Ask HN: What do you look for in a resume, which gets you to talk to the person?

13 pointsmds1017y ago15 comments

Hi HN,

This is a question mostly for first level recruiters/HR.

I've been job hunting recently, and while my resume (which is currently a list of companies I've worked for, the work duration, and the tech I've worked on), seems to get responses within India, the same resume when sent out to most European companies has so far gotten me only two call backs from about 300 applications.

So I'd like to know, when you receive a bunch of resumes, what makes you decide whom to call up and talk to?

I'm a full stack Javascript developer with experience in React, ESNext, Node, Postgres, Mongo, Express, Electron, microservices, RMQ and GraphQL (amongst others). If there is anything specific about the tech I am experienced in that you would like to see in the resume, do let me know that also.

Thanks

15 comments

itamarst7y ago

You can imagine three levels of skill (https://codewithoutrules.com/2018/10/10/beyond-senior-softwa...):

1. Implement a solution someone already came up with.

2. Solve a problem someone gave you.

3. Identify problems.

The higher the level, the more valuable of an employee you are.

If you are level 2, you want to make sure your resume doesn't give the impression you're level 1. So for example, don't just list "I wrote some code", explain how you came up with this design, and why.

If you are level 3, you want to make sure your resume doesn't give the impression you're level 2. So make sure you explain how you identified the problem, and why it mattered.

muzani7y ago

It's really hard to put level 3 on a resume though. For example, I had a situation where we built a product from 0 to release in 2 weeks, got revenue and hundreds of buyers by the second month, without any funding. But just writing it that way doesn't make it clear whether it was luck, skill or the effort of colleagues.

itamarst7y ago

You can give context, and what you did.

"After noticing the need for X, I proposed we build Y. As a team we build an initial prototype, and within two weeks we had revenue and hundreds of buyers."

Example from my resume:

"I created a new product from scratch for the company. I researched user needs, explored the solution space (http://...), and then built Telepresence (http://...), a local development environment for Kubernetes. As of Feb 2019 the project had grown to 1600+ GitHub stars and is now a CNCF Sandbox project."

system_sleep7y ago

I imagine if you don't have enough content to show for level(n), it is okay to show some of the level(n-1) content that shows your natural upwards progression

itamarst7y ago

Right, you don't want to omit things you've done if they're relevant. But ideal is to show natural progression, or if not then aspiration. E.g. intro paragraph can say "I am looking for job where I can take on more responsibility, not just solving problems others found but also figuring out bigger picture strategy and how to meet organizational goals." and maybe an example if you've done it once or twice successfully.

kat7y ago

I would like to echo this. The statements on the resume should be "did x which caused y". The caused y part should be how valuable your contributions were. The more concrete you can write the better.

If you wrote unit tests for your code, "Wrote Unit tests, maintaining 80% coverage which reduced QA cycles and increased code quality". or "Programmed on a product for x Industry, facilitating x% faster workflows for the customer"

itamarst7y ago

Those statements are insufficient, since they don't say whose initiative it was to do the action. There's a big difference between "I wrote unit tests because my boss told me to" and "I spent 6 months pushing to fix our failing tests, and so was eventually given responsibility to do so".

1 more reply

cimmanom7y ago

My company doesn’t sponsor visas, but we get a lot of overseas applicants anyway.

One theme I’ve noticed from these resumes is that for the summary of experience they tend to list out technologies and job responsibilities. And also to have about a dozen bullet points for each job, which is overwhelming.

This makes the candidate look incapable of independent thought - reinforcing a negative stereotype of Indian developers. Too many of us have had or heard of bad experiences with outsourcing companies that need to be given instructions almost as detailed as you’d give a computer.

American and European companies (at least the good ones) aren’t looking for coders to accept and execute instructions. We’re looking for software developers who can synthesize context and business goals to develop software that will create value for the business.

What I’m looking to see on a resume are projects undertaken and even more importantly accomplishments. And only the most relevant 2-5 for each position. How did your work impact the business?

Instead of ticking off “I’ve used this technology” boxes, focus on highlighting your business value.

mds101OP7y ago

Thanks for your advice! I'd also like to know if you would consider a non-conventional resume (like a specialized resume website), rather than a conventional word/pdf document, as a positive or a negative?

cimmanom7y ago

Most places you’ll have to submit a PDF (or sometimes Word doc), so start with that. Having your resume also hosted on LinkedIn or elsewhere won’t hurt you, but it doesn’t add much value.

bobbbi7y ago

Are you based in India? If so, I imagine the practicalities of getting a visa are more of an issue than the quality of resume.

mds101OP7y ago

Yes I am currently based in India, and I know visas can be an issue, but I am specifically talking about openings that are advertised as 'Visa Sponsored'.

Spooky237y ago

I’m a little deeper in the funnel, but I prefer narratives over lists of acronyms. Give me something to talk about.

Also, are people seeing your resume, or is some middleman changing it? I notice with Indian candidates agencies tweak them in ways or for reasons that often don’t benefit the candidate.

nickwhite997y ago

We start off with internal referrals...

Your best bet is to try and network into your top companies by reaching out via LinkedIn, asking friends and family for connections, alumni etc

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

15 comments

itamarst7y ago

You can imagine three levels of skill (https://codewithoutrules.com/2018/10/10/beyond-senior-softwa...):

1. Implement a solution someone already came up with.

2. Solve a problem someone gave you.

3. Identify problems.

The higher the level, the more valuable of an employee you are.

If you are level 3, you want to make sure your resume doesn't give the impression you're level 2. So make sure you explain how you identified the problem, and why it mattered.

muzani7y ago

itamarst7y ago

You can give context, and what you did.

"After noticing the need for X, I proposed we build Y. As a team we build an initial prototype, and within two weeks we had revenue and hundreds of buyers."

Example from my resume:

system_sleep7y ago

I imagine if you don't have enough content to show for level(n), it is okay to show some of the level(n-1) content that shows your natural upwards progression

itamarst7y ago

kat7y ago

I would like to echo this. The statements on the resume should be "did x which caused y". The caused y part should be how valuable your contributions were. The more concrete you can write the better.

itamarst7y ago

1 more reply

cimmanom7y ago

My company doesn’t sponsor visas, but we get a lot of overseas applicants anyway.

What I’m looking to see on a resume are projects undertaken and even more importantly accomplishments. And only the most relevant 2-5 for each position. How did your work impact the business?

Instead of ticking off “I’ve used this technology” boxes, focus on highlighting your business value.

mds101OP7y ago

cimmanom7y ago

Most places you’ll have to submit a PDF (or sometimes Word doc), so start with that. Having your resume also hosted on LinkedIn or elsewhere won’t hurt you, but it doesn’t add much value.

bobbbi7y ago

Are you based in India? If so, I imagine the practicalities of getting a visa are more of an issue than the quality of resume.

mds101OP7y ago

Yes I am currently based in India, and I know visas can be an issue, but I am specifically talking about openings that are advertised as 'Visa Sponsored'.

Spooky237y ago

I’m a little deeper in the funnel, but I prefer narratives over lists of acronyms. Give me something to talk about.

Also, are people seeing your resume, or is some middleman changing it? I notice with Indian candidates agencies tweak them in ways or for reasons that often don’t benefit the candidate.

nickwhite997y ago

We start off with internal referrals...

Your best bet is to try and network into your top companies by reaching out via LinkedIn, asking friends and family for connections, alumni etc

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse