
Ask HN: I want to get hired for an entry level, developer role - EugeneFedotov
tldr; I graduated. I need job. I&#x27;m only good at computer science stuff. Language agnostic.<p>Proficient: JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Java, C#<p>What is this: I&#x27;m going to keep making these threads until I get hired. I haven&#x27;t been able to find a job since graduation. I get rejected practically from every new grad role. Even for roles posted by my university (my resume doesn&#x27;t pass the resume screen, even though the university reviewed it). I don&#x27;t know why; I&#x27;ve never done a tech interview. Even passing HackerRanks leads to rejections. I do know that I&#x27;ve bombed irritating framework trivia (no, I don&#x27;t know the order of arguments).<p>About me: located right by New York City. I have a B.S. degree in Computer Science. I graduated in May 2015. I am a U.S. citizen. I can relocate. I can&#x27;t work anywhere that requires me to drive a car. Programming is all I know; I have done this for my entire life.<p>My skills:<p>Disclaimer: some are ugly and incomplete; others are great. It&#x27;s a variety of stuff that I put many weeks into for each.<p>- Spent one year working on an eCommerce website for a business. I worked on the front end, back end, and simple database work involving entering products.<p>- Volunteer coding for a non-profit involving using the Google Maps API, JavaScript, and XML.<p>- Contacts manager using ASP.NET MVC and Entity Framework.<p>- simple Chrome extension that a startup stole code from, and proudly displays on their page.<p>- 2 month Node.js contract at a startup, involving developing features for their app platform.<p>- Lib for reading embedded data from TIFF files using C#.<p>- API that serves RESTful endpoints through Node.js.<p>- To-do app written in AngularJS 1 and PHP.<p>While a lot of this is related to web development, I love all areas of computer science.<p>Other stuff: volunteer at PropellerFest (Hoboken), and meetups and stuff.<p>Finally, thank you for reading this, and sorry if I annoyed you.
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PaulHoule
If you are not getting interviews there is something wrong with your resume.
Why don't you share it with us so we can comment.

~~~
CyberFonic
Have a look at: [http://docdro.id/fyQKon0](http://docdro.id/fyQKon0)

~~~
throwmeaway32
My opinion (I interview and hire engineers):-

\- Education goes at the bottom

\- Tech skills go at the top

\- The aligning on the work/url/date is really hard to read, just left align
it, separate with -'s.

\- The additional experience is almost a waste of space, I'd personally use
the equivalent space to expand more on tech skills.

\- You have 'proficient' then 'other', does 'other' mean not proficient? Use
similar complementary terms to describe your skill levels i.e. 'Proficient at'
and 'working knowledge of' or something like that.

\- What's the difference between employment and technical projects? Some of
your tech projects read like paid work so it's hard to tell what your skill
level would be if I brought you in for a interview. if it's volunteer work I
would put it under work but do something like '(volunteer)'

Basically your CV makes me have to think wayyy too much, I'm having to
interpret things and guess what you mean, so I'd have no idea what to expect
your quality to be if I got you in for a interview therefore I probably
wouldn't bring you in.

Also if you're not doing it already then people connections is key (meetups
etc)

~~~
commenttolearn
I agree with most things:

\- Education goes at the bottom and tech skills at the top.

\- Proficient and 'other' don't make much sense to me. I would actually remove
the 'other' section, unless you are applying for a job in one of the
technologies listed in that section.

\- Remove the additional experience, it does not provide much value for a dev
job.

\- There is something with the resume that makes hard to get an idea of who
you are and what you are looking for.

\- Remove the word "technical" from technical projects, it's implicit if you
are applying for a dev position.

Also make sure you tailor the resume for the position you are applying to.
Ideally you should have a different version of your resume for each position
you are applying.

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coralreef
Is it possible to rewrite your points to be "achievement" oriented rather than
"technically" oriented?

As an example, your best point is last on the list: "Optimized the website to
serve pages from 5s down to less than 1s via Apache configuration and
caching."

It should also be worded as such: "Increased page speed by 5x faster with
optimization techniques".

Be a little more sparse on technical details, and more bold on your
achievements. Assume the reader doesn't know or care about the technical
details. All they want is to be persuaded that you get shit done.

Avoid redundant information like "Consulted with ownership to establish
project scope and business needs." Like seriously? You talked to people and
worked on a team? No shit. Embellish your achievements, you must sell
yourself.

Also move your education to near the bottom, lead with experience first.

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CyberFonic
I had a quick look at your resume. My suggestions:

Put your education near the bottom. Sorry to say, what you have written in
that section is not compelling.

The first section could be something along the lines of "Key Skills". Just
list JavaScript, Java and C#. I know it's a foible, but for me HTML and CSS
are not "real computer languages", i.e. they are not Turing complete.

Then a sentence about experienced in building web apps, both front-end and
back-ends.

In your post you mention "stole" \- that is not a accusation I would be making
in public. Even if it is true. Most hiring managers recoil at such attitudes.

~~~
mead5432
I absolutely despised putting a small paragraph describing experience along
with a blatant list of skills instead favoring working it into bullet points
under each job... it felt like fluff.

However, when I did that, I started getting MUCH better response to
applications. Having it at the top made it easy to connect my skills to
keywords in postings for a recruiter who likely spends, maybe, 30 seconds
reviewing a resume.

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patgenzler
Take exactly what you wrote here, remove the tl;dr and what is this. Go on
AngelList, (create a good profile there), go to jobs, select "seed stage".
Now, start sending this note to EVERY company. Your note will go to the
founders directly.

Install rapportive plugin for gmail (or whatever gets you email addresses).
Email those founders REPEATEDLY say every 2 days. Offer to do a free project,
ask them to try you out. Don't give up until they say "go away". Silence !=
no.

One of them will respond.

My friend, resume is bullshit. You want a job? HUSTLE.

Good luck!

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ParameterOne
You really shouldn't be looking for a job, you should be creating
one......It's always best to start at the top of the food chain.

And I like your persistance but this is the wrong place for it. You need to be
in the marketplace with that persistance.

~~~
coralreef
"You really shouldn't be looking for a job, you should be creating one.."

You should expand on that advice, since its so unorthodox.

~~~
ParameterOne
Well, the quickest way to create a job is to create one for yourself. This can
be done many ways but here are two of the simplest. Pick one thing and become
an expert at that. It could be as simple as "I only do email signatures....but
my email signatures have a 97% click through/conversion rate." It does not
need to be profound or exciting but you can then market yourself as THEE guy
that does X. And when I want X done I will know that you are my guy and I will
most likely tell everyone that has a need for X that you are the guy to call
regardless of what you're charging. Specialties usually breed efficiency which
will allow you to compete at a higher rate of perceived valuation. It may seem
a little scary to pick a specialty but I can tell you that I won't call a
plumber for brain surgery and I wont call brain surgeon to fix my motorcycle.
There is more work than you think for whatever you choose.

The second way is to find a specialist and create yourself a position as
saleman of his specialty. You will then have created two jobs, one for you and
one for him. See? Easy! Plus you can start that part time while you are busy
perfecting your craft as whatever you want to be in life.

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ddorian43
Look at my recent history to see a link to my resume. I'm doing ok with it.
Something like that and expand more on each job/project what you did (i should
too but i'm lazy).

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EugeneFedotov
Update: I've been reading every post.

~~~
throwmeaway32
Please link to your new updated resume, I want to make sure we set you up for
success.

And if you haven't made a new resume yet then please commit to a date to do
that by and tell us....and yes I am pushing you.

~~~
EugeneFedotov
I am very carefully considering what to do with my resume.

In the past, I paid this guy
([https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=fecak](https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=fecak))
to make me a resume. I didn't post the link to that version of my resume. He
said to do stuff like put my education on top, while people in this thread are
saying to put it on the bottom. There are other conflicting points that I'm
not going to mention for now. Needless to say, I have to be careful with this;
I used to have education on the bottom.

Next, two things happened:

1) One person is giving me his time to help me with improvement. I want to
hear his resume advice.

2) I received an invitation to do remote work for food money at a startup,
which I agreed to do.

So I don't have any guaranteed date, until I hear back about my resume from
the person I'm talking to.

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moondev
Maybe it's just me, but putting "www" before tlds is not a good look. It seems
amateurish

