Resume Feedback & Job Hunting

Hello, Freecodecamp. I made a post like this before, but I didn’t seem to get much traction. Now, after applying for 100+ jobs (yes, 100+ jobs) I’ve only gotten 1 interview. With that said my method for job hunting was very “spray and pray” or “shotgun-like”. If a listing was remotely related to my skills, I’d apply. Now, I’m starting to try a more “sniper” method, where I scope-in on specific jobs.

Here is a link to my resume

Do you guys think that I need to change anything on my resume? Get more experience? Try a new method of applying for jobs? I’m open to any ideas!
[EDIT] Updated my Resume Based on @ksjazzguitar’s advice.

Hi,

Overall it looks nice. I have a few comments.

  • Many resumes get printed out. Your links at the top right should have full addresses so people can access them even if they’re not looking at an electronic copy. Maybe put the logo for those sites and then the url.

  • Your sections “WITH A WILL, THERE’S A WAY” and “ABOUT ME” - to me a resume is a technical document, a listing of facts, not a narrative. Those are the kinds of things you can talk about in a cover letter. usually put a personal thing at the end (to humanize me) but that’s usually just a sentence talking about hobbies. Everything else is relevant data about me as a prospective employee.

  • Even in a cover letter, I don’t think you need to emphasize you lack experience - they can see that for themselves and come to their own conclusion. And I don’t think you need to tell them that you’re learning or what your learning schedule is - all coders are constantly learning. If you want, you could briefly address these in a cover letter, but I would keep it brief and more professional. You don’t need to turn it into a joke with emoticons and exclamations points. I know the feeling that you need to acknowledge these and some self-deprecation would seem to help, but I think they can get all the information they need from the resume. Everything else runs the risk of coming off as too flippant or just being read the wrong way. I don’t think you should try to hide it, but I also don’t think you should emphasize it.

  • I wouldn’t put an emoticon in a resume or a cover letter - it makes you seem like a teenager. If you are a teenager, then you want to seem like a mature and business-like teen. Even exclamation points seem unprofessional to me. This is business writing and I think that is too informal. In an email back and forth with the guy, that’s fine, but a resume is an official document.

  • You have no other education? Did you graduate high school?

  • Do you have no work history? Even working the grill at Burger King shows at least some responsibility.

  • The right margin on your narrative sections are too big.

  • With this little experience and education, you should be easily able to get this into one page. Hirers like concision - they don’t like fluff. They can smell fluff from a mile away and it insults their intelligence. There’s a little room for fluff in a cover letter, but I think a resume should be to the point.

You might consider generating a generic cover letter too. Your resume can usually be the same for every application, but your cover letter changes for each. But it’s still good to have a template from which to work.

Oh well, please don’t read my nitpicking as anything else than trying to be helpful.

I think I’m going to have to post my resume and portfolio site soon - we’ll see how much I get nitpicked. :wink:

4 Likes

Thanks for the feedback, @ksjazzguitar. I think you’re right on all your points. I’m going to update my resume based on your feedback. Before, I was naive, and now I know more about what should and shouldn’t be on a resume. Thanks a bunch for your feedback, it was very helpful!