Hi there! I’ve been a developer for about two years now. I don’t have a degree or bootcamp certificate and the position I’ve held for the past couple years has been good experience but is unremarkable. I am looking to make a job change. However I’m finding it difficult to land interviews.
I find I interview exceptionally well due to my demonstrable knowledge and skills, but am mostly ignored before I even get to the interview due to lack of years of experience. In other words, even though I’ve spent a lot of own time sharpening my dev skills and am a highly capable developer, my on-paper experience doesn’t stand out so I end up dead in the water before I even get interviewed.
How would you go about landing more interviews in my situation?
Any tips for people in positions similar to mine?
What are some guidelines to make your resume and LinkedIn stand out to get interviews?
Any tips on my LinkedIn or resume? (See links below)
What are the best ways to find jobs and land interviews?
Just as a heads up, I removed the link to your resume. It contained personally identifying information that I don’t recommend sharing on this forum. The contents of this forum are publicly available and is often highly ranked in search results. If you would like to share a version of your resume, I recommend removing your contact information and the names of your previous employers.
Hard to say without possibly seeing your resume, but it kinda sounds like you might need to get some concrete accomplishments in your current job that you’d be able to cite on your resume? It’s always a good idea to have concrete & specific accomplishments that you can put on your resume - those are the kinds of things that typically grab attention from HR/recruiters.
Also I don’t know I’d say that “2 years of experience” is mid-level. That’s still junior territory, especially if you’re currently in your first dev job. I’d also say it’s possible you may need to keep “skilling up” to advance your knowledge in multiple areas - i.e. so you’re able to confidently list more keywords in your skills.
Also “I find I interview exceptionally well due to my demonstrable knowledge and skills, but am mostly ignored before I even get to the interview… so I end up dead in the water before I even get interviewed” sounds contradictory there. Can you clarify this? Which interview stage are you referring to? A first phone interview, or a second technical interview, or something else?
I was able to find you resume through your linkedin.
I don’t think that is 100% your problem though.
I don’t think your resume is that easy to scan.
Remember that you are only given 6-7 seconds before they move onto the next resume.
For your About summary at the top, unfortunately it sounds like something everyone writes. Writing about sections is tough and I personally don’t enjoy doing it for resumes. But you do want to write something that is not to generic.
This article has some good points on how to improve that section https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/how-to-write-an-about-me-in-resume
For your experience, I would limit it to 3 strong bullet points per job on how you contributed in a valuable way to the team.
For the skills section, you don’t need to add advanced next to the tech.
They will evaluate you and decide if you are advanced in that area, so you don’t need to tell them.
For your projects section, I would highlight your strongest or top 2 projects with 3 bullet points each describing what it does and what problem it solves.
I don’t think hiring mangers are going to read through the paragraph in your projects section because they are short on time.
But if you give them short digestable bullet points that point to the value of the project, they can easily scan that and decide if they are interested in more.
At the end of the day, most people struggle to write a good resume(myself included )
But a strong resume can mean the difference between landing the interview and ending up in the no pile.
I would suggest continuing to tweak your resume so it appeals more to potential employers
Thanks for the reply!
To clarify on that last point, I mean to say to that I do well in interviews and employers typically recognize a fair amount of value in me after I get to talk to them in a face-to-face setting, but it’s quite rare that I even get any sort of initial interview. So my problem isn’t succeeding in interviews, but more so getting them in the first place. I suspect that this is a common problem, but I haven’t been able to solve it for myself as of yet.
To stand out as a developer with two years of experience, focus on showcasing your technical skills, notable projects, and any certifications you’ve earned. Emphasize your soft skills, like problem-solving and teamwork, and any domain-specific knowledge. Craft impactful, quantifiable statements about your achievements on your resume. On LinkedIn, engage with your network, collect recommendations, and share industry insights. Tailor both your resume and profile to each job application, highlighting the most relevant experiences and skills. These strategies will help you make a strong impression as a mid-level software developer.
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