Computer Science Resume: Examples, Template & Complete Guide
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Ever since technology advanced, there was a rise in both the demand and supply of jobs related to computer science.
Every company needs capable software engineers and people who are educated to do some of the most difficult tasks in the company. From security mainframes to simple connection of computer systems inside the company.
Therefore, there are a lot of people out there who strive to become a successful computer, science specialists. And there is a large number of schools focusing mainly on computer science as well.
With all that in mind, you can see where we are going with this.
The competition for these jobs is fierce, even though there are always enough positions for most.
That said, in order for you to stand out of that huge crowd of people, you need to have a good resume on your side.
It is not an easy task because a good resume should answer some of these questions:
- How to make your resume stand out of the crowd and be noticed by recruiters?
- What is important to include in your resume and what is better to be left out?
- What kind of layout to use for your resume?
- What is the general size of resumes? When the resume will become too long?
As you can see, there are a lot of questions to answer and if done wrong, every one of these things could affect your chances of getting the job, no matter your qualifications.
Different jobs require different resumes.
You cannot use the same resume if you’re applying for a cook and for a software engineer.
Both of these jobs require many different skills, so putting that you know how to work with Python is simply irrelevant if you’re applying to be a cook.
Therefore, you should really be careful when you decide to create a resume and make sure to include information relevant for the position you want to apply for.
But, you don’t have to worry about it!
That’s why we are here today.
We are going to help you create your own resume. We will explain to you how to write each important aspect of the resume.
Before we do that though, we are going to present two examples of good resumes related to computer science job positions. You will probably notice that they are a bit different in some areas, but very much similar in others.
That’s because there are some core parts every resume should include and additional parts that are added on a “need basis”.
Without any further due, let’s begin!
Computer Science Resume Example
Software Engineer Resume Example
GUIDE ON WRITING THE PERSONAL INFO SECTION
Every resume begins the same, with your personal info.
Here, you share the information about yourself with the public, so you will need to think of what do you want to share and how do you want to share it because it shouldn’t be done sloppy, there has to be an order to it.
Let’s see what are the most necessary details about yourself that you need to include in your resume and what are the most common mistakes people make when doing this.
To make it easier for you, just click on our resume template builder and you won’t have to fear of forgetting some important details.
Full Name
Of course, the very first thing you need to write in your resume is your name. Make sure to use your full name, so both your first and last name, without adding any nicknames, because it would look unprofessional.
Profession
Very next thing to include is your job title, which shows your current working status, or whether you have some experience or not.
Photo
Every resume should have a photo. Some jobs even require it, especially if it is something related to being a model and such. Make sure to use clear photos, where you look professional.
So, no random Facebook pictures where you are smirking and drinking a margarita.
Phone Number
Sharing your phone number is important because it allows recruiters to get back to you personally, instead of only having the option to contact you via email.
Address
Some job positions require you to share your home address, some don’t. Eventually, it is up to you if you want to do it, but there is no real harm in doing it if you are serious about getting the job.
E-Mail Address
Perhaps more important address to share nowadays is, of course, your email address.
There is one thing to note here. Make sure to use trusted and known email domains, such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo, and under no circumstances, do not use funny names in your professional email.
Social Media Profiles
In this digital era, almost everyone is on some social media platform.
The one social media you almost always have to include in your resume is your LinkedIn profile.
Profiles you have on other social media are not so important, but you are free to include them as well. Just make sure to make them look professional first.
GUIDE ON WRITING THE SUMMARY SECTION
The summary section is what its name says. It is a place where you should briefly describe your current experience, in case you have one, what kind of work you are looking for and how and with what skills you would be able to contribute to your potential company.
This section should be short, but also as informative as possible, which may sound confusing, but let’s see some examples to make it clearer.
As you can see, the summary on the right doesn’t look so informative and tells recruiter literally nothing about your experience or possible goals you might have. That doesn’t look very professional, unlike the summary on the left, which is not so long, but it is very informative in regards to skills and applicant’s wishes.
Apart from including your experience and future goals you have, you could also include some achievements you had made at your previous jobs. Just make sure those accomplishments are related to the job position you’re applying for. Let’s see some example.
As you can see, the wrong option doesn’t give a lot of information about the accomplishments Tabitha made, so the recruiters could be asking themselves “What are those accomplishments exactly?”
That’s why you need to make sure to include as many details as possible, but still, keep your summary section somewhat short.
It would make recruiters get to know you better, which would later help them decide whether you are a good candidate for the job position or not.
GUIDE ON WRITING THE EXPERIENCE SECTION FOR COMPUTER SCIENTISTS
The usual way of writing the resume is to use reverse-chronological order, meaning that you would first write all your jobs, then your education, etc.
That format stays the same for each subsection, meaning that in the experience section, you should always start with the current date, then go back to the time of your very first job.
Apart from reverse-chronological order, it is also a good idea to include several points of what you were doing on every job, what skills you learned, what accomplishments you had made. Just like it’s shown in the left column.
That way, recruiters will be able to see what experience you have, what type of work you know to do, which would help them decide whether to hire you or not.
If you are a bit lazy to make a template with reverse-chronological order for your resume by yourself, feel free to use our resume template builder and just fill in all the information you need by using already finished templates.
GUIDE ON WRITING THE EDUCATION SECTION FOR SOFTWARE ENGINEERS
After you wrote your experience section, you might think to yourself that you should probably include some projects or activities you’ve done or are still doing.
But before that, you need to write something about your education first. The same as in the previous section, you should use reverse-chronological order here as well, if you are mentioning multiple schools.
In some countries, it is enough to write only the highest school or university you finished. But sometimes you need to write education institutions you had finished before university or high school.
As well as in the experience section, you are free to include some of your achievements in the education section as well. One good example would be to include GPA score if it was good enough.
Or perhaps the information about the Dean’s list, if you managed to get onto it for several consecutive semesters or if the requirements were not very easy for you to meet them.
Simply relying on your formal education won’t be the only factor influencing the decision of whether you get the job or not.
If you have finished certain courses or earned some licenses, make sure to mention that. If the list is extensive, you could make another section underneath the education section, listing all these achievements.
GUIDE ON WRITING THE SKILLS SECTION
When it comes to writing the skills section, a lot of people make the same mistake: they include too many unnecessary skills in the resume.
Of course, there are a lot of skills and attributes that are useful no matter the type of job you want to apply for, but on the other hand, there are those which are completely irrelevant.
Let’s revisit one of the resumes we listed here and use it as an example.
As you can see in the table, it most of the skills mentioned in the right column are irrelevant for computer science job position. There is a star next to Microsoft Officer skill. We will explain why that is.
Now, imagine someone who is working with computers and is able to code almost anything.
Can you imagine that type of person lacking skills in the Microsoft Office package?
It would be very hard to do so, so that’s why we put a star there.
It’s not that this skill is not needed for computer science type of job, it’s just not relevant information to put, because everyone would expect that hackers and software engineers know how to handle Word, Excel and other software from the Microsoft Office package.
The other very neat thing to notice in the table is that some skills in the left column are divided into groups.
It is a very good way to split skills, telling recruiters which type of work you can do the best, which ones you perhaps know how to do, but you’re not proficient in doing them.
GENERAL TIPS & TRICKS
Now that we went through the guides regarding each specific section of the resume let’s see what are some general tips and tricks you could use when you decide to make your first, or edit the existing resume.
- Font – when it comes to selecting font you want to use for your resume, it doesn’t have to be some specific type, but make sure that it is easy to read. So, no hand-written-styled font, perhaps only for the title, but not for the main text. Also, make sure to use one single font for your main text, it looks more professional.
- Bulleting – when you make a bulleting list, make sure not to write more than 2 or max 3 lines for each point in order not to overcrowd your list with irrelevant information. Keep in mind that resume shouldn’t be larger than one page.
- Format – currently the most professional format that you should use for your resume is PDF. It cannot be edited, and it is easier to read and print it. As for the name of the file itself, you should use “FirstName LastName_JobPosition.pdf”. Sometimes you don’t even have to use job position in the name, but it would look more professional if you do.
- Design – there are thousands of possible designs for resumes out there on the internet, so it can be a tough call to choose one that suits you the most. In that regard, you should pick a design which describes your personality the best way. If you don’t feel satisfied with any of the available designs, you can always make your own design.
- Checking your email – don’t forget to regularly check your email, because sometimes you might get a phone call, but sometimes you might get an email, which can easily be missed. This also includes checking your spam folder as well.
- Double-check your resume – when you are done writing your resume, you should check if everything that should be in there is actually in there. The best way to do that is to put yourself in the position of a recruiter and see if there is something missing. By doing that you will be able to find everything that you might have missed.
- Adapt your resume to the position you want to apply for – one common mistake a lot of people tend to make is using the same resume for every position they want to apply for. Every job is different, and though there are similar jobs, they are not completely the same. Thus, they require different resumes because different positions require different skills and personalities.
- Mentioning political activities – depending on the political state of your country, it might be a better idea not to mention some activities where you were backed up by, for instance, political party. Like for example, if you donated something for charity and were recognized by a certain political party. While being charitable is, of course, an excellent trait to have, some people might look at you differently because they don’t like the fact you were backed up by that politician or party.
- Job swapping – if you are someone who is switching jobs, you could be asked why is that the case. Recruiters often like to ask that question in order to learn your motives, and you need to be prepared to answer their questions.
- Grammar – of course, what you shouldn’t allow yourself when writing a resume, is to make grammar mistakes. It would make your resume look unprofessional, and it would lessen your chances of getting the job you want.
- Updating your resume – you should regularly update your resume and social media profiles, mostly LinkedIn. That way, you will always be ready in case some excellent job position pops up. Also, by doing that, you make sure that you don’t forget to add some experiences you earned and the skills you learned.
CONCLUSION
That was everything folks! We had gone through everything you needed to know about creating your own resume for Computer Science job positions.
Here we learned what the most important parts of every resume are, what skills and attributes to include and what not, how to make your resume visible and interesting to recruiters and what tips and tricks to use in order to increase the chances of getting that dream job you desire.
If you are still unsure about the layout for your resume, feel free to click our brand-new resume builder, for we are sure you will be able to find the right template for yourself.
As always, if you think we missed something, or you liked the article, feel free to let us know down in the comment section.
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