Hello, I want to say that I have a portfolio website. I have some projects, some of them I created on my own with React, Redux and Firebase and other projects are only in Javascript from some courses I followed along. I created my resume, I applied to some jobs but nothing so far, my application was rejected even on some jobs that didn t require too much(they didn t want studies in IT, they only wanted you to prove that you like coding via your work or in some other way). I put everything in my resume, like the link to my website, linkedin, links to projects hosted on Github(live version). The thing is I put my experience which is not related to web development. Should I take everything out that is not related to this field? I was thinking to do that but then my resume would be empty, only my skills and those links, since I have nothing else to show, like I worked in this field.
Perhaps it’s worth sharing your resume to get better advice? Remove anything too personal of course, but it all depends on how you word it.
I left my months at Subway in mine and got my job… It can show a different set of skills.
I added to a Key skills section:
analytical thinking,planning and I put some points like 3/5 circles as an example, I also added Strong communication, Tolerant and flexible, Organization and prioritization, Problem solving. I added these since they are related to web development field. As for my working experience, there I mostly put my tasks. They are totally unrelated to this field, so I kept them in order for my resume not to be empty.
I m thinking, if I don’t find anything in 1 more week and I can t find new jobs to apply to maybe I should try some freelancing to get some experience and add that to resume. Maybe I should improve the CSS of my demo apps also, tho I mostly focused on functionality not how they look since they are demo apps.
It really depends on what you’re applying for. Is it front-end web design jobs, or full stack software engineering? Are you aiming for entry level jobs, interships, etc?
If the latter is true, I doubt you’ll need freelancing experience, they’ll likely expect this to be your first job working on real projects anyway, you just need to make sure you’re communicating to them that you have the skills that they’re looking for (which means catering your CV for each role you apply to).
I m currently applying for front-end web development / react developer. My goal is full stack dev but I haven t practiced with Nodejs for a while, I still know some stuff but I don t consider is enough to be able to apply for that kind of job. Also I m aiming for entry level, even tho they ask for like 1 million stuff. In my CV I have general skills and also technical skills(Javascript, React etc.) I dunno if I should keep my working experience there since it s totally unrelated to web development and IT, but then my CV would look empty since I have 0 experience in web development.
I have projects but those technically don t count as working experience tho. I was thinking if they see what I worked as they might not like to see someone who never worked in web development applying for this field. I also included in my CV links to my portfolio website/github/linkedin and from Github on each project they have a live version hosted on github pages and also codesandbox.
In my country there are not really many jobs at least not for the region closer to me which also makes it a bit harder. I was thinking maybe if I cannot find new jobs in the next few days/week to try freelancing or also search for remote jobs in Europe.
As a side note since I hosted my demo projects on gihub pages I followed their instructions and for React apps I found some commands that minify the code before pushing to Github and hosting. Should I try to see if there s way to host without minified source code, maybe someone might be interested in having a look even tho for those apps there are hundreds of lines in each component and I doubt they have time to look over since they want to move faster with the application process.
Its a little hard to tell as you have not posted your full resume, but it sounds like you have links to your projects, and descriptions of your previous work experience as the “core parts” of your current resume.
I personally would do 2 things.
- Minimize the amount of space/focus on non-relevant work experience. If you have worked an actual job before good, due mention it, but don’t focus on it.
- Summarize, explain, describe your relevant experience for the projects you mentioned.
- It sounds like you have a link to the project, but most people are too lazy and aren’t going to go look at it themselves.
- Give a short description of what experiences you gained/use in said project, obviously the more it applies to the job at hand the better.
If your github is filled with projects with minified code, I’d probably change that so others can read it. Odds are most recruiters wont check, but the ones that do will be scratching their heads.
Finally, front-end web developers usually need to have a good eye for design or at least capable at implementing a design, so your projects and resumes should be rock solid when it comes to visuals, otherwise you wont get any bites. No one wants to hire someone who builds ugly UI’s if their job is to build the UI.
Get some reviews on your work to see what kind of criticisms you get and use that to either improve or straight up focus on something else. I personally went full stack because I knew my design skills sucked, and being more flexible with other technologies opened up more jobs then focusing on one very crowded job market.
Job searches average several weeks in most cases, so don’t jump ship to quick or often, as freelancing is just as hard to pin down. (or outright impossible) Keep it up, get feedback, find out how to improve, and keep applying.
I echo the comment about going full stack because of sucky design skills. Everything I make looks ugly (the cure for which is Bootstrap by the way), so I went for typical software development roles and i’m now full stack.
So yeah, I’d say focus on some backend stuff (e.g. such as node), make sure your SQL is up to scratch, and leave your experience on there, but make sure you keep it short, and explain what it gave you. Teamwork, communication, etc.
Personally, I filled 2 pages by having a personal statement and education on my first page (for me that’s degree/masters, for you that could be any personal learning you’ve done such as freecodecamp stuff, or whatever you have that’s relevant), and on my second page I had work experience, hobbies/interests and personal projects (which was just a link to my portfolio).
If your projects are your best feature, i’d recommend listing a couple of your best (and describing the tools used), then giving a link to see more. That’ll take up more space which should probably come out of your education section.
But to be honest, the advice i give all my friends is to apply for less jobs, and spend the extra time fine tuning your resume/covering letter for each application. Where a lot of people just edit the company name in their covering letter and leave it at that, I research the company, and rewrite the letter each time. I also make tweaks to my resume where relevant.
And like brad said, keep at it, these things take time. The companies could be waiting to get X resumes in before they start making calls.
Thank you for your replies. I guess I will change the css of demo projects to look more attractive and add my projects experience to the experience section where I can write what I ve learned from those projects.
I recommend a Nicely written cover letter rather a ton of skills. Presenting yourself matters the most.
Do not be overwhelming or use too much fancy words. Be simple, sober and explain why you are fit for the job, what you can bring to the table. Tell the company about your efficiency and timely submission.
Companies have 100’s of applicants who might have same skill set as you do but the one who can present himself advantageous to them over the others will get hired more quickly.
I got a job with a resume that I carefully polished using Resume ME app, for iOS phone. There must be many apps like this, just search. I really liked this solution because it has about 7 templates and just with 1 tap I could select a different theme for me resume. It looked really neat. Also check for spelling mistakes and be patient, sometimes thing depend on the job market/season, too. Good luck!
Don’t forget to add interesting photo to your resume. Something unusual, but not too much. HR’s just love it in our days.
That s true, resume is quite important to “sell” yourself. I should also improve my CSS skills. I focused mostly on React + Javascript on my projects(functionality) and less on visuals. But ye some companies care more about CSS and then they require you to have some knowledge of frameworks. I ll start learning NodeJS again so knowing back-end plus front-end might open more opportunities tho but I ll also try to put more accent on CSS as well.