Hire me! How a beginner programmer can make a cool resume and LinkedIn profile

As you know, Java programmers are in high demand these days. And not only Java programmers. The number of job openings for coders around the world is growing. In the era of digital transformation, the Internet of things, big data and other innovations, the industry requires more and more technical specialists who speak a programming language and have the skills to create software products. Therefore, it is not surprising that in recent years many developers have felt in demand and desired - recruiters themselves run after them on social networks, find contacts and tempt them with sometimes simply obscene, from a financial point of view, employment offers. However, not all coders are so popular with recruiters, but only those who have experience, skills and theoretical knowledge, which is what employers are interested in. And also those who know how to “sell” themselves, demonstrating the presence of all of the above, and it does not matter whether such an image corresponds to reality. But for some reason there is no queue of recruiters lining up for those developers who do not have extensive experience and are just taking their first steps in this career. In previous materials, we have already talked about how a Junior developer without much work experience can increase his chances of getting hired . Today we will continue this topic, but we will go from a slightly different direction. Namely, let’s talk about how to present and “sell” yourself. That is, we will work on improving self-presentation skills and talk about how to use your resume and page on the social network LinkedIn to look as professional as possible, and maybe create the image of a rising coding star, whom all recruiters should be chasing with contracts worth six-figure sums in dollars.

Summary

We'll start with tips on how to design a resume as the most important document when looking for a job.

1. Size matters

   Many recruiters note the fact that a resume should not be too long or, conversely, too concise. It is believed that two pages is ideal. At the same time, an inexperienced programmer should use these two pages to place on them as much information as possible about their practical experience, including every side project, even the most insignificant one. If there is too little practical experience, more space can be allocated to listing theoretical knowledge. Well, experienced coders, on the contrary, are recommended to show respect to those who will study from the resume, without overloading it with detailed descriptions and unimportant additions.

   “Be concise. Every couple of months I come across a resume that looks like “War and Peace” with a paragraph of florid prose to say that the candidate was just debugging bugs,” complains a user named jeikabu in the DEV Community.

2. Let me tell you a story

   In order for a resume to make the right impression on recruiters and employers, it must tell a story, and this story must, firstly, be understandable, and secondly, it is desirable that the reader (that is, the one who makes the hiring decision) likes it. . The resume should show the specialist’s trajectory, his goals and desire to progress to a level that corresponds to the vacant position. Therefore, for example, if an applicant with front-end development experience is applying for a position in the backend, he should explain in his resume why such a transition makes sense for both him and the employer.

3. Individual approach

   Another good tip that many recruiters give is to “tailor” the resume to each individual position so that the story “told” in the resume fits specifically to it. It is not necessary to rewrite everything every time; it is enough to highlight those sections and projects indicated in the resume that may be more relevant.

4. Skill cloud

   A skill cloud is a list of keywords that are designed to display all the basic knowledge and skills of a candidate. It makes sense to include here all the languages, tools, frameworks, libraries and just concepts that the resume owner is more or less versed in. Many programmers advise using more special and narrow terms when creating a skill cloud. For example, instead of just specifying JavaScript as the second programming language, it is better to name all the JS specifications that the resume writer knows how to work with, such as ES5, ES6, ES2017, etc. It is also recommended to gradually remove from the skill cloud those technologies, tools and frameworks that are considered outdated and are not in much demand now.

   The presence of keywords in a resume is useful for another reason, says one of the programmers in the DEV Community: “Don’t forget that the resume should suit two different target audiences - first HR people, and only then technical specialists. Many HR people do not have a technical background, and therefore, when looking at a resume, they simply check the list of keywords that they were given.”

5. Call me

   The main task of a resume is to convert views into contacts with job offers, right? Therefore, contact information should be displayed on each page of the resume, they should be clear and well-designed. The resume must include a phone number and email; links to profiles on Github and LinkedIn are desirable. It would also be nice to add some kind of CTA (Call to action), urging recruiters and HR people to call right now, without putting this matter off for a long time.

LinkedIn Profile

A serious and properly designed profile on the social network LinkedIn for professional communication today is almost more important than a high-quality resume. This is because a profile on LinkedIn, unlike a resume, where you can basically write anything, is public, which means its analysis allows you to get a more complete impression of a person, and sometimes check the truth of the work experience he declares.

1. Be 100

   Профиль на LinkedIn должен быть заполнен на 100%. Это базовый совет, но он может оказать критически важное влияние на популярность и востребованность в профессиональной среде. Дело в том, что алгоритмы LinkedIn приоритезирует профor тех пользователей, которые заполнены на 100%, и, соответственно, пессимизирует те, где чего-то не хватает.

   Whatбы профиль в LinkedIn получил “all-star” рейтинг, нужно заполнить следующие секции: фото профиля, местоположение и индустрия, описание опыта работы (How минимум нынешняя позиция, плюс две предыдущие), навыки (минимум три) и образование, также нужно иметь минимум 50 контактов (“френдов” в LinkedIn). Впрочем, сама соцсеть довольно активно подталкивает пользователя к тому, чтобы он заполнил профиль до конца, через напоминания и подсказки, так что это не вызовет особенных сложностей, но вот игнорировать этот совет не стоит.

2. Исповедь программиста

   Раздел под названием Summary в секции About — это единственная возможность свободно рассказать о себе, и ей не следует пренебрегать. Это шанс рассказать всем свою историю и создать впечатление целеустремленного и мотивированного профессионала.

   При этом, в своей истории не стоит слишком сыпать шаблонами и клише, пытаясь продемонстрировать собственный энтузиазм. Например, не нужно называть себя “целеустремленным” и “мотивированным.” Вместо этого лучше честно рассказать о себе и своих целях, а также коротко описать наиболее важные технологии и языки программирования, с которыми довелось поработать.

   Писать лучше всего от первого лица, будто разговаривая с интервьюером на собеседовании. Ключевые слова использовать можно, но не слишком увлекаясь, ибо алгоритмы LinkedIn умеют находить и наказывать тех, кто пытается их обмануть.

3. Какие ваши доказательства?

   Доказательства, подкрепляющие слова в описании профиля и в резюме, особенно важны для тех программистов, у которых еще не так много опыта работы на постоянных позициях. Продемонстрировать примеры своей работы можно, прикрепляя медиа файлы к разным разделам своего профиля, среди которых описание, опыт работы и образование. LinkedIn позволяет прикреплять к профилю documentы, фотографии, ссылки, видеоролики и презентации.

4. У вас не будет второго шанса произвести первое впечатление

   Совет от Эндрю Брауна (Andrew Brown), опытного разработчика и главы компании ExamPro. “Верхний баннер LinkedIn — это большой синий прямоугольник прямо над вашим фото в профиле. Его можно заменить на специально созданную графику, и я очень рекомендую это сделать. Баннер — это ваш самый эффективный инструмент, чтобы создать хорошее впечатление. Баннер должен быстро и максимально эффективно сообщать о вашей специализации. Например, моя специализация — это AWS Cloud Computing, и баннер кричит об этом каждому, кто заходит на page.” — отметил эксперт.

5. Устраняем конкурентов

   Another very unobvious, but quite useful piece of advice from experienced and seasoned people: remove the “People Also Viewed” section in the right side of your profile. This sidebar does exactly what its name says, namely, it shows the pages of those people who were viewed by other visitors to this profile. Most often, it contains profiles of users with whom the profile owner has a lot in common - similar skills, specialization, etc. Thus, there are often links to competitors - other programmers with the same skill set - which recruiters and HR people use when searching for a suitable candidate. Since there is no point in promoting your own competitors, it is better to disable this feature. This can be done in the Settings and Privacy section.

Remember, all the power of a Jedi comes from his Force. Instead of an epilogue

In general, there are a great many ways to “brush up” your resume and present yourself competently on LinkedIn, and these tips could go on and on. But while improving your profile and creating the coolest possible resume, you should still not forget that a programmer, even with the most ideal LinkedIn profile, will not be particularly successful in finding a job if skills and practical experience are not a priority for him. Therefore, you shouldn’t get too carried away with creating the image of a cool coder; it’s better to actually become one, especially since with the course from JavaRush it won’t be so difficult.