Guide to create an impactful

Tech Resume
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Session Facilitator:
Isha Kataria
Masai School
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Starting Point:
The first step in crafting a resume is by looking at the job description.

Job Description Sample:

Roles and responsibilities of a Back-end Developer:

Some of the common requirements and responsibilities of a Back-end Developer include:

● Bachelor’s degree in computer programming, computer science, or a related field.

● Fluency or understanding of specific languages, such as Java, PHP, or Python, andoperating
systems may be required.
● Strong understanding of the web development cycle and programming techniques andtools.
● Focus on efficiency, user experience, and process improvement.
● Excellent project and time management skills.
● Strong problem solving and verbal and written communication skills.
● Ability to work independently or with a group.
● Willingness to sit at the desk for extended periods.
● Compile and analyze data, processes, and codes to troubleshoot problems and identify areas
for improvement.
● Collaborating with the front-end developers and other team members to establish objectives
and design more functional, cohesive codes to enhance the user experience.
● Developing ideas for new programs, products, or features by monitoring industry
developments and trends.
● Recording data and reporting it to proper parties, such as clients or leadership.
● Participating in continuing education and training to remain current on best practices, learn
new programming languages, and better assist other team members.
● Taking lead on projects, as needed.

Source: betterteam.com

Key elements of an impactful Tech Resume:

● Appropriate template
● Header & Summary
● Work experience / Internship / Trainings / Certifications
● Skills & Proficiencies
● Education & CGPA (if applicable and can benefit your case)
● Certifications
● Activities
● Hobbies and Leisure interests
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Template:

The template you choose more than often gives an idea about your personality- sharp, organised, lazy,
creative, up to date with industry trends etc. Two column resume worksbetter and looks more
appealing.

For standard layouts, sections should follow this order and for column layout, sections should follow a
similar order, but some sections go side by side
Why this order? Because recruiters do not have much time to spend on resumes, so you wantto put the
most relevant information on top which is your skillset & projects.

1. Header
2. Summary (optional)
3. Skills (Tech & Soft)
4. Projects
5. Experience
6. Activities (volunteer experience/tech-related experience/hackathons)
7. Education / Training (goes last)

Header:

The first thing a recruiter will read in your resume will be its header.

What to include?

● Your name (first & last)- Same across platforms (LinkedIn, twitter, git, hacker rank etc.)
● Title- Full-Stack Web Developer (in your case), Back-end Developer, Android Developer, UX Designer, etc.
● Contact information: professional email, mobile number, and Location (City or District/State (not complete
address))
● Online presence: LinkedIn, GitHub, Portfolio links are mandatory. Medium/Blog links are optional, and
Twitter account link (only if the content is professionally relevant)
● Professional Profile Picture (clicked in a studio ideally) - Same pic across platforms (Resume, LinkedIn,
GitHub, Portfolio, Twitter, Hacker Rank etc.)

Resume Header Sample:

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Professional Summary:
A Professional Summary paragraph describes what value the job seeker can offer a company.

● Modern day resumes call for a professional summary instead of a career objective.
● Since most of you don’t have work experience, your professional summary should include one
or two adjectives describing your work ethic, your level of education,your relevant skills and
your professional passions or interests.
● Please do not use- I, me, my. We write a professional summary in third person.
● Not more than three-four sentences.
● It is NOT an opportunity to get across to the recruiter what you want.
● Think of it as a bird’s eye overview of your Skills + Accomplishments + Background (Education &
Work)
● Use eye-catching language. Begin with accurate, appropriate, and interesting
modifier(s) like highly adept (very good at doing something that is not easy), goal-
oriented, solutions-focused, distinguished etc.
● Each professional summary should be tailored to the specific job you are applying forin case
the responsibilities mentioned on the job description are different.

Examples of Professional Summary for Freshers:

(These are for reference only, please create your own Summary highlighting your strengths and skills usedwhile working
on projects and aspirations. Copying either of these will not be accepted.)

Professional summary example #1:

Aspiring Back-end development professional, adept at engineering robust and user-centric solutions.
Collaborative, team player who is proficient in working with interdisciplinary teams and executing goal-
oriented projects. Strongly interested in obtaining a Software Developer position to work on enhancing
the product experience.

Professional summary example #2:

Analytical and detail-oriented aspiring Full Stack Developer. Capable of writing

production-ready code using ReactJS, Redux, and CSS on the frontend, NodeJS and Express onthe backend
to build single page applications. Passionate about coding and strongly interested in working in a product-
based company.

Education:

You might call this section on your resume Education or Relevant Training depending on what you have to include
in it. The list must be in reverse chronological order (information arranged in the order of time, starting with
latest on top)
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● Masai School details- at the top

● Graduation details- degree completed or not completed (to be mentioned clearly in case not
completed)
● If you spent time working towards a degree (but did not obtain one), not including it would
leave an unexplained gap on your resume. So, you should include it, but make it clear you
didn’t obtain a degree. You could: ○ include the track you studied, but do not mention the type
of degree it was ○ Completed x # of credits in (list out 3-5 courses here to make it clear you did
not finish the degree)
● If you have the space and it’s tech-relevant, you can include other courses or
certifications here as well
● High School (12th Standard details only)

Skills:

● You must put your technical skills and soft skills in separate boxes
● List out your Technical skills in order of your expertise: For e.g., Python, Java, PHP, SQL, Git,
HTML, CSS, JavaScript etc.
● List out your Soft skills in order of your strength -communication, teamwork,
remote work, online collaboration,self-motivation, organizational skills

Some suggestive Soft skills to add to your Resume- please do not add any of them unless you are
confident of them or ready to work on them and share how you demonstrated them through
examples.
● Team Work
● Communication Skills
● Proactive
● Time Management
● Problem Solving
● Remote work and Online Collaboration

Employment/Internship:

1. Again, the list should be in reverse chronological order

2. If you are a fresher, you can mention your internships and projects you have worked on and
justify your role in it.
3. If you are experienced, mention your latest job role and the projects you have worked on and
your achievements in the previous organisations.
4. For each experience/internship you must include:
1. Name of the Organisation
2. Your Role/Title
3. Duration
4. Location
5. For Description of the profile:
● No paragraphs, only bullets so it is easier for the recruiter to read
● Use relevant resume keywords. Every single bullet must start with an action
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verb (they describe something that a person can do)

6. If it is your current role, you will keep it in active tense, in case it is a past role,change to
past tense.

Projects:

● Project Title - Project link (please hyperlink the title instead of adding the Github link there)
● One sentence to describe what the project does (no technical details here)
This should be a sentence that should describe your app/project on play store (This should be
added without a bullet)
● First bullet - one sentence Collaborative Project/Solo Project + Duration + team size. It is good
to mention timelines in which you worked, number of and kind of other developers you
worked with. It shows that you are capable of working with cross functional teams.
Example:
1. Executed in under 6 weeks, with a team of 4, composed of - IOS, UX and web
developers
2. Utilised geocoding to give users direction to campgrounds.
● Second Bullet - Tech stack: Programs, languages you used
● Third Bullet – Features to be mentioned in sub-bullets: what all features were created in the
project. Last sub-bullet can be a sentence describing any accomplishments or how you used
technology creatively
● Areas of responsibility: what did you do in that project specifically (this is applicable in case of
collaborative projects only)
1. Start bullets with action verbs.
2. Every bullet with a different one, as it gives a wider range to the recruiters to seeyour skill.

List of Action Verbs for your reference:

http://bit.ly/Action-Verbs-For-TechResume

Sources: https://ecs.engineering.illinois.edu/action-verbs
https://inights.dice.com/power-verbs-for-your-resume-and-cover-letter/

● Definitely mention Data Structures and Algorithms in the tech skills or Summary

Your Resume must Highlight the following:

Volunteering:
If you have any such experience then put it as you would present your work experience details.

Awards/Achievements/Certificates:
This comes down to what you have received as an individual not in a team or group.
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Activities:

Any Hackathon/Contests that you have participated in. In case you are or were a sports person in
school/college then you can include the same as well. Quick example of Hackathon is given below:

● Name of Hackathon
● Title/position: if you had a particular role e.g., Data Scientist
● Duration
● Mention your position/rank - even if it is not in the Top 5, it will show engagement intech
community
● Description: describe in a line to share what it was about
e.g., - Created a program that solved the issue using tech and tech in an
innovative way

Using Resume Templates

• Choose a simple/executive yet attractive template that can be widely accepted within the Tech
industry.

• Choose template colours from two main palettes – Grey & Blue (different shades of either can be
used)

● Virus scan before you use or share a template from online

● Avoid using too much frill

● Know every single character that is on your resume

● The interview will be the exam you’ll have to pass, based on your resume

Suggestive online resume builders

1. resumegenious.com
2. novoresume.com
3. Flowcv.io
4. Dayjob.com
5. zety.com
6. Canva.com (you can search for minimal resumes for best tech industry relevant templates)

Last leg!!!

● Download your resume

● Proofread with a marker
● Fix grammar, spelling, formatting wherever required
● Goal: clarity of message
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Technical Resume – Mistakes to avoid

1. Missing details – Mention all your experiences explicitly

2. Non-Specificity – General skills are good; recruiters look for specificity
3. Over-Statements

Show them that you not only know what the role demands, but
you’ve consistently learned and grown overthe years