Good Jobs #94: Can you send me your résumé?

Things to try in your résumé plus remote and Boise-area jobs at Hatch, Drake Cooper, Gong, 1Password, Babylist, Khan Academy, and more

Aug 25, 2023

A few things to try on your résumé

I’ve never really figured out résumés.

I’ve written dozens and read thousands. I’ve paid a professional résumé writer to make one for me (it was fine). I’ve asked ChatGPT to edit mine (also fine). Each time I finally get to a new version I’m left feeling indifferent. As my college design professor used to say, “That was a long walk for a taco.”

Then there’s a bunch of rules about résumés that some are oddly passionate about…

It’s gotta be one page. If it’s more than one we don’t even look at it.

Don’t use bullets!

It needs to be created in Microsoft Word so the machines can read it.

I wish I had all the right answers to crafting the perfect résumé, but I don’t. What I do want to call out are a few things to try in the next résumé you write. (This also works for LinkedIn pages too!)

Speak to impact: Not just what you did, but what did it affect. The impact could be increasing profits or getting new customers, but it can also include positive changes to your direct team or department. For example, establishing a customer research process for your team creates better products and removes risk. That’s impact. Include it.

Clarity over lingo: Résumés are reviewed by a handful of different disciplines, many of them non-technical—recruiters, HR. Also, the language and terminology used at one company may drastically differ from another. Best approach is the avoid trendy buzzwords and internal lingo. Strive for a résumé a non-techy friend can read and have a good sense of what you’ve done and can do.

Show a bit more of you: Hiring managers review dozens, even hundreds, of résumés during the process. All the résumés start to mush together. Try including a little more about you as a person. In the intro summary, speak to what you are most passionate about, a goal you have, or a side project you’re proud of. Have a sense of humor? Punch up the résumé with a fun line or two. Watercolor painter? Throw a little flourish in the corner. Don’t go overboard, but one to two of these things can say a little more about you while separating you from the mushy pack.

Hasta la vista, baby,

Loren

DEV

Data Engineer at Stripe

Remote | Full-time

Senior Software Engineer at ConvertKit

Remote | Full-time | Salary: $174K

Developer at 1Password

Remote | Full-time | Salary: $115–155K

Senior Fullstack Software Engineer at Iterable

Remote | Full-time | Salary: $129–194K

Data Architect at Scentsy

Meridian | Full-time

Still hiring: Engineering Manager at The Krazy Coupon Lady

Remote | Full-time

Good jobs need to be known

Hundreds of Boise-area professionals read and share the Good Jobs Report each week. Submit a job and it could appear in a future issue. Only the good ones though.

Submit a job