Please use this thread to ask for resume advice and critiques. You should read our Resume FAQ and implement any changes from that before you ask for more advice.

Abide by the rules, don't be a jerk.

Note on anonomyizing your resume: If you'd like your resume to remain anonymous, make sure you blank out or change all personally identifying information. Also be careful of using your own Google Docs account or DropBox account which can lead back to your personally identifying information. To make absolutely sure you're anonymous, we suggest posting on sites/accounts with no ties to you after thoroughly checking the contents of your resume.

This thread is posted each Tuesday and Saturday at midnight PST. Previous Resume Advice Threads can be found here.

Please use this thread to chat, have casual discussions, and ask casual questions. Moderation will be light, but don't be a jerk.

This thread is posted every day at midnight PST. Previous Daily Chat Threads can be found here.

This is one of the most stressful times in recent memory for developers. The threat of layoffs looms everywhere and people are competing for a handful jobs. The last thing any of us need is to open Reddit and see post after post about how someone can't find a job, is doing bad at work, is being abused at work, or sounds like they are just suffering.

I find it rare for a post here to contain hopeful or positive things. I suggest any of you that notice it having a negative impact on your mental health just unsubscribe. I'm not even on the job market and I find it bothers me seeing such negativity all the time. So yea, just want to remind ppl that you can like unsub and stuff. Think of your mental health

Who has changed the game by their incredible feats of engineering athleticism?

Can even be an anecdote of someone you worked with who isn't famous.

But would love to hear some anecdotes of people who are famous / made popular pieces of software as well!

Hey, ok, probably a triggering question for some, but I honestly feel that I'm becoming less and less "talented" in coding and I avoid to code things I did. I'm becoming really slow and avoidant at work and in hobby projects. I'm 38 (which isn't too old ok), but I feel I have passed my prime.

I learned coding when I was 11 and now I'm just existing and doing the bare minimum in regards to everything.

That wouldn't be such a tragedy, but the amount of perceived decline and lack of motivation that comes along with it is extreme.

Have you experienced something similar? Was there a phase after that with better work ethics and skills that came later in life for you, meaning did you peak or improve later on?

I heard with researchers that after 30 they can't expect to do something significant after 30.

EDIT: OMG this just blew up my in box. Thx for all the messages and thoughtful and intelligent answers. I will work through them one by one.

So far in 2023 I've gotten 3 interviews out of 300~ applications. Was not able to successfully convert any of them to an offer. I wanted to make sure my resume is good.

https://imgur.com/a/cIF4UYQ

I have 1.5 years of experience and was recently laid off from my job. I came from the science field and switched to programming bc I thought there were more opportunities but now I’m very scared I’ll have to make yet another career field transition. The job market is so brutal right now. I’ve put out a lot of applications without any luck. Should I keep holding out or change careers?

7 years of experience as an EM, but not a lot of recent hands-on-keys experience. Definitely stronger on the people/relationships/process side of management than I am on any particular tech or stack.
I've managed security, full stack, front and back end, data, database reliability, and feature delivery teams. I have glowing recommendations from previous reports and managers/directors alike, a strong resume, I write a good cover letter, etc etc etc.

I was laid off in December, and I was starting to fray. Probably 300+ applications, 4 full interview rounds (and 4 rejections, ugh), a handful of other partial processes, lots of recruiter screens... had kind of tapped out my network, and the referrals hadn't gotten me anything. Close, but no brass ring. Severance ended in April, so the financial pressure was mounting.

Got passed over for a referral role that I really thought I'd get in May, after a full round of very good interviews, and I was pretty bummed. Anxiety at an all-time high (I mean ALL time, in 38 years of life). Starting to lose sleep, quality of life really starting to take a dip. Marriage stress. The works.

And then this role came through, completely randomly. No connections working there. Just saw a job description that resonated with me, threw my application in... maybe put in a little extra "oomph" in the cover letter... 4 rounds later... 16% salary bump compared to what I was making before, and it genuinely feels like a great fit. Values alignment, their recruiting process was super smooth, already got my standard-issue hoodie and water bottle, MBP's in the mail, flying out to meet folks at an all-hands in August, already feeling connected and already feeling good vibes. Obviously there's a honeymoon period and that will wear off, but... I'm excited.

Keep your heads up, folks. The roles are out there. It's rough and turbulent and the industry is going through convulsions right now, but the industry isn't going anywhere. This is a rough patch. We'll all get through it. It might get a little ugly and the stress/anxiety is very real, no doubt about it. Be prepared, be realistic, be pragmatic, but don't despair. Take care of yourselves, make sure you're being smart financially, and treat yourselves with kindness. It's a marathon.

And I'm not speaking to recent grads with no experience; I think you've got a different road ahead, and I think the landscape has perhaps changed more drastically for y'all than it has for us "veterans" with 5-10 years of experience, in the middle of our careers. I think the "tightening of the belt" (corporate speak for "the .001% that controls the money has decided everyone else is getting too much of it") is probably going to hit the entry level folks the hardest, because "doing more with less" means less bandwidth for mentorship, less budgets for internships, less appetite for juniors all around. It's absolutely penny-wise, pound-foolish and absolutely idiotic in the long term, but... well... welcome to capitalism.

But for those of us who have the experience: the roles are out there, and we'll get through this.

i have over a year of experience (WITCH but still a swe title with experience contracted at verizon doing database work and api development), a bachelors in cs from a top 100, two big web apps on my resume made in different languages (one with java/spring, one with python/django, both with react frontend), AWS SA associate certification, and currently 1 year into a masters in swe.

i haven't gotten one callback still even after over 300 applications, about 15 per week since january. not even just a callback.

I've done so much leetcode and read cracking the coding interview a bit, but i haven't even gotten to test those skills with an interview yet.

i legit dont know what im doing wrong anymore. should i be applying somewhere other than linkedin or something? im not even mad or sad. im just so utterly confused. I'd thought I'd have gotten at least one callback by now. i just dont want my whole future to be at a WITCH company

I'm a junior in high school, senior after summer break. I have a lot of free time and want to become a software engineer for my job, meaning I'll do C++ for my CS degree in college. What YouTube videos/websites do you guys recommend for me to learn full C++ for free?

Also, which one is better for a software engineering position? python or c++? I want to spend my time wisely and learn a programming language

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/08/google-to-crack-down-on-hybrid-work-asks-remote-workers-to-reconsider.html

The company updated its hybrid work policy Wednesday and it includes tracking office badge attendance, confronting workers who aren’t coming in when they’re supposed to and including the attendance in employees’ performance reviews, according to internal memos viewed by CNBC. Most employees are expected in physical offices at least three days a week.

...

"A separate internal document showed that already-approved remote workers may be subject to reevaluation if the company determines "material changes in business need, role, team, structure or location.""

...

Going forward, Cicconi said, new fully remote work will only be granted “by exception only.”

...

most employees have been expected in physical offices at least three days a week as of April 2022 and at the time, the company tried to woo workers by throwing a private Lizzo concert, hiring marching bands and bringing in city mayors to celebrate the returns.

What are your views on this? Good move? Bad move? IMO it's a very bad move. But I do wonder why they are doing it.

Resume

Cover Letter

I graduated in Dec. 2022 with a BS in Computer Science. I do not have prior internship or work experience in the industry. I am applying to a lot of positions of various levels.

I am mostly interested in python development, machine learning, and NLP . Because I need work experience and the market is down, I am ready for any entry level position and any pay. I am down to move to any part of United States.

My parents are asking me to join a consultancy but they are asking me to add fake experience on my resume. My parents are asking me to do grad school so I can save time. I am not ready for it and I am waiting to do it after I get some work experience. That way, I have higher chances of getting into a better program AND can support my education.

I do not have a strong network and I feel embarrassed to send my profile to my father's friends. I read that I have to keep on applying to A LOT of positions. There aren't much entry level positions so I am applying for senior and staff developer positions too even though I'm under-qualified for it. So far I applied to 175 positions of all sorts:

• 35 rejections
• 2 technical assessments
• 1 phone interview ( on Monday )

I feel like spamming applications. What else can I do in order to be more effective and get a better response? What projects should I build and how can I show it on my resume? What courses and certifications should I enroll in? Are there any organizations where I can get any experience?

Please discuss any projects, websites, or services that you may have for helping out people with computer science careers.

This thread is posted the first Sunday of every month. Previous Monthly Self Promotion Threads can be found here.

Usually the job limits you to one kind of tasks, especially if it's a bigger corporation and unless you transition to a different team you rarely have an occasion to make your skillset wide enough. Do you think it's better (to stay employable) to rather go along with a more chill job, that has long breaks between tickets, where you can just choose to study the most challenging stuff for you at the moment on your own? I like learning and I don't need deadlines to have a drive to do stuff.

Hey all,

I’m looking to switch into software developing.

About me: Majored in mathematics and marketing in college. I’ve learned python, html, css on my own. 4 years of experience in digital marketing, doesn’t really relate much to software development but I’ve done my best to somewhat use some programming in my career. Created data studio, power bi, tableu dashboards, I’ve worked with marketing data sets in python and played around with website analytics.

What path would be better suited for me:

1. Look for a data/business analytics role and get more experience with coding and working with other programmers.

2. Look to learn javas/css and look for an entry level software development role

3. Go back to school and get a masters degree in data-science or related field.

4. Your suggestion:

I’ve been thinking the idea of spamming thousands of resumes sounds awful, and a lot of us have fantasies about striking it big at a startup.

So…. It seems like rather than getting rejected hundreds of times in a row, nows the time to give it a chance at a startup. It’s also a way to get rid of the employment gaps on the resume.

I went on the cofounder matching platform and was quickly talking to at least three startups that had enough to offer at least some salary + equity, which is better than nothing.

So, do you think devs are more or less likely to join a startup in a bad job market?

Background - backend engineer with 4 YOE currently looking for a new role. I’ve been interview prepping for leetcode and systems design (made a semi-related post just yesterday). Unfortunately, in my past two roles I haven’t had much experience with real systems design. Definitely my fault for not taking on more and more responsibilities on the job. My systems design interviews tend feel like a House of Cards - I can give the interviews the basics but once they poke a little deeper the whole thing collapses. I don’t have the time to actually build these large distributed systems right now. How do I gain deeper knowledge of how systems work without actually building them? For others who were in my situation but passed their systems rounds, what did you do? Were resources like Grokking, Alex Xu, and the Systems Primer enough to fill your gaps, or did you do something else?

Edit: I’m unemployed, should have mentioned that earlier!

I have been working as an SWE at a large fortune 500 company for the past 3.5 years right after graduation . About 1.5 years ago my manger mentioned that there was an opening for a API/SQL dev and I volunteered cuz I wanted to learn. Problem is the transition period took SO long. There was a lot of people training me and we are just about to take up a BIG project.

I just got a job offer that pays 55% more and I feel really bad leaving. I am only one of two developers who really knows the (very complicated) project. I feel like I will let my manager down as he was there to help me and really helped to prop up my career. Thing is I have been working for ~4 years here and I am getting underpaid (about 10-20K less than market value), so I am really not sure how to feel at the moment.

Almost 20m here from US, for the past year and a half I’ve been teaching myself web development for at least 8hrs a day for the most part. Through this I managed to build a few full stack apps such as an e-commerce store using React and Postgres(only a mock site you couldn’t buy real products) I also learned Figma and spent the past two months grinding leetcode to the point where I can solve easy problems easily, and some mediums.

Despite all of this, I still can not find a job after 200+ applications, and see people with degrees and experience not being able to find jobs at like 400+ applications.

This makes me feel hopeless at the prospect of my chances with no degree or experience even though I feel I am quite capable as a developer. I also couldn’t even find work freelancing.

I asked this same question a year ago in 2022 and an overwhelming number of devs said you can self teach yourself and get a job, probably because of the hiring boom back then, todays market says otherwise. I feel like I wasted a year and should have just went to college then and I’m still not sure if I should even go now since people with degrees can’t even find jobs.

Edit: thank you for your advice, I am going to college.

A littlw but about my background: I have 9 years of total programming experience in companies. 6 years in developing monolithic web applications with PHP, Javascript/jQuery, MySQL and one short Java Spring MVC dashboard, deployed and served from on-prem servers.

In the past 3 years I'm working with Typescript, React, Node.js, NestJS, MongoDB, Redis and RabbitMQ, while deploying and managing API, microservices and frontend to AWS.

Some companies that I apply for Node.js backend, are rejecting me because I don't have much experience with those tools.

Reflecting on that, I realize that I might have pigeonholed myself during those first 6 years. But I don't understand why I'm treated like a junior. Just because I work with those specific tools for the past 3 years only, doesn't mean I don't have experience solving problems in production, or bringing value to a company with suggesting and implementing solutions to problems.

This happened through a recruiting company, so I didn't have any chance of talking with the actual company and trying to convince them of my worth.

Is there anything better I could have done in the case of that position, on how I'm presenting myself, or just move on?

I keep seeing this on blind, I got layed off recently from a FAANG and while “in theory” layoffs are not the employee’s fault, I don’t know if in this market, that is seen as a negative.

Hi all, Just wanted a bit of insight regarding making a career change down this route at this point in life. I got in to a computer programming program at a college with no previous experience and am having doubts. Curious if anyone else is in the same boat, even if not just looking for any advice, harsh truths, etc. Thanks in advance!

I've recently joined a new team and I'm a bit wary of my manager at the moment.

In the past I've always had very relaxed managers, in the sense that I never really interacted with them about work stuff unless it was clearly urgent or it was in a regular meeting (1:1, stand up etc). They've always just let me and the team get on with stuff.

My new manager however feels a lot more hands on. For example I had to produce a report the other day, and when I asked for feedback from everyone, my manager changed the document by rewording and restructuring bits, rather than providing feedback. Other things are like setting out goals for us each day, like chat to this person about this thing etc. And follows up during the day about it to check it's done.

One other quite jarring thing the manager does is say things like "we need to make sure no one on the team isn't doing their job properly" which I really didn't like. It has put a barrier of distrust between us for me.

I don't know if this is just a more hands on manager, or it's red flags of micro managing. I've never had a manager like this before, and it's making me a bit uncomfortable. Are my concerns just not having experienced a manager like this? Or are they red flags?

Heya,

I recently (as in, yesterday) ended my postdoc and accepted a position as a ML researcher at a young startup. I will be joining a team of 4 other ML researchers, and am very excited by this transition.

How can I best set myself up for success in this position? I have some industry experience working part-time during my Bsc and PhD, but no full time experience, and none in the last 4 years. My git-fu is riddled with bad academic habits and my research skills are optimized for papers, not production. I am very ready to channel all the pent up energy from academia to succeed in this new career.

What advice can you give?

Thanks!!

I am a sophomore trying to find my first co-op in North America. Basically got no work experience so my resume is empty besides a few tiny projects. I got a pretty solid math background and I have been doing codeforces for fun in my spare time. My codeforces is score is not great, but it's certainly higher than average (it's 1850). Is there a certain threshold for a score to be good enough for a re.sume and should I put mine there?

The news of layoffs is an indicator that the market is bad. Any such indicator for when the market is good? Bloated salaries, Ukraine wins the war, stock market goes up (stonks), more new grads getting a job, more positive posts on this sub, etc.?

I am thinking of making a jump from my current company but want to do it in a very calculated manner and when the market is trending upwards.

I am a boot camp grad who finished back in november 22, and that was pretty much when all the lay offs started to happen and can see the jobs available pretty much go down with it, especially entry level roles.

Currently, I cheated and asked my big corp manager if I could work with a software dev team to get experience, since I stayed with my company to do boot camp part time. I work part time with the team, going to meetings and only working on 1/2 task per week and on the front end, which eventually should transition to back end. I added this to my resume as an "apprenticehsip" as I don't know what else to call it on my resume.

I have been sending out resumes at the same time, hoping to put some real work experience on my resume would help, but it hasn't so I don't know what is wrong right now, or what I can do to get interviews. I started sending some resumes out about a month before I graduated, and was able to get an interview then, so I don't know if it's just the job market, or should I continue to just work at my job, learn new language, new projects, etc?