Software engineer & developer resume

How to Write a Resume Google Would… at least consider

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The fact is we kind of all
want to work at google, don’t we?

Even those of us who have little to nothing to do with IT. I personally know a nice dreamy counter girl at the corner grocery store not far from my home who is seriously considering the possibility to work there one day since she once confessed to me while stamping a receipt that she would love being able to come to work in her pajamas and bring along her dog. Those are the things Googlers are allowed to do. To that confession, I responded with a tip on how to create resume online for free with Applyya.com and wished that girl good luck. Although I am not sure, what would a counter girl do in Google, for a person who does have somewhat of technical background – like that of being a software engineer – working there would be a nice thing, right?
Naturally, you'd be just one of the thousands qualified people who would like to spend their working days coding, sipping coffee and munching on a banana from the free breakfast bar at Google office. Competition out there is fierce
It is no secret that finding a new job is stressful. It is a complicated process comprising from multiple stages (and the more popular the company is the more stages of the hiring process it establishes). However, in all cases, it all starts from writing a damn good CV that will get you dozens of job interview invitations. You can create a resume online for free with our generator and then download it, but that would be just the easy part. The thing is you can be an expert in software engineering and still be clueless in terms of how to create a software engineer resume. Well, here are some useful tips that will help you create a nice CV. Of course, we can not promise that you will be immediately hired by some tech giant like Google, but if you follow those tips your resume won't at least be tossed away in a garbage bin.
First of all, let’s talk about

The two keystones a good resume
consists of experience and education

1. Experience

Forget the inspirational and highly sensationalized tales about famous college dropouts who got it all. To get a decent position as a software engineer you are likely to need a university degree in Computer Science or related field. Bachelor's Degree should be enough, although some companies prefer those patient ones who managed to do their Master’s degree programs.

Even if your alma mater is not included in the Ivy League make it look presentable – write the full name of the university and your major so it would look as if the education you got there actually matters.

For those who have yet little experience, the Education sector should be the life raft they should cling onto and not let go. Do not just mention your degree – describe all the practical knowledge you got while obtaining it, mention all the projects you were involved in and all the challenges you faced (and successfully overcame!). Remember it is not so much about your skills as about your ability to learn. If you have some additional certificates from courses both offline and online that are relevant to the position do not forget to add them to your CV as well.

2. Education

Although it doesn’t usually come first in applicants’ CVs, the experience is, in fact, the alpha and the omega of writing a decent resume. It is the part most scrutinized by any reviewer and HR manager.

Yes, when it comes to landing a coveted job, especially in the IT domain, the experience is everything. And if you have some, it’s fabulous. If not, you’ll have to be a tad more creative when filling this section. It would be unwise to simply state the companies you worked for and the duties you had there – I’d imagine that people who hire you have some idea of what software engineers usually do so do not go on writing plain stuff like “wrote this code, reviewed that code, tested this program, fixed this bug”. Instead, make sure to mention your accomplishments. It is not the work you have done but the results you got employees are interested in. Do not simply mention the projects you worked on but specify your role in those projects, describe the challenges and how you managed to overcome them, emphasize the significance of your participation.

Do not be vague: for instance, some software developers even fail to mention the language they worked with when stating that they “developed something”.
On the other hand, knowing a certain language is not at all that important. It is more about your ability to learn. Remember that every company uses certain tools. For example, working in Google you’d hardly ever use a technology not developed BY it, that is why your whole list of skills would be useless there. However, your ability to learn new technologies fast and adapt to the new ways of doing things would be highly appreciated, that is why do not simply state that you know some programming language – tell how much time and effort it required you to master it, show your persistence and intelligence.

Obviously, the more experience you have the more likely it is for you to get invited to a job interview. However, it is not the number of bullet points that will help you get the interview, it is your presentation. Do not get carried away and state all the skills you possess. You have to separate the wheat from the chaff and while pretty much everyone would understand that dancing, singing, and knowing how to create resume for free are not relevant skills when applying for a software engineer position most of the people would not consider skills like 3-D modeling or HTML knowledge chaff (which they ARE).

3. Personal profile

Now, this IS the first thing in your CV. This is the section where you briefly introduce yourself and take the floor to sum up your importance as a professional for the headhunting companies. The keystone is not to try too hard. People tend to resort to a lexical boost in an attempt to convince the reviewers they are the best option for them. The thing is, however, that reviewers had already adapted and built resilience against all the praising and bragging. They have filters. You are not likely to come up with a praising adjective not used by some other applicant before you. And even if you are, the position of a software engineer is not exactly a job where that would be considered your strong side.

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Heed Some
Other General Tips?
There are some other chiseling stones for creating a software engineer resume:
  • Keep it short
    One page would be perfect so if possible trim your CV to fit this.
  • Simple format
    Formatting should be very simple so as not to distract reviewers from the main point – your qualification for the job. Do not try to stand out with the help of bright colors and intricate letters, do not forget that you are applying for the position of a software engineer, not a designer. Although a lot of CV generator services including Applyya.com grant you with a wide range of possibilities to play with fonts and colors before free resume download – resist the temptation!
  • Pay attention to your grammar
    In the previous paragraph, you got reminded that you were applying for the position of a software engineer and banned from bright colours. At the same time, you who are NOT applying for a position of an English class teacher should, however, pay attention to your grammar. Proofread your CV, check the spelling.
  • Limit your interests list
    Interests are the CV section nobody really cares for. The truth is your employer doesn’t care what are you doing in your free time but for some reason, the Interest field is still included in CVs so you can add it as well but limit it to a simple list.
  • Personal info
    Do not forget about adding your personal info (telephone, email and one social media, preferably LinkedIn, would be more than enough).
  • Foreign languages
    The company you are applying for is probably international or has foreign partners so if you happen to know foreign languages, by all means, do include them into your resume.
  • It is all about business and money
    For you, it may be about coding and creating, but for the companies that will hire you, it is all about business and money. The language they speak is one of numbers so add some into your software engineer resume. Besides numbers, those companies are also extremely fond of words like income, revenue, users.
  • Professional jargon
    Be careful not to overuse professional jargon in your CV since not necessarily the person reviewing it would be tech-savvy. At the same time avoid vague words that are too general, make sure to insert keywords relevant to your position (for a software engineer those would be develop, create, build, implement and others). Note that those are all verbs. They are considered more proactive than nouns.
Now, you are fully equipped and ready to go and write that engineer resume.

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