This week you will take everything you did last week and bring it all together into one document. This document will be what hiring managers and recruiters will see. Finally, you will find two people to give you some feedback on your resume. After doing the last round of edits, you will have a resume that shows why you are a great hire.

Crafting the Perfect Resume

You've already done a lot of work to get to this point of the challenge. Now that you've quantified your work and added keywords from your job descriptions, you've got the start of a good master resume. Master resumes are a great resource for job seekers to have since they keep track of everything you've done throughout your career history.

I've heard stories of people who started documenting everything they have done since they were in middle school and got hired with a very detailed work history. This part of the challenge is going to focus on a customized resume that is tailored toward a specific job description. This means you will copy and paste parts of your work history that show hiring managers and employers how closely you match the job you are applying for. Just keep in mind hiring managers and recruiters spend seconds looking at every resume so you will need to make the most of all the space on your resume.

How long should my resume be?

Code Newbie, career experts, and people who have experience hiring people for specific roles all recommend keeping your resume to one page as you possibly can. If you have been in the industry for a long time, a second page is fine. For example, in education, two-page resumes were common for job seekers who had multiple degrees.

What do hiring managers and recruiters want to see on a resume?

Code Newbie says that good resumes make a big impact while quickly getting to the point. They recommend you do the following:

• Focus on things like your coding skills and projects. Tangibles like these get a recruiter's or hiring manager's attention. As you decide what skills and projects to use on your resume, ask yourself if each skills or project show your core coding competencies. If it doesn't, don't put it on your resume.
• Keywords help get past ATS software and into a hiring manager's hands. Make sure that you use the keywords from the job description to help describe what your strengths are. Code Newbie wants participants to think of copying as a good thing here since the end goal is to get those resume scanners to see you as a candidate. However, be careful with copying too, because employers know job seekers do this, and you don't want to use keywords everywhere even if they don't apply to you.

What should my resume look like? Any style advice I should keep in mind?

Code Newbie says good resumes are "easy to read and presentable". However, good resumes are also able to get past the ATS software. While resume templates and designs do look nice, they aren't so friendly with the ATS software employers like to use.

There is no correct resume format that will guarantee you will get hired. However, these are tips hiring experts and people who hire others for a living share that you can use to stand out. Here are some of the tips Code Newbie found out from hiring experts, recruiters, and hiring managers from different episodes of the Code Newbie podcast:

• Could you use bullets to make things more skimmable? Recruiters and hiring managers love bullet points because it is so much easier to read through any content than going through a paragraph of text.
• Do your subheadings, dates, and lists have consistent formatting? Make sure you format the same way throughout your resume.
• Are your fonts (and other style choices) legible and easy to read? Less is more. Especially when it comes to resumes. If you aren't much of a designer, keep it simple. Design-savvy job seekers can play around with the look of their resume, but ATS software isn't friendly with templates, fonts, and other styles.

Do proofread and edit your resume!

This is the last thing you need to do before you start getting any resume feedback. This isn't just looking for typos and spelling mistakes. You need to read everything over and make any final changes.

Need extra tips to proofread and edit your resume? Here are some of Code Newbie's favorites from the challenge:

• Take a break. Walk away from your resume (or any writing) for a day, then begin proofreading.
• Use a spell checker to catch obvious errors. Most writing software provides a spell-check feature, but you can also use a resource like Grammarly to help you spell-check and edit.
• Print your resume or display it at a magnified size. Then read slowly. You can also try reading everything aloud. Reading any writing aloud is how you best spot any grammar errors.
• Double-check dates, company names, and keywords.
• Review the job description. If you’re not sure, try a service like Job Scan. Job Scan compares your resume text to a job ad text. Then it will tell you what you missed. You can also ask yourself some of the questions Code Newbie recommends below: a. Have you addressed the qualifications listed in the job ad? b. Have you used similar terminology to describe your skills?

Find 2 People for Resume Feedback

Once you have finished a customized resume for the role you want, Code Newbie wants participants to ask two people for resume feedback. Pick two people who are going to give you honest, constructive feedback. I've asked people who have experience with hiring from Twitter or in the coding communities I'm a part of to look over my resume because they understand the tech industry or have experience hiring developers.

Give two people enough time to provide feedback. Code Newbie suggests participants give a maximum of 5 days for feedback partners to read everything over and write their feedback. Make sure you send your feedback partners a link to the job role or copy-paste the job description with a copy of your resume.

Asking for feedback can be a big question and could mean different things to every person. So you will want to be specific about what kind of feedback you want your feedback partners to give you. Code Newbie includes three questions participants can ask their feedback partners for:

• Were there any parts of my resume confusing?
• What do you think my main skills are?
• Based on the job description, how well do I fit into this role?

Once you get all the feedback from your feedback partners, read everything over. Then start making changes to your resume. Don't forget to continue proofreading and editing your resume.

Once you are happy with your resume, you can start using it to apply for jobs. You can go to your LinkedIn profile to upload it or make changes to your profile so it is consistent with what is on your resume. You can even add it to your portfolio site or anywhere you want on the web.

Self Care Corner

Putting your skills into writing is tough and at times can be very uncomfortable. It makes it very easy for impostor syndrome to pop up. When this happens, take this as a sign to take a break.

One way to take a break is with yoga. You can find videos on YouTube with instructions online. YouTube has several channels dedicated to yoga. You can also download apps to your phone related to yoga.

Code Newbie suggests the pose "legs up the wall pose" for a great beginner yoga move. You lie down on the floor with your legs leaning against the wall. Keep your legs straight with the soles of your feet pointing towards the ceiling or letting your legs drop gently.

Then you just stay there and unwind for a little bit. This pose will help shift your perspective as your body sinks into the floor. You can also sit like this if you want to listen to a podcast or an audiobook.

Conclusion

Woohoo! You now have a tailored resume for your job search. You will be revisiting your resume a lot to make changes for every job posting in the future.

However, you know the tips and tricks to help you get your resume past the ATS software and get it to stand out from the crowd. The next mission is all about the portfolio. The portfolio is an important tool for developers to have to land a tech job.

This mission is more than updating your portfolio and the projects you are putting into it. New job seekers will learn how to create a portfolio together and how to talk about your projects.