrad exactly this summer, or if I should be extending it. Some internships I'm applying for I just say I'm graduating undergrad in 2025. I have one last summer internship at a company that I'm very interested in returning (interned there 8 months last year and the team has budget) but I also want a backup plan in case I don't get a return offer - I'm afraid that if I put incoming masters, they might not give me a full time return offer. The plan is for me to continue with the masters as a backup plan if the job falls through and nothing else pops up

I'm an engineer with about 4.5 years of experience. I've had 2 jobs since graduating university. The first was a small startup (<10 people) where I did backend engineering and worked like a dog. The second (and current) is a large (~1500 people) company that's far more chill.

I've heard, read, and generally understand that recruiters (and probably hiring managers as well) like to see career progression when reviewing resumes. Makes sense.

My questions are:

1. rather than calling myself "Backend Engineer" for my first job on my resume, should I say I was a "Junior Backend Engineer"?

2. for my current job, rather than calling myself a "Data Engineer", can I call myself "Senior Data Engineer"? My company isn't technically advanced to the point where they formally use the title "Senior" engineer for anyone (although engineers definitely are paid differently based on tenure, impact, negotiation skills). Hence I feel like I have that lee-way. Heck, it might even be better to arbitrarily take the 3 year block at the company and pick a point around the 2-year mark where I say I became "Senior", so I can have Junior -> Intermediate -> Senior on my resume.

There's irony in down-leveling myself for my first job, although I really was junior and titles are fungible. As for up-levelling myself in my current role, isn't the point of a resume just to get an interview? And are people really going to check with my employer and say "aha, caught you! you said you were a Senior Engineer, but really you were an Engineer!" and even if people do, I would imagine it's a small number, that's offset by the upside of demonstrating that progression, even if it is a little messaged'

Finally, to address a question that will probably be asked, I definitely feel like I have learned a good deal since I started 4.5 years ago, technically, but more importantly knowing what to work on. Prioritization, time management, etc.

Thanks!

In the video in , Alex mentioned that we should focus on the stack we're the most experienced in and pick a lane.

However, in my case, I only have ML experience and do not have specific stack that I am working on, even though I am fluent in .NET

Should I put my projects upfront instead of work experience?

Hi everyone, I received an email from a recruiter at Meta requesting to setup an initial call with them, regarding software engineering roles. In a normal situation, I'd setup the call. However, my last 2 roles were both under 2 years in tenure. In the potential situation that I get laid off at Meta or find the wrong team, I'm scared that I'll look like a serial job hopper. The recruiter did mention that I could request to follow up after a few months if now is not a good time to consider opportunities. I'm not sure if this is as good as throwing away my consideration or if they do actually reach out after a few months. Any insight is much appreciated, thanks!

How do you people, as a Senior engineer, put things such as:

1. Team development and engineering excellence on your resume, or should I not mention them at all? I lead these activities daily at work, and my manager and team members appreciate it, but I have never thought to put those things on my resume before. I guess this should give me leverage in interviews for being considered for senior positions, but I am not sure.
2. Annual awards given? Again, should I even mention that?

Below are the elaborated points

On the team development part, I regularly mentor 2-3 engineers almost daily. Reviewing their design and code, unblock them. I introduced a document-first culture in our team as before; everything was a bit chaotic as it is a startup where everyone knew their modules but not others. No on-call process or SOPs. I led this initiative by creating 20+ documents myself related to high-level design, SOPs for engineers and others, etc.

On the engineering excellence part, I reviewed close to 150+ PRs last year, making unit tests mandatory, introducing db migration tools to the team, etc.

For the award, I got your point. Annual award: out of 18 SWE-3s in my company, three got it, including me. The reason was a bunch of high-impact projects + above points.

I have 3 years of experience (YOE) working as a Python developer. I've noticed a significant decrease in job postings for Python recently. I'm unsure whether I should consider switching to Java for better future opportunities.

In my research, I've found that Java is predominantly used in many large companies which is good for my career.

What do you think?

How would you fill this gap of 3 years on my resume? (I had personal problems during Jan 2020 to Jan 2023)

Before this gap I had my own Startup where I made Innovative Web Games and now I am working at a University as Full Stack Dev since 8 Months.

I am confident about cracking interviews, but the issue is that I'm not receiving any interview invitations. I successfully interviewed for a Data Science role in Supply Chain and was converted to full-time. However, since then, I haven't secured any interviews. I've attempted to apply with referrals Links, but no luck.

Could you please review my resume and provide suggestions for improvement? Additionally, do you have any tips on how to secure more interviews?

My usual process involves going to LinkedIn, identifying a suitable job, connecting with many people in similar roles at that company, and requesting a referral before applying for the role.

This is my resume -

Hello Taro Community

I want to pick a specialization now due to the market and the lessons I’ve learnt being in the group.

A little context on the issue:

I had a mindset that more technologies I know the more options I’ll have and also working as a full stack dev in my last position I got a lot of hands on experience on different stacks. More like breadth of knowledge but not depth.

I was applying to jobs like Database, UI/UX, Front End, Back End, Software and DevOps couldn’t land any interview in the last job hunt.

Last month I let everything go and I told myself I’ll specialize in “Full Stack”. I have been also working on side projects for my portfolio.

However, a lot of senior devs told me Full stack is too broad and 2 and 1/2 years of experience that won’t cut it.

I want to specialize in Front End with React and go very deep in that. Build projects pertaining to React Front End for my portfolio.

My fears:

• I’m closing down my options, and limiting myself to Front End
• Also being a foreign student where you kinda have to “work in tech” since that’s my major a lot of fear is coming up. In case the time I go back in the industry there is lack of front end openings
• A lot of family friends in the industry telling me that Front-End specialization will be a waste of time since the industry is very saturated with it

Deep down I have realized specializing will really make my portfolio, knowledge and resume stronger. Plus Front-End is something I genuinely am drawn to and enjoy doing.

Would love to know your input on this.

I worked in a tech company as an SWE intern summer last year, and have returned to the same workplace in the capacity of a full-time engineer now. My intern-time project was on a completely different line (included ML based libraries and skills such as time-series forecasting that I picked up) while my present work is totally Python-based tooling development. Should I list these two experiences separately in my resume, given the time-periods are different as well?

Hey, I just posted a question related to me considering to quit my job here:

TLDR: I am seriously considering quitting my job due to the commute, I live in SF, have 1+ years of experience and am looking to work in the city/remote. I have 6+ months of savings and am a U.S. citizen. Effectively, I'd say there's a 95% chance I'll quit my job in Jan 2024.

Considering this, I'm evaluating the current tech job market.

Generally, my impressions are that while the overall economy is doing quite well, the tech market is in a bit of a lull w/ potential layoffs in 2024-2025. We had the major overhiring of 2021-2022, then the layoffs in early 2023 and now are in a period of stasis relative to the bull market of the past 10 years+. I believe this is also due to the end of zero interest loans making capital expensive. This then leads to profits being more emphasized, then cost-cutting in large corporations (employees being a major cost, so layoffs occuring) and then difficulty for startups to raise money.

Additionally, I recently read The Pragmatic Engineer's take on .

"Unfortunately, I suspect Spotify is early in having a realization which other tech companies will also have, next year. With the zero interest rate period (ZIRP) over, it’s expensive to borrow cash. Spotify making a loss meant it was effectively borrowing money in order to operate. Turning a profit is more urgent than when capital was cheap. But how do you turn a profit if you cannot significantly increase revenue? You cut costs, and the biggest costs for most tech companies are employees, sadly.

As a result, Spotify could well become profitable, assuming it generates similar revenue in future. And this is exactly the plan; to keep doing the same as before, but with fewer people.

In this way, Spotify’s cuts make business sense in the context of business growth slowing, persistent loss-making, and a hiring spree in 2021-2022 which didn’t boost revenue. These cuts may be surprising for many at Spotify, but probably not for the leadership team. The only question is how many other companies are in the same position as Spotify, but with leaderships yet to draw the same conclusion from the economic conditions.

This is probably a good reminder that the tech jobs market remains volatile. If you have a stable job, it could be a good time to put aside some earnings for a nest egg, stay engaged with your network, and to position yourself to work in areas seen as profit centers, not cost centers."

What are your impressions of the tech market right now?
Any recommendations of how to navigate the market or resources to utilize?
Anything advice years-of-experience specific (Junior engineers vs. senior engineers vs tech leads vs. etc)?

Hello everyone hope you are all doing well.

I got laid off from my Full Stack Developer position mid Sept. It’s Dec, and I’m at 1700 applications. I only got 1 interview early Oct, nothing after. I couldn’t get a call back from a few companies paying 15/hr.

Positions I’m applying to: Web Developer, Full stack developer, Front End Developer, UI/UX designer (occasionally), Software engineer.

What I have been doing this time

1. Setting a day every Thursday of the week to improve something in my resume
2. I’m a foreign student so I don’t have the luxury to wait out, or work any other job than tech so I’ve been working on a project alongside applications.
3. Finishing Meta’s full stack certificate on coursera so I can be prepped up with the basics
4. Collaboration posts contributions on LinkedIn
5. Walkins at recruiter agencies
6. Using referrals still no luck
7. Messaging hiring managers and recruiters - no luck or response on that end to
8. Going an extra mile with cover letters
9. Redid my LinkedIn

I’d be curious to hear your opinions on how I can break out of that cycle.

I’ll attach my resume below for your reference and feel free to point out everything that I can change.

Link to my resume:

I have been a frontend-focused software engineer for six years and sometimes I just worked on some easy backend work.

Now, I want to apply for a backend role; although I am interested in backend engineering, I do not have enough experience in it. Can I just fake it until I make it for the interview?

I have recently started at a new company (full-time) but remain interested in continuing to apply as I am uncertain about how much I can grow here. It has been less than 2 months and I would like to ask the community if it is wise to add this new company on my résumé for new applications. I presume I will have to explain (loosely in the least) anyway to interviewers what I am doing currently... There is not anything ‘toxic’ I am experiencing in particular, just that I want to keep looking.

Has anyone been in this situation before? Regardless, I would love some advice and (various) perspectives on how one might go about this discreetly (or at all). Thank you all in advance!

Hello, I'm doing a rewrite of my resume. I'm having trouble describing some parts I did for my job. Specifically, I was given a sink or swim I had described earlier which got me terminated. I had to develop a microservice and node API with unit tests without any guidance from senior developers. What is the best way to describe this experience in the best light?

Hello everyone,

Excited to be a part of the community. I have been out of the work force for a while and have worked on different projects for my own consulting company for a while. I was wondering if I could get my resume critiqued by someone with experience and get some feedback?

All the best,

Rob

I have been part of an MNC for last three years. During this time I have been part of four different projects. I have added following points in my resume for those three projects.

Data Scientist (Apr 2022 - Mar 2023)

• Analyzed data from various sources to identify issues impacting growth and profitability across product and service offerings.
• Utilized a variety of tools and technologies to conduct data analysis and visualization.
• Recommended solutions to address complex business problems based on findings from data analysis.
• Tech Stack: Python, Pandas, PySpark, Databricks, NumPy, SQL, Excel

SAP BW Analyst (July 2021 - Apr 2022)

• Created custom reports and flowcharts to present the raw data to clients in an easily digestible format.
• Utilized innovative methods to increase efficiency and decrease run times for all reports by over 15%.

Network Associate (Nov 2020 - June 2021)

• Monitored network capacity and performance to diagnose and resolve complex network problems.
• Successfully resolved over 500 complex network issues, resulting in a 95% customer satisfaction rating.

For the last six months, I have been part of a Django development project as a backend developer, in which I could not get any work because the use case we are supposed to work on has not been finalized yet. I am actively looking for a job switch, looking for an entry level SWE or Data role and could not think about what should I write in the experience for the last 6 months.

Asking on behalf of my wife:

I feel burnt out and anxious at my current firm due to a lot of responsibilities and work-load, and my husband has also relocated to another country. My mental and physical health is also not at its best.

Due to the above, I have almost no motivation to continue my current job. I am working there only for the pay. My current job also leaves little time for interview preparation. I also end up spending a lot of my time managing my loneliness and anxiety.

I really want to quit and relocate with my husband and find a job in the new country, but the current job market is very scary. I am not confident of being abl to find a job in this tough economy.

Should I quit? Also if I do quit, it might take me some months to find a job, or even a year. I could upskill myself during that time and work on personal projects, but how would I explain that career gap in my resume?

Hi,

I am a MS in CS graduating this December and am looking for SWE or ML related roles in the USA. I am applying to many places but have not received followups in the form of an OA/interview. I had the same problem when I applied to internships last year and didnt have much luck even later. Since then I have improved my resume and have started applying early but still fear the same outcome.

It would be great if someone could help me with suggestions on why this is happening and some advice to overcome it.