We are now at the end of the road to Capstone, and while this journey has presented several moments of struggle, a tremendous amount of discovery, and great triumph, I can’t help but to think about what’s on the other side of the horizon.
For some, grad school is in the plans. For others, a new role at the existing gig is the cards. But for most, which includes me, the job hunt will soon commence.
To start preparing for the next chapter, I’ve been combing the web to find more tips, tricks and insight on how to develop a winning resume and killer portfolio. What I found is that it is going to take more than up, down, up, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Start. Following are the juicy bits:
Keys to a Winning Resume
With many applicants looking to get hired, keeping your resume concise is critical. Employers are typically faced with power-reading through stacks of resumes. So, trimming the “filler” is going to be in your favor. A big part of this exercise is knowing exactly the role you are applying for and the corresponding skills needed to perform that role – this is usually highlighted in the job listing.
When crafting the resume there are some key features that should be included. Following are the typical sections:
Career Summary
Detail your experience with technologies and use cases. You can indicate which industries you have worked in, cite the number of years spent in each position, and offer a brief description of what it is you have built and with which languages. Remember, keep it concise.
Note: this is a smart way to get eyes on your resume for a second or two longer. So, put spend a little effort to make it strong.
Skills and Certs
Include the skills and certifications that you want to highlight that highlight your qualifications for the specific job. This is the place where your potential client will most likely either keep reading or bounce to the next prospect.
Experience
Here, you should note the length of the employment period, the employer, your job title, the name and description of specific projects, and the quantifiable results achieved for the employer.
Side/Freelance Projects
This one by many is not considered vital but should be included if you have something completed (ideally) and relevant to share for the position – it’s an extra ingredient in the sauce. Side projects could include your own passion projects or contributions you have made to open source projects on GitHub or other repositories.
Education
This is typical of most resumes. Leave a little room at the bottom of your resume to list any tertiary education, master’s, majors, minors, and other academic achievements.
I like visual examples. So, here are a few links to give you some resume tools and further inspiration:
What About the Portfolio?
Now on to the portfolio. This is the proof that’s in the “pudding”.
Show me the money.
The great thing about an online portfolio page is that you can customize it to reflect your unique talents, interests and personality; However, remember to keep it professional.
Here are six steps that you can follow when crafting your portfolio:
Decide how to host it
A personal web page is the most common format for a portfolio. If you have loads of work on GitHub, GitHub Pages is an easy way to turn your repositories into a website that can serve as your portfolio.
If you are a skilled programmer or website developer, you could create your own portfolio website using a programming language. If you’d rather choose a less time-consuming method, you could use a website builder. These sites often provide you with templates that allow you to insert your own information so that you can add features without coding or programming.
Regardless of how you choose to host your portfolio, consider including a customizable URL. A professional way to build your personal brand is to simply use your first and last name in the URL. If your name is unavailable, you can always modify by using initials or adding an extra word that describes your profession, like dev, developing, design, etc. If you have a lab or a workshop, feel free to tack this on as an alternative. Don’t, however, get too creative with adjectives like “amazing,” “talented,” “marvelous,” and such.
Showcase your projects
Once you’ve created the outline of your website, add your projects. Showcasing your projects is the “meat-and-potatoes” of your portfolio. So, choose wisely.
You may want to choose software engineer projects that display a wide range of your skills and your most notable accomplishments. You don’t need to share every project you have ever completed. In fact, you shouldn’t. You should select a sampling of three to five projects that represent the depth of your experience and the level of your skills. Some examples of projects you may include are apps you’ve programmed, websites you’ve built or any other freelance projects.
You should include a snapshot of the project, that includes the following:
- Project name and description
-Objective of the project
-Tech stack used
-How you built the application - How to run the application
- How to test the application
- Software tools used
- Tangible results
- Screenshots or animated GIFs showing user flows (if customer facing)
- Links to web pages or installers for desktop applications
- Links to code
When providing links to source code, it’s best to follow Folder Structure Conventions. This will make it easier for clients to follow your project and will demonstrate that you are organized, which potential employers will highly value.
Your creativity and the presentation of your work should speak for itself, but you should also show how you got there. Clients want to know not only what you built, but how you built it. Developers work by a process and you should demonstrate that you have one.
What “about me”
Your resume has already provided a Career Summary, so there’s no need for an in-depth “about me” or “objective” here. A brief introduction of your skills and interests on the first page will suffice. This section can include your name, contact information and a photo of yourself if preferred. You might cater this section to highlight your most notable achievements in your career, and you can also add a few sentences about specific skills or credentials you have that apply to software engineering. If you’re not already familiar, the subreddit r/webdev is a great place to find and reference other developer portfolios and get feedback on your own.
Add other information (AOI)
Once your “about me” section is complete, you can start adding other important information that shows employers your qualifications. These items could include:
- Awards or contests
- A resume or cover letter
- Education, certification or licensure
- Professional experience
- A skills section
What you include is up to you, but try to highlight why you’re an excellent job candidate. For example, if you’ve won several contests, then it could be beneficial to add a page or section about that. If you have more educational experience than professional, then you might feature your degrees, certifications or licenses.
Add links
Next, you can add finishing details, such as links. You can insert links to another site, a resume, cover letter or social media profile. However, try to only link social media profiles that are for professional or career-related purposes. Be sure to link only to sites that are active and up to date. To help you decide which links to include, ask yourself if the link demonstrates skills or experiences related to being a software engineer. Consider excluding links to personal social media accounts.
Under your introduction is a good place to include links to your preferred contact methods, social media, LinkedIn, GitHub, and StackOverflow pages, if you are active on those platforms.
Both GitHub and StackOverflow track the frequency of your usage. To show dedication to your trade, you should try be continuously active on both of these platforms. If you have long periods without any activity on your GitHub and StackOverflow accounts, you can consider whether or not these will strengthen your credentials.
Revise
Proofread, share with others to get feedback, proofread again and revise as needed. Careless mistakes can communicate a lack of attention to detail and diligence.
Here are some portfolio examples to inspire:
https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/15-web-developer-portfolios-to-inspire-you-137fb1743cae/
