@ -23,27 +23,20 @@ Most companies these days automate their resume screening process through Applic
- Submit your resume as a PDF file to preserve formatting, but always create it from Microsoft Word or Google Docs. It is important to ensure that the text in your resume is easily highlightable, which is a precondition for easy parsing.
- ATS tools are always trying to improve their readability of standard resume formats - hence the more commonplace your resume format is, the better.
- To maximize space on your resume, rather than using header or footers, reduce the margins of the page.
- To maximize space on your resume, rather than using header or footers, reduce the margins of the page - narrow margins are 0.5 on each side.
**Don'ts**
- Do not use Photoshop, other graphic design tools or online resume builders to build your resume
- Try not to use multi-column formats
- Do not use the header or footer sections in a Word/Google Docs file
:::tip Expert tip
Use the standard resume template provided by Microsoft Word or Google Docs. I personally use Google Docs to create my resume as I can easily share it with peers for getting feedback and it has the convenience of being stored in the cloud.
:::
- Do not use the header or footer sections in a Word/Google Docs file - reduce margins instead and just write the information in the body.
## Use a standard font of readable size
New fonts may convert letters into special characters which are not readable by the ATS. Fonts you should use - Arial, Calibri, Garamond, Helvetica, Roboto.
New fonts may convert letters into special characters which are not readable by the ATS. Fonts you should use - **Arial, Calibri, Garamond**.
Ensure your font size remains readable for humans later on in the hiring process - nothing less than the minimum size of **11px** for readability.
Ensure your font size remains readable for humans later on in the hiring process - nothing less than the minimum size of **10px** for readability.
## Use sections with standard headings and ordering
## Add sections with standard headings and ordering
ATS readers need to identify and parse standard types of information from your resume. Using standard header titles and ordering can help them do that better.
@ -51,11 +44,11 @@ This is the order which has worked well for me and recommended by recruiters:
| Section | Heading Name |
| --- | --- |
| Contact information | (No need for section heading) |
| Professional summary | (Use resume headline as section title, for e.g. "Senior Software Engineer at Google with over 5 years experience leading teams") |
| Professional summary | (Use resume headline as section title, for e.g. "Senior Software Engineer at Google with over 5 years of experience leading teams") |
| Contact information | "Contact Information" |
| Skills - programming languages, frameworks, etc. | "Skills" |
| Experience | "Work Experience" |
| Education (Note: if you are still in school, put Education first) | "Education" |
| Education (Note: if you are still in school or have less than 3 years of experience, you may put Education first) | "Education" |
| Projects | "Projects" |
| Other optional sections - e.g. Certifications, Awards, etc | "Awards and Accolades" / "Certifications" / "Awards, Accolades and Certifications" |
@ -38,11 +38,34 @@ To maximize efficiency in applying for several job types, create and keep update
:::
## 1. Contact information
## 1. Professional summary
The professional summary, if written well, will be the most effective and important part of your resume. From my experience as an interviewer, I generally may not have the time to read into the detail of resumes - hence summaries which directly address why a candidate is a good fit for the job greatly improves their chances of capturing my attention.
**Start with a resume headline**
Always start with a concise, one line description of yourself
- Fewer than 10 words
- Summarizes your experience relevant to the job description
Examples:
- Software Engineer at Company X with strong fundamentals in front-end technologies
**Summarize your best selling points**
Below the resume headline, include a summary of yourself which expands on your resume headline.
- 4 or fewer points, in bullet or paragraph form
- Include most important skills and experiences relevant to the job applied, quantifying them where possible
- Keep in mind to answer the question of "Why am I a good fit for this job?" - while writing the summary
## 2. Contact information
**Must-haves**
- Name
- Name (Should be included at the very top of the resume)
- Personal phone number
- Never include your work phone number here
- Location - City, State, Zip
@ -62,51 +85,39 @@ To maximize efficiency in applying for several job types, create and keep update
- Codechef
- Hackerrank
Where relevant, indicate achievements in coding platforms, for example, max ratings, ranking, number of stars, badges.
## 2. Professional summary
The professional summary, if written well, will be the most effective and important part of your resume. From my experience as an interviewer, I generally may not have the time to read into the detail of resumes - hence summaries which directly address why a candidate is a good fit for the job greatly improves their chances of capturing my attention.
If a divider is required between information, use "|" or tabs
**Start with a resume headline**
Where relevant, indicate achievements in coding platforms, for example, max ratings, ranking, number of stars, badges.
Always start with a concise, one line description of yourself
## 3. Skills
- Fewer than 10 words
- Summarizes your experience relevant to the job description
Include programming languages and tech stacks:
Examples:
Structure in the following manner:
- Staff Software Engineer at Facebook with over 5 years experience leading teams
> [Skill summary] : [List skills separated by "|"]
**Summarize your best selling points**
- Programming languages - If impressive, include your familiarity by the number of lines you have written, for example "Over 10,000 lines"
- Frameworks
- Databases
Below the resume headline, include a summary of yourself which expands on your resume headline.
## 4. Work experience
- 4 or less points, in bullet or paragraph form
- Include most important skills and experiences relevant to the job applied, quantifying them where possible
- Keep in mind to answer the question of "Why am I a good fit for this job?" - while writing the summary
List your work experience in a familiar format and reverse chronological order. Every job listed should have:
## 3. Skills
The company, location, title, duration worked following this structure
Include programming languages and tech stacks:
> [Company or Organization], [Location] | [Job Title] | [Start and end dates formatted as MM/YYYY]
- Structure in the following manner: `[Skill summary] : [List skills separated by "|"]`
- Programming languages - If impressive, include your familiarity by the number of lines you have written, for example "Over 10,000 lines"
- Frameworks
- Databases
Example
## 4. Work experience
> Facebook, Singapore | Front End Engineering Lead | 08/2018 - Present
List your work experience in a familiar format and reverse chronological order. Every job listed should have:
List of top accomplishments, including:
- The company, location, title, duration worked following this structure
- `[Company or Organization], [Location] | [Job Title] | [Start and end dates formatted as MM/YYYY]`
- e.g. `Facebook, Singapore | Front End Engineering Lead | 08/2018 - Present`
- List of top accomplishments, including
- Scope of job and skills required
- Accomplishments listed following this structure
- `[Accomplishment summary] : [Action] that resulted in [quantifiable outcome]`
- Scope of job and skills required
- Accomplishments listed following this structure
- > [Accomplishment summary] : [Action] that resulted in [quantifiable outcome]
## 5. Education
@ -114,45 +125,24 @@ Most software engineering jobs will require at least an undergraduate degree. Ho
Use the following format, eliminating information where it is not relevant:
```
[Degree Name], [Year of Graduation - write expected graduation date if not graduated]
[University Name], [Location]
- GPA: X.XX / 4.0 (List GPA if more than 3.50/4.00, or more than 4.3 under a 5-point system)
- List key achievements, including leadership positions, skills, societies, projects, awards, etc.
```
> [Degree Name], [Year of Graduation - write expected graduation date if not graduated]<br/>[University Name], [Location]<br/>GPA: X.XX / 4.0 (List GPA if more than 3.50/4.00, or more than 4.3 under a 5-point system)<br/>List key achievements, including leadership positions, skills, societies, projects, awards, etc.
Example:
```
BSc in Computing, Computer Science, Graduation Year 2015
National University of Singapore, Singapore
- GPA: 3.82 / 4.00 (Magna cum laude)
- Dean's List, Valedictorian
- President of hacker society
```
> BSc in Computing, Computer Science, Graduation Year 2015<br/> National University of Singapore, Singapore <br/>GPA: 3.82 / 4.00 (Magna cum laude)<br/>Dean's List, Valedictorian<br/>President of hacker society
## 6. Projects
Include at least 2 projects you have contributed to, outlining your key contributions.
Include at least 2 projects you have contributed to, outlining your key contributions. Always try to link your project name to GitHub or somewhere the hiring manager can view your project.
```
Docusaurus, Menlo Park, CA
Lead maintainer 01/2018 - 04/2020
- Maintainer and lead engineer for Docusaurus v2, a static site generator which powers the documentation of many of Meta's Open Source Projects - React Native, Jest, Relay, Reason, etc
- Used by 7.6k projects on GitHub
```
> [facebook/docusaurus](https://github.com/facebook/docusaurus) <br/>Maintainer and lead engineer for Docusaurus v2, a static site generator which powers the documentation of many of Meta’s Open Source Projects - React Native, Jest, Relay, Reason, etc. Used by 7.6k > projects on GitHub.
## 7. Awards, accolades and certifications
Only include achievements related to the job application:
Only include achievements related to the job application and try to quantify your achievements. A good format to use would be
> [Year] [Quantification] [Competition]
- Always quantify your achievements
- A good format to use would be: `[Year] [Quantification] [Competition]`
Example
```
2016 | Best All-Round Product out of 50 teams | Facebook Hackathon
```
> 2016 | Best All-Round Product out of 50 teams | Facebook Hackathon
Yangshun
3 years ago