To get a job it is critical to get a solid image to your employer. A large piece of that is making sure that your resume is on point. While this is a bit out of sequence, note that it is one of the most critical aspects of gaining employment. In this podcast we will examine both the general resume writing best practices, the practices specific to software engineers. Some of this will be review for those who have gotten jobs in the past, but the hope is that together with the advice given, and the resources that will be listed in the show notes that you will be able to take your resume to the next level, and gain employment much more rapidly than you otherwise could have.
Resumes are a critical component of the hiring process, and a ton of effort is put into not only screening but almost psychologically profiling potential staff just by taking a look at a resume. Recruiters and HR teams have this down to a science, and combined with a ton of different software, your ability to get past the gatekeepers of a major company, and into an interview slot is rough.
The ATS, in essence is a Customer Relations Management style tool that allows for employers, or a software to rate potential applicants, and put them into tiers based upon their work experience, and various other data points that can be found in a resume, and allows a recruiter to use keyword searches and filtering to more rapidly find more quote: "Standalone talent" "Best of the bunch".
The argument for this kind of system is fairly simple. You avoid a desk covered in paper resumes, and can rapidly gain insight into hundreds, sometimes thousands of applicants in seconds based upon the information that they provided to you.
Let's be real here. This kind of technology can be used for some pretty horrid things. Because of the automatic filtering, and scoring side of things this can be a nightmare, and a lawsuit waiting to happen in the wrong hands, but there are some very clear advantages. As we all know companies want the best, and by having a tool that will score the best on paper, and setting up follow-ups based upon that information means that if you are really good on paper then you should get an interview.
A very good mindset to be in while creating your resume is the old standby of KISS, or Keep It Simple Stupid. This a good idea because fancy layouts, and graphics (yes, even headshots) can basically murder your chances at some companies. Why? That goes back to the ATS that they are using. Fancy multi column layouts that are so appealing to the eye, and the creative side of your brain are simply garbled and destroyed with most ATS systems. Images, graphics are the same deal. You want to stick to text and white space.
At the end of the day once you do eventually get past the automated filtering of an ATS you will get to a real, live human recruiter. Their job is literally put a human spin on the ATS systems results, and then turn around and start setting up interviews, which is your time to shine. So when you are putting down information on a resume make sure to use font large enough to read, do not use outlandish colors. I would honestly stick to simply black text, with a white background just in case they need to print it out.
Here is a link to an article about this: