How to Write a Resume: What Engineers Should Know

How to Write a Resume: What Engineers Should Know

Getting your resume writing right is an important step in your software engineer or developer journey. You may already know that getting past the resume screening and landing that interview call can often be harder than the actual job interview.

Here are some actionable tips for resume writing, which you could use to revamp your resume.

How to write a resume: resume components

Let’s start with this question: What are companies and hiring managers looking for?

Hiring managers and recruiters are looking for candidates who:

Even if the recruiter skims through your resume for less than a minute, you should aim to stand out as a prospective candidate. For this to happen, the content on your resume should be:

  • Recent: Always present information in reverse chronological order—starting with the most recent experience first
  • Relevant to the role that you’re applying for
  • Clear even to a reader who has no context

Typically, your resume should only be about a page long. And that’s all you’ve got to make an impression on the reviewer. As they say, “You’re much more than a one-page resume—but your resume should not be more than one page.”

How to write a resume: formatting

There’s no recommended format to draft your resume. However, the following sections should typically be present:

  • Name and contact information
  • Objective (optional)
  • Education
  • Technical experience
  • Skills
  • Leadership or volunteer experience

Name and contact information

  • Include your name, email address and links to your portfolio or GitHub profile
  • Be sure your email address is professional
  • Include social media handles, such as your LinkedIn profile, but only if you’ve kept them updated

Objective

The objective section can be helpful but should be considered an optional section on your resume. Include the section to provide some context about your application.

Remember: Every line of your resume should tell the recruiter something they don’t already know.

For example, if you’re a computer science major applying to a software engineering role, your objective isn’t going to provide any context to the recruiter. On the other hand, suppose you’re a professional accountant who’s looking to break into software development. Then, the objective tells the recruiter upfront that you’re trying to switch careers—and they won’t look for a computer science degree or software developer experience as they skim through your resume.

Education

Always cite details of your education—starting from your highest qualifications or degrees earned.

If you have a master’s degree, mention the details of your master’s and undergraduate degrees. Don’t include your high school or any other educational background from years ago.

Some people choose to include relevant coursework, but you should use it sparingly. For example, if you studied computer science, coursework in algorithm design and analysis and operating systems aren’t interesting and don’t tell anyone anything new.

Technical Experience

Technical experience should account for nearly 80% of your resume and include relevant work experience and projects.

Here are a few suggestions on how you should explain your experience and projects:

  • Do not list down your job responsibilities. Instead, write what you accomplished.
  • Do not tell what you learned. Instead, explain what you built with that knowledge.
  • Do not use weak language. Avoid phrases like: helped build, worked as part of the team, or helped implement. Instead, use strong language that’s impactful. Say: built, worked on, or implemented.
  • Do not be vague when specifying impact. A phrase like “… worked on speeding up the inference pipeline” does not quantify your impact. Try to quantify impact wherever possible with something like: “… worked on speeding up the inference pipeline by 30%
    by reducing the inference time to 2.5 ms.”
  • Do not include too many projects if you aren’t going to explain what they are. Explain your projects clearly in detail and prioritize quality over quantity.

Be sure to specify the programming language and tech stacks used. You don’t want to leave the recruiter guessing why the project is interesting or relevant or how you did your work.

Skills

You should organize your skills by category—ordered by proficiency. Here’s an example:

  • Languages: Python, JavaScript
  • Libraries: NumPy, pandas, scikit-learn
  • Tools: Git

Remember to demonstrate your skills throughout your resume. For example, if Python is your most proficient language, the projects listed should indicate your proficiency.

Leadership or volunteer experience

If you’re a regular volunteer, involved in open-source communities or mentoring others, you may want to consider including the experience in your resume.

The bottom line

Recruiters and hiring managers may not have time to look at your portfolio and may not spend too much time on your resume. Your resume should do the talking for you and stand out. Have a resume for every role you plan to apply to and draft a dedicated resume if you’re interested in different positions. Try to use simple and clear language—just as you’d explain to your friends.

This article was written by a HackerNoon contributor and lightly edited and republished with permission.