Hi everyone,
I’ll be honest right from the get go and say I really don’t understand how I’m not getting interviews? I’m self-taught solely because I really do think programming is fun so spend most of my free time just coding. I read CS textbooks for fun, I’ve done a good number of the learning on this website (shout out everyone working at freecodecamp.com love ya’ll), have my B.S. in Applied Math and have done lots of self projects and feel there’s no reason I shouldn’t have a job.
My most recent project I feel definitely speaks for my CS abilities and knowledge base as it is a project that auto-applies to jobs for people first. It takes in the users basic information that is common on most job applications and then requires the user to write a summary about themselves which is then used by GPT-Neo to answer random personal questions that job applications may require in order to submit the form. A big goal of mine is to write a research paper on the lack of beginner job opportunities in the current job market so in order to allow for that had to change coding around a bit to allow for the data to have integrity, accuracy, etc. I’ve used SpaCy to understand and re-syntax a few things so that my code applies to jobs that are truly open to entry-level candidates and properly differentiates other levels such as staff, lead, principal, etc… Beyond on that I’ve built a server/database that taught me everything in DevOps nginx, Jenkins, Docker, K3’s. It’s not done as I keep adding to it but so far am 8 months into this project and during all this time still have yet to make it to the 2nd round of interviews.
I’ll attach my resume and github below but any advice on what more I could do would be great! Then if that isn’t the issue what more still needs to be done? Anything really would be great and helpful thanks!
Wow. It looks like you know a lot!
I’m still a beginner so I’m not quite the right person to answer this question but I’m sure one of the more experienced guys here can help you out!
Just wanted to point out, in my opinion it can use some personalizing. Like maybe add a profile picture, your age and any other details that highlight other skills like communication and problem solving.
It’s really hard to give specific advice for a stranger’s individual situation. We can only meaningfully give general advice in a situation like this.
You mention that you haven’t been able to get second round interviews. Presumably that means that you’ve had some success with getting initial interviews. I encourage you to think about what is happening in those interviews. What are the conversations like? What questions are they asking? What questions are you asking? It sounds as though something is happening during or after that interaction which is resulting in your rejection.
Also, you should create a profile repo where you want a README.md file. For you, the link would be https://github.com/Liebmann5/Liebmann5. You could upload a PDF version of your resume.
Hi there, thanks for sharing your resume and for your post.
Sorry to hear that you’re having difficulties getting interviews. As a recruiter (primarily in tech) and a resume writer, I took a look at your resume and here are some thoughts:
If you are not getting interviews, first of all the problem could definitely be your resume. Looking at your resume, it does look like you know a lot but what you know isn’t showcased very well. The formatting also makes it difficult to follow.
You are missing a Summary to open your resume. You immediately begin with your work experience. I see this so many times on Dev or technical resumes, where candidates completely skip this section. Big mistake. As a recruiter I still want to see this. It shows me who you are outside of your technical capabilities and helps also in some way assess a role and cultural fit. Without a summary, I don’t get a sense of who you are and what you are really good at also, I don’t understand what specific position you are applying for. Additionally, your summary helps to show what you’ve done and how you have made impact. Employers today want to know more about how you can bring value to their teams, how you have made impact, who you collaborated with cross-functionally (i.e. what teams) and how you drove success.
You are missing a bulleted section of skills (technical that would relate to the role and non technical). When we talk about a skills section we are not talking about your tech stack. So, key here is to look at the job description and full out certain keywords related to the position and see how they align with your background; then use them. This is really important as you want to ensure that you list skills and keywords that show your fit for the position. Here is a great opportunity also for you to also utilize keywords that would resonate with ATS and AI while you also add some interpersonal skills. This is one sure way to get you noticed.
What your new format could look like:
a. name and contact info
b. summary
c. bulleted skills section
d. technical skills (so you can move this up from the bottom)
3. experience - be sure to mention what you have accomplished more in these roles. Being a Staff Engineer is a huge role. Have you considered adding some detail around what you developed (i.e. the application itself), how you used the tools listed, any team members you oversaw, etc. Show more impact and less of a description. For example, bullet could read something like “designed and structured (ABC) database from ground up and assisted…creating efficient API calls that…”
4. current projects - are you working on all of these projects right now? I don’t see dates.
Hopefully this feedback helps. I think you have some solid experience that could be pulled out if you dug a bit deeper :). You also seem to know a lot. Are you also applying for Full Stack roles or where are you placing your focus?
