Your Resume -- How to Land a Job as a Software Engineer

This is the first post of a series I call How to Land a Job as a Software Engineer. I chose this as the first post because it's really the first step in the process; however, I do not think it's the most important step because I believe that accolade belongs to selecting the right field in the first place. Also, from your perspective, finding a job to which to apply is the first step; however, I'm writing this series from the perspective of the person who makes the ultimate decision about who is and who is not worth hiring.

That being said, your resume has to be your foot in the door. Let's say that for a given job opening, we receive 100 resumes. At least half of those will be screened out before they even get to me. I'll eliminate at least half of the remaining resumes before we start inviting people to interview.

I've worked with resumes from every angle I can think of. I studied job applications and resumes when I was getting my MBA, I've been a job applicant, and I've reviewed dozens of resumes of job hopefuls. In graduate school, I read chapter after chapter about how a good resume is structured. As a job applicant, I perused every online resource I could find for hints and tricks. As a hiring manager, I can tell you what makes a difference to me.

But, before I get to my tips and tricks, I think it is worth pointing out what happens when a job opportunity opens up. First, the organization has identified a need. Second, the organization publishes that need. Third, many people apply. Fourth, one person is selected.

When you apply for the job, you feel like the organization is trying to hire the best candidate; well, they're not. Don't worry though because they think they're trying to hire the best candidate too; but they're not. In reality, they're trying to eliminate the worst candidates from each phase until there's only one left. I know it's something of a pedantic distinction, but it is important.

Why? Well, when I start looking at resumes, I'm not looking for reasons to hire someone. I assume that if you've sent me your resume, you feel like you'd be right for the job and that the job will be right for you. Therefore, when I look at your resume, I'm looking for reasons you're wrong. I'm trying to eliminate you because I don't want to waste your time and mine by having you in for an interview if I can tell it won't work out.

Sure, there have been times that something really stood out on a resume. Usually, it's a bad thing, but sometimes it's a really good thing. Just, keep in mind that things that stand out don't always stand out in a good way. So, in all forthrightness (and at the risk of seeming petty), here are some of the things that I find to eliminate you from the applicant pool:

• I don't want to read your 5 page resume. In fact, I won't read your 5 page resume. I'll look at the first half of the first page and the last half of the last page. If you cured cancer in the middle of your career, chances are pretty good I'll never even know about it. If there's something you want me to know, put it in those sections. Even better, keep the whole thing succinct so that I don't think you're verbose.
• Don't have grammatical or spelling errors in your resume. Ultimately, you're talking about a two page report about a topic you're the only living expert in -- you. If you're writing a doctoral dissertation about a topic you previously knew very little about and a few grammatical or spelling errors slip into the first draft, it's one thing. It's another thing altogether to write a two page paper about what you've been doing for the last 10 years and to make grammatical or spelling mistakes in your final copy. What does that say about your attention to detail?
• Be factual; don't be boastful. I don't care if you think you're a great communicator or if you think you're an excellent problem solver with 12 years of experience leading successful teams. I just want to know how long you've been at it and what you've done. I'll figure out on my own if you're a great communicator or an excellent problem solver. Besides, how do I know that your definition of a "successful team" isn't one where no more than half of the team quit and 10% of your projects were on time and on budget? In fact, if you put this in your resume, I'm going to tailor your interview to prove you wrong.
• Tell the truth! I mean, seriously . . . in the name of all things holy and good, don't lie on your resume. If you tell me you have 10 years of programming experience but you really only have 5, I'm probably going to figure it out. As soon as I figure it out, I'm just going to tell you to leave. I'm not kidding; end of the interview. If you tell me you have 5 years of experience and I need a 10 year programmer, you didn't want the job anyway because you're probably not ready yet; however, I'll think, "man, that person was honest and I'm gonna save that resume for the next junior opportunity."
  
  Most of the time, I just need a programmer of any sort. So, if I'm just looking for a programmer and you say, "I have 5 years of programming experience," and I can tell that you're being honest, I may still hire you; I just won't pay you as much. So, just be honest. If you're honest, the worst that can happen is you don't get the job and everybody's happy (or at least at worst mildly disappointed). If you lie, the worst that can happen is you take a new job, everybody suffers, and you get the ax after your 90 day interim.

Now, here are some positive things I look for in a resume:

• I actually do care what your hobbies are. I'm not going to hire you based on your hobbies, but if you're up against someone who is exactly equal to you in every way except that your hobbies are cooler, more relevant to the field, or are similar to my own then I'm more likely to hire you. In fact, I once invited someone in for an interview because I wanted to know more about his hobby. Came to find out that he was a very capable engineer, but was just a little too expensive for us. If I had the money, I'd have hired him on the spot.
  
  It also makes you a real person. I look at a lot of resumes and none of them are real people, but if I know you're into underwater basket weaving, then I'm likely to remember you. In fact, I don't even look at the names on resumes. I just look at the resumes, chose the ones who seem capable, and hand them to my boss saying, "call these in please." If I see that you're into underwater basket weaving, I'll be like, "heh, what's this person's name?"
  
  So, unless your hobby is rolling your poop into little balls, then go ahead and include a hobbies section on your resume. (Not that there's anything wrong with rolling your poop into little balls; I just don't want you touching company equipment.)
• I want to see that you stick with jobs for a long time. While I know that contractors will have a lot of short term projects and few long term employments, I really like it if you consolidate your contract work into one item on your resume. Then, you can list the contracts you've worked on under that line item rather than listing each contract as though it was one job. It helps me rapidly review your work history. If nothing else, at least specify that the position was a contract position or I'm going to assume that you can't keep a job longer than a 9 months.
• Apply for a job that's appropriate to your experience. If you've been programming for 10 years and still consider yourself a junior developer, I'm probably not going to call you back. I know that in most cases, one of two things will be true. Either you're not progressing at your craft and thus aren't worth the investment or you're better than the job you're applying for and you're just going to quit as soon as another opportunity comes up and then you're not worth the investment either. If you should be a senior developer, be a senior developer.