You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
159 lines
5.3 KiB
159 lines
5.3 KiB
---
|
|
id: write-effective-content
|
|
title: Write effective resume content
|
|
description: Learn how to effectively write your resume for FAANG software engineer roles
|
|
keywords:
|
|
[
|
|
FAANG,
|
|
software engineering resume,
|
|
step-by-step resume guide,
|
|
software engineer resume,
|
|
FAANG software engineer resume,
|
|
professional summary,
|
|
skills,
|
|
work experience,
|
|
education,
|
|
awards,
|
|
]
|
|
toc_max_heading_level: 2
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
Next, fill up your template!
|
|
|
|
It is daunting to start on a fresh slate, so I recommend you always start by making a laundry list of bullet points under each section, then optimizing it accordingly. This prevents excessive attention placed on premature optimization.
|
|
|
|
**Do's for ATS readability**
|
|
|
|
- If a divider is required between information, use "|" (pipe character) or tabs
|
|
- Use simple bullet points
|
|
|
|
**Don'ts for ATS readability**
|
|
|
|
- Do not use images, pictures or diagrams
|
|
- Do not use tables
|
|
|
|
:::tip
|
|
|
|
To maximize efficiency in applying for several job types, create and keep updated a "Master resume" which you basically use to maintain an exhaustive list of all points under every section of your resume. When applying for each job, you can make a copy of the Master and eliminate or optimize points as necessary.
|
|
|
|
:::
|
|
|
|
## Contact information
|
|
|
|
### Must-haves
|
|
|
|
- Name
|
|
- Personal phone number
|
|
- Never include your work phone number here
|
|
- Location - City, State, Zip
|
|
- Just enough for recruiters to determine if you are a local or international candidate
|
|
- Email address
|
|
- Never include your work email here
|
|
- I recommend Gmail if you are using other email services
|
|
- LinkedIn profile
|
|
|
|
### Good-to-haves
|
|
|
|
- GitHub profile URL
|
|
- Personal website URL
|
|
- Stack Overflow profile URL
|
|
- Medium profile URL
|
|
- Competitive coding profile
|
|
- Codechef
|
|
- Hackerrank
|
|
|
|
Where relevant, indicate achievements in coding platforms, for example, max ratings, ranking, number of stars, badges.
|
|
|
|
## 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:
|
|
|
|
- Staff Software Engineer at Facebook with over 5 years experience leading teams
|
|
|
|
### Summarize your best selling points
|
|
|
|
Below the resume headline, include a summary of yourself which expands on your resume headline.
|
|
|
|
- 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
|
|
|
|
## Skills
|
|
|
|
Include programming languages and tech stacks:
|
|
|
|
- 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
|
|
|
|
## Work experience
|
|
|
|
List your work experience in a familiar format and reverse chronological order. Every job listed should have:
|
|
|
|
- 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]`
|
|
|
|
## Education
|
|
|
|
Most software engineering jobs will require at least an undergraduate degree. However, unless you are a recent graduate or do not have much work experience, it should not be prioritized above your work experience.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
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
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Projects
|
|
|
|
Include at least 2 projects you have contributed to, outlining your key contributions.
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
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
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Awards, accolades and certifications
|
|
|
|
Only include achievements related to the job application:
|
|
|
|
- Always quantify your achievements
|
|
- A good format to use would be: `[Year] [Quantification] [Competition]`
|
|
|
|
```
|
|
2016 | Best All-Round Product out of 50 teams | Facebook Hackathon
|
|
```
|