Before you start writing your CV, make sure you’ve completed the following steps:
Ask the question “What’s In It For Me?”
This question is the first step to understanding what you should write, and how. This will help you not to fall into the narrative and know how to omit unnecessary information.
Clearly define the length of the CV
You know, a professional recruiter typically spends about … 30 seconds to skim through a profile? Therefore, the ideal length for a Software Engineer CV is 1 A4 page in PDF format. Summarizing your CV in just 1 page ensures that the employer will easily filter out the necessary information, and helps you avoid the cases of loss when printing or the recruiter reads the information wrong.
Make an “outline” of 6 parts
From the employer’s point of view, six parts are enough for a Software Engineer to show off all his skills, knowledge, and experience. These include:
1. (Profile)
2. (Education)
3. (Professional Experience)
4. (Personal Projects)
5. (Technical Skills)
6. (Activities & Awards)
Here we dive into each section with specific tips and instructions.
– Personal information (Profile)
1.1. Include
Frist and last name
Email
Phone number
URLs
The personal information section should NOT include the following items:
Age, date of birth
Marital status
Sex
Nationality
Home address
Career Objectives
This information is not only useless in assessing the candidate’s ability, but it is also superfluous when you only have 1 page to present yourself. Such writing is also quite outdated for a position (supposedly) always up to date with the latest like Software Engineer.
Regarding Career Objectives, many recruitment channels around the world think that this is an item that should be ignored because of its cliché and futility. Not to mention, you don’t want to be in a situation where you submit your CV to company B but write “I want to contribute to the success of company A”, right?
1.2. : How to present Profile
How to write first and last name
Please write your name in the format of first name+middle+last name or first name+last name if you are applying for foreign companies.
If submitting your CV in English, write your name without accents.
Focus on the things that will make the first impression on the employer
This not only helps you become professional, but also avoids errors in the processing of documents such as: tools filtering wrong names, font errors, or foreign bosses reading names backwards, etc.
Add URLs in your intro
Instead of Gender, Age, Address, Marital Status, you should invest in URLs – which contain talking information.
For the position of Software Engineer, the most important URL is GitHub, because employers will rely on that to partly assess the candidate’s qualifications. Take a good look at GitHub, update the readme for all sections, make sure there are projects you’ve worked on before linking to your CV.
The two most important URLs for Software Engineers:: GitHub và LinkedIn
An equally important URL is LinkedIn. If your CV is limited to only 1 page, LinkedIn allows you to freely “show off” both your learning and working process. Like GitHub, update LinkedIn by:
Choose a profile photo with bright, professional and energetic tones.
Clearly state the position, role, achievements, contributions in work or projects done.
Give impressive numbers that you have achieved in the process of studying and working.
Include links such as GitHub/GitLab, personal website, articles, etc. for recruiters’ reference (if any).
Consistency in personal information
If you are a geek, set up email, Skype, LinkedIn and GitHub accounts with the same username. This is a simple yet effective way to give the impression of professionalism.
Use 1 username for all accounts to avoid confusion
Usernames should be your first name, initials, or a combination that is directly related to your name.
Please pay attention to the email address, absolutely avoid giving serious emails like girlxjnk9x@yahoo.com, boydeptraithichgirlxinhgai@yahoo.com…
Using a uniform username will make a good impression, avoiding errors compared to long URLs, automatic URLs.
-Education
2.1. Include
School’s name
Professional name
GPA
Related Courses
Other Certifications
Tips:
Most IT companies are not too strict about the entry GPA, so you are not required to record GPA.
If your GPA is below 3.0, it’s time to use your creativity to find your strengths. For example, what happens when you focus only on specialized subjects, rather than in general subjects, resulting in a higher GPA than the overall GPA? A small tip, you can completely fill in the GPA of specialized subjects instead of the usual GPA.
Be flexible when giving information about points to your advantage
Only list courses and certifications related to Software Engineer positions such as: Data Structures & Algorithms, Operating Systems, Networking, Computer Vision…
It is a fact that many candidates are afraid of lack, so how many certificates they want to complete. But remember that employers don’t need the best, they need the best fit. So, an excellent degree in History or Literature won’t make you any more competitive for a Software Engineer position.
2.2. Presentation
Put your GPA next to the major name to save space. Otherwise, you can enter the same column as the study time.
Please record the study time using the formula month year – month year. If you haven’t graduated yet, you can enter an anticipated graduation date or simply month year – present. This will be easier to visualize than just recording the year, or marking the semester.
Take care of even the smallest things like the date of the year
You don’t have to score subjects to avoid your CV being too long. If employers need information about your transcript, they will communicate directly later
If you have an outstanding academic award, you can also include it in the Education section.
Don’t be afraid to show off your awards and academic achievements. That can completely be a plus point in the eyes of employers.
-Professional Experience
If you have experience, you can put this before the Education section because then, the employer will look at the work experience to evaluate the candidate’s profile.
3.1. Inculde
Position
Company name (+ company location)
Working time
Job description
Work achievements and skills/knowledge gained
Most of the CVs we receive, candidates only stop at the job description they used to do. But think, do recruiters want to re-read those innocuous JDs that anyone can write?
No. What they want to know is that in that position, with those jobs, how did you create, and what did you learn for yourself. Therefore, taking it a step further, clearly stating the achievements at work is an extremely important part for you to become more outstanding
3.2. Presentation
Listed in reverse chronological order
This is the best way for employers to immediately see your most recent experience. Especially when you have many years of experience, you certainly don’t want the first thing employers see is your workplace from… 7 years ago, right?
Please list your most recent experiences in the first place
Summarize the position, company name and working time in the first line
To save space, you can split the first row into 3 columns as follows:
The 3-column layout allows you to utilize white space to create a coherent CV
Use bullet points
An equally important rule when writing a CV is not to write whole sentences. Complete paragraphs and sentences will only work when you use them in your cover letter, but don’t apply them to your CV. Employers want to find out the key points quickly, not read a narrative essay.
Instead, use bullet points. Five bullet points is the maximum for each of your experiences or projects, and do not write more than 2 lines per bullet point. Remember, you only want to put the most important things on your CV.
Start each bullet point with a verb
So how to write bullet points effectively? Start each bullet point with a verb. This way, employers will immediately see your role in each job or project.
Starting each line with a verb will help you make your presentation more concise and effective
Please refer and save some verbs that you can use for your CV such as:
Prove everything with data
Most CVs today have a very general Experience section. They are like upgraded versions of Job Descriptions instead of actually showing what you have done in previous jobs. Employers don’t need that. They want to know what you’ve actually done, what the results are.
Let the numbers prove your ability
Refer to the formula suggested by Google recruiters: “Accomplished X measured by Y by doing Z”. X here is the result you have achieved, Y is the statistics and Z is the method. Example: Reduced number of error tickets by 54% by using an effective debugging strategy.
Add some similar formulas for Engineer:
Reduced _____ by _____ by _____.
Redesigned _____ for _____.
Implemented _____ for _____ by _____.
Improved _____ by _____ through _____.
Utilized _____ to _____ for _____.
Increased _____ by _____ through _____.
Integrated _____ by _____ for _____.
Incorporated _____ for _____ by _____.
Remember that recruiters have many ways to validate the information on your CV. So don’t be foolish to make false statements here, because everything will be meaningless if you pass the CV round, but are not qualified to pass the next round of interviews.
-Personal Projects
If you do not have much experience, investing in personal projects will help you score significantly in the eyes of companies. However, more than 90% of the applications we have received do not describe the projects fully.
So what will a full project have?
4.1.Components of a project
Description
Role
Tech stack
Code
Just like in item 3, most candidates usually just name the project and a few lines of a sketchy description – and the recruiter doesn’t get much information from that. Make yourself stand out with things that can really prove your capabilities.
Tips:
If you have too few projects, or haven’t done a “real” project yet?
The advice is: Start a project now! You can make a Chrome extension, a simple game app or a personal website, for example. Calling a group of friends to work on a project is also a good idea. You can try to be a Team Leader from group activities, gain more experience, and beautify your CV.
HR will not require a fresh graduate to have several years of experience. But instead, demonstrate your initiative to learn with projects. Because if not, what is the basis to know that you are a good candidate that the company is looking for?
Give GitHub link for each project
Unfortunately, many students do not have the habit of uploading projects to open sources. Are you a Software Engineer? Let’s prove it via GitHub!
In many companies, after HR passes your CV, a Software Engineer or even a Team Leader will review your profile before deciding whether to interview or not. Here, they will assess whether the candidate:
How to code and organize it?
Is there any common standard or convention code (for example, Python code must follow PEP8)?
Do you know how to use tools like CI, CD?
Is there any clean code?
What role do you play in projects…
So, if you are wondering why to include GitHub in your CV, this is the answer.
GitHub and Tech stack show how you get organized and work
Highlight tech stack
Be proactive about the tech stack, including the programming languages, frameworks, and tools you use at each project or stage of work. Just by bolding the tech stack, 2 seconds is enough for employers to grasp the most important things about your skills.
4.2. Presentation
First, state the project name and duration. You can include your location in this line if you want.
Second, insert the GitHub link or whatever open source you use to host the project.
Third, a brief description of the project or its expected outcome.
Finally, list the tech stack used
A suggestion on how to present the project concisely but still fully
With the above presentation, each information is presented very clearly and clearly. If you are submitting your CV online, make sure the links are clickable. If your project is hosted on another open source, or a separate website, it’s also a good idea to include them in the above format.
With this order, you will not miss any information, as well as ensure the consistency and logic of the CV.
– Technical Skills
According to common logic, candidates (especially Software Engineer candidates) should put the Technical Skills section at the top or bottom of their CV. This will help recruiters catch keywords within 3-5 seconds of reading your CV.
5.1. Skills to list
Specialized skills are not simply listing everything related to programming that you know. So what should be listed in the 2-3 lines of the Technical Skills section? Required skills include:
Programming Languages
Frameworks
Libraries
Other tools
Tips:Just list the skills that you can answer questions about during the interview.
5.2. Listed how?
ABSOLUTELY NO GRANT SKILLS
The following scoring methods look very familiar, right? These are the types of skills lists commonly found in most online CV templates. But in reality, it’s the worst way a candidate can measure his or her skills.
Absolutely avoid these reviews!!
When employers look at the above points, they will not know what your skills are at. For example, if you drag the Python skill bar as shown in Figure 1, they won’t be able to rate you as Proficient or Advanced
List skills by proficiency level
Instead of using a chart, Terrence Kuo, a Software Engineer who has been interviewed by Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, has suggested 2 scales for you to self-assess your level:
Proficient– These are skills that you are familiar with, use most proficiently and can interview about them immediately without much practice.
Familiar– Skills that you have learned before, but do not dig deep and practice much at the present time. You can answer the basic questions, but need more time to review the advanced questions.
How to present Technical Skills
However, many of you don’t know what your skill level is. What is Proficient, what is not…? If you are also wondering, try a simpler way of listing the skills in order, the most proficient one is placed first, not specifying the level as in the above way.
Another way if you are not really confident in your skills
But anyway, this is just a way to put out the fire. If you are not confident enough about your skills, you should spend another 2-6 months to hone your knowledge. The company will give you experience, but only if you already have a certain background. That foundation is the mindset, the basic knowledge – things you can absolutely practice to have a better interview round.
– Activities & Awards
This is the final part, also the part you can customize based on your own experience. For example, writing about a hackathon is different from joining a club or organization. The most core elements you should list, include:
Name of the award/activity
Occurrence time
Your position/title
A few lines describing the award/activity
Please specify your city/activity
However, you should not focus too much on experiences such as working part-time at a cafe, teaching English, or simply team activities. Always remember that you are applying for a Software Engineer position, where new thinking and programming skills are two factors employers really care about.
