CV Review - Junior Software Developer (<1 year of experience).

devlinio

Hi



I would really appreciate if I can get some feedback on my CV. It seems a bit short, I don't really know what to add to it. Maybe discuss some of the projects I worked on during my time in my company?



Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mitcvkit4nmit4d/WhiteLabel.docx?dl=0

smacl

Short is good for a junior CV, the interviewer may have a ton to read and will appreciate the brevity. I'd normally put in a few short words on your interests as you might just click on something you have in common with your interviewer.

BrokenArrows

Link doesn't work

devlinio

BrokenArrows wrote: »

Link doesn't work

Apologies, the link has been updated. I deleted the original file from my local Dropbox folder.

BrokenArrows

devlinio wrote: »

Apologies, the link has been updated. I deleted the original file from my local Dropbox folder.

Ok i had a read and a few suggestions.

1. Remove the first line "junior software developer with 8 months of experience". You are immediately pointing out that you are junior with very little experience. They know you are a software developer, otherwise you wouldnt be applying for the job.

2. Remove the "I finished in my last job due to a reduction in work available". They dont need to know that here.

3. Change "I’m a graduate from College, with a second class honours degree." to "I have a BSc in Computing from XYZ College". No need to mention 2nd class here. Id only mention it if it was a 1st.

4. Change your responsibilities to be in order of complexity. ie Put implementation of features first, followed by bugs etc.

5. Rethink adding your coursework percentages into the CV. They are not outstanding scores so pointing out that you only got 57% in your final project isnt great.

6. Move the technologies and skills used up under the work experience section. It shouldnt be at the very bottom.

amen

is your degree a level 8 i.e. B .Sc (Hons) if so mention it.

Earthhorse

Not a hiring manager so take this with a pinch of salt.

I would rework your opening paragraph, something more like:

Software developer with an honours degree in B. Sc. from (Your University), with practical experience implementing features and resolving bugs using the Laravel framework and PHP. I have a strong interest in c# and .net core as well as the Angular framework. Please see my github (link) for more details).

That is just an example, you can rework it as you see fit or discard it if you think I'm wrong.

I would then shift the languages and APIs section up under this so they immediately see all the technologies you're familiar with. You can expand it a bit too. Ever use Eclipse? Put it in there. VS Code? Put it in there. Notepad++? Okay, that's probably a stretch. But they don't know, so tell them.

BrokenArrows wrote: »

Remove the "I finished in my last job due to a reduction in work available". They dont need to know that here.

I agree with this. I can see why you want to put it in there but let that come up when you start talking to employers or recruiters. They'll understand.

3. Change "I’m a graduate from College, with a second class honours degree." to "I have a BSc in Computing from XYZ College". No need to mention 2nd class here. Id only mention it if it was a 1st.

4. Change your responsibilities to be in order of complexity. ie Put implementation of features first, followed by bugs etc.

5. Rethink adding your coursework percentages into the CV. They are not outstanding scores so pointing out that you only got 57% in your final project isnt great.

I agree with all of this. If you are going to list the subjects, make it an actual list. Or consider tailoring it to the job. So change the title to Subjects Studied include, and then list one or two of the relevant courses.

6. Move the technologies and skills used up under the work experience section. It shouldnt be at the very bottom.

Great minds...

I would also put a similar list under each job or qualification. Probably more relevant when you have more experience.

Finally, a note on some of the wording you're using; I would try and be less ambiguous in what you're saying. Some examples:

Change from - Maintain and correct bugs across numerous different projects.
To - Analyse and resolve bugs across multiple live systems

You don't maintain bugs, do you?

Change from - Liaise with frontend developers to implement
To - Liaise with frontend developers to ensure best practices for UX are met

Your wording leaves the sentence unresolved; it requires the reader to do work.

Change from - The first was for under 18 users
To - Something else.

When I first read this I assumed you were talking about the size of the userbase. But you mean users under the age of 18, don't you?

These may seem like small things (they are) but remember your CV is something the recruiter or hiring manager wants to read once and understand instantly. Don't make them do any work or fill in any gaps. Ensure the language you use is succinct and unambiguous and that each sentence can be understood independently.

Good luck.

devlinio

Thanks for the feedback guys. It really is much appreciated. I'm hopeless with CVS.

My last job didn't even read my cv, or do much of an interview. It was a trial to see what I could do, then I got an offer.