Raphael Stevens

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    in Talent Acquisition

    Adapting and Advancing in a New Era of Tech Careers (VIDEO)

    We’ve seen a lot of changes in the hiring market in the past year, including the massive onset of AI and instability in the economy. The job search might feel a bit more grueling than you remember. Every role seems to have more applicants, interview processes are increasingly difficult, and employers appear more resistant to job offer negotiations.

    Looking for a refreshing reboot on the job search? Watch this on-demand webinar to hear experts discuss key findings from Hired’s 2023 State of Tech Salaries report, share how AI and skill demands are reshaping technical job opportunities and compensation, and how to stand out as a tech candidate.

    You’ll hear from:

    VP of Prodct, Hired, Jon Dobrowolski

    General Manager, Rora, Jordan Sale

    Global Head of Talent, Oura, Ginny Cheng

    Founder & CEO, AI Makerspace, Greg Loughnane 

    Co-Founder & CEO, Educative, Fahim ul Haq

    Read an excerpt of the conversation here and scroll down to access the full webinar. 

    How will automation put technical roles at risk? With AI, where do we see the most dramatic changes and opportunities?

    Greg

    I think automation is this double-edged sword where it’s a job killer but also a job creator. I was talking to somebody who was into object-oriented programming in the early 2000s. It’s no different now than it was then. It’s just a different paradigm. 

    Make sure you’re focusing on how your job, domain of practice, and things you do every day can be augmented with AI tools to improve your own personal workflows are your tasks as an individual. 

    At the company level, it’s about how to adapt to this shifting competitive landscape. That company leader problem is a bit more complicated because there will be plenty of AI laggards within the company. That’s a whole rabbit hole. Many consultants and folks are always focused on helping large corporations move through this AI transformation. 

    But as an individual, it’s easier. If you’re watching this panel, you’re doing the right thing.Are you using ChatGPT, DALL-E, Bing, or Claude? Next month, this is going to be a year old. It’s really time to get with the program and start trying to improve your personal workflows. 

    If you take, as an example, data scientists, they are still going to be useful moving forward.However, it’s not clear to most people today exactly what the data scientists of tomorrow will be working on. When we start building large language model applications, we start putting them into production. There are a lot of things on the data science side that will need to be done. 

    However, most data scientists still don’t know how to do those today. The closer you are to the cutting edge, the faster you’ll have to learn. Those looking to get into engineering, data science, and tech in general, have a level playing field if they’re willing to learn those new skills now. 

    Get in on that 2024 Goldrush and celebrate this one-year ChatGPT anniversary. You’ve got as much opportunity as anybody else. Nobody’s that far ahead today. Start embracing that opportunity space today.

    Watch the full collaborative panel discussion to learn: 

    Whether it is worthwhile for jobseekers to follow skill demand trends

    How to effectively communicate willingness to upskill to potential employers

    Nuances to be aware of during a job search in this new, dynamic market

    How to negotiate in a tough hiring market More

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    in Talent Acquisition

    Interviewing for an Engineering Manager Role? 15 Questions You Should be Prepared to Answer

    We break engineering manager interview questions down to work history, the open role, and behavioral situations.

    Congratulations! You have an interview to become an engineering manager. That’s great news. There’s just one problem – interviewing to become an engineering manager is probably going to be quite a bit different from your previous interviews.

    Here are 15 common engineering manager interview questions every candidate should prepare for. If you thoughtfully consider them and have good answers for each, you’ll be well on your way to nailing the interview.

    Related: Interviewing with the CTO? 3 Strategies to Help Prepare

    Basic work history questions

    These questions are among the most basic, but can still be very hard to answer if you’re not prepared for them. Be sure to know your resume and cover letter inside and out. I find it helps to think of your career as a series of short “stories.”

    In addition, this is a golden opportunity to really put your best foot forward. Take control of the interview, delving into what you think is most relevant to the job. Take this opportunity to connect them to your strengths.

    If you think of your interview as a movie, this is the trailer meant to get people excited about going to see the movie.

    Example questions for Engineering Manager Roles on work history:

    Tell us about yourself

    What was your role with your previous employer?

    Why did you leave your last role?

    How many direct reports have you managed in the past?

    What’s the largest budget you’ve ever managed?

    Questions about the open role

    These questions probe how interested you are in the role and how hard you worked to learn more about it. It’s also an indirect gauge of how your previous experience has helped you to understand what the role requires. If you’re able to glean interesting insights from the job posting that others can’t, interviewers will notice that.

    When I interview someone for a position, I want to know how invested they are in getting the job. I want someone who’s eager. A good way to parse that out is to determine whether they’ve done their homework or not, and it’s these kinds of questions that I use to determine just that.

    Example questions for Engineering Manager candidates on the open role:

    What can you tell us about the role you’re applying for?

    Which aspects of the role do you anticipate are the most challenging?

    What can you tell us about this company?

    How do you think your skills match our needs?

    Behavioral questions

    Behavioral questions are very common for engineering management interviews. These questions demand that you be quick on your feet. Again, it’s important to remember your stories and to be able to draw from them to apply them to the question at hand.

    If you know your stories, you likely don’t need to imagine what you would do in a given situation, you can discuss what you really did do and how you might do things differently in the future given what you’ve learned from your experience.

    One useful framework that I’ve learned for answering questions like these is called STAR:

    Situation

    Task

    Action

    Result

    When answering behavioral questions, try hard to:

    Cover what exactly happened (Situation),

    What you had to do in that situation (Task),

    What you did as an individual (Action), and

    How things played out as a result (Result).

    Related: What is the Star Method and How to Incorporate it into Interviews

    With this approach, you clearly define what happened and how you personally contributed to its resolution.

    Example behavioral questions for Engineering Manager candidates:

    Tell us about a time you made a mistake. What happened and what did you learn from it?

    Share an example of when you faced a conflict.

    Tell us about a time when you faced an ethical dilemma.

    How did you handle it when a project was coming down to the wire – what did you do?

    Related: 30 Behavioral Interview Questions You Should Be Ready to Answer.

    Closing questions for Engineering Manager candidates

    When going into an interview, it’s important to consider what you want to learn from the employer and the things you want them to learn about you.

    In the past, I’ve gone as far as bringing lists of things to learn and communicate into an interview and crossing things off as they were discussed. This is important because in the end, you’ll get a critical opportunity to deal with any items you haven’t yet crossed off.

    Is there anything else you would like us to know about you?

    Do you have any questions for us?

    It’s likely that the engineering manager interview questions you face will be different from anything else you’ve experienced before. If you go into your interview prepared to answer these questions, you’ll be well on your way to taking the next big step in your career.

    Finally, before starting salary negotiations in an engineering manager interview, be sure to check out:

    Originally written by Patrick Sweet in April 2019. Update by the Hired Content team in October 2023. More

  • 150 Shares119 Views

    in Talent Acquisition

    Ready to Start Programming with AI? A Quick Guide for Software Engineers

    Though we’re still a ways out from building machines that will take over the world with artificial superintelligence, AI is on the rise. To sum up the recent explosion of generative AI, Vijay Pande, a general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, tells the Washington Post:

    “There’s a lot of excitement about AI right now. The technology has… gone from being cute and interesting to where actually [people] can see it being deployed.”

    AI has found its way into a myriad of applications (think: innovative approaches to coding reviews, testing, debugging) and is quickly becoming an advantage for staying competitive. Talent will likely be expected to leverage AI tools in their workflows to be more effective and efficient. In fact, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 37% of job descriptions listed AI work and skills in the emerging tech category. 

    This includes building programs to understand and help us humans in our day-to-day lives, like Siri, Alexa, and countless chatbots. It can make operations networks, like Amazon’s, hyper-efficient by predicting who will want what, when and where. It can also focus on research, with programmed learning able to evaluate results against hypotheses, and adjust and retest to advance our understanding of the world.

    Tip: Try some courses on AI and Machine Learning

    If nothing else, having some familiarity with AI could give you some Thanksgiving dinner fodder to blow your grandparents’ minds. But it also could lead to promising new career opportunities.

    Why AI?

    If you’re looking to add to your repertoire to boost your marketability as a software engineer, artificial intelligence is a safe bet. According to Hired’s 2023 State of Software Engineers report, demand for machine learning and data engineers ranks among the hottest software engineering roles.

    Here are a few lucrative roles for which AI programming may get you noticed:

    The other reason for picking this up is pretty simple: it’s cool as hell!

    The field of artificial intelligence is an exercise in replicating the very thing that (most of us would consider) makes us human. The emergent property of our trillions of synapses firing in a symphony gives me the sense that I am “me,” and each of you the sense that you are “you.”

    Though most applications facilitate learning-focused, singular tasks or making predictions based on massive data sets, there is still something special about working to bring machines to recreate biological capabilities. And even in weak AI, the possibilities are endless to help the world become a better place with creative, elegant software. And isn’t that what we all want?

    How to start programming with AI

    When it comes to picking the right language to get your career on an AI track, you need to decide what type of work you want to be doing and evaluate that against the support and pre-built libraries that can assist you along the way.

    Start with a general language that works well with data processing and analysis. The most prominent and in-demand at tech companies are Python, Java (or Scala), or R (if you exclusively want to be a data scientist). Choose just one.

    Learn a language for interacting with a database management system (DBMS) that will help you access and organize the data you’ll use in your algorithms. Knowing SQL and understanding basic NoSQL is highly recommended. If entering a larger company, Hadoop, Spark, or similar will also be helpful.

    Understand the key frameworks and libraries for building AI solutions. Some that are important for common AI problems are:

    TensorFlow (a must!): used for high-volume, complex numerical computations

    Accord.net: used for things like classification, regression, and clustering

    Caffe: used for image recognition

    Scikit-learn: used for common AI problems and data mining

    NLTK: used for natural language processing

    Try online courses for programming with AI

    It’s also helpful to experiment with the growing AI packages provided by online course providers like Coursera.

    Getting started with AI

    Getting deeper into machine learning:

    And some additional resources:

    Like any new skill, it will take discipline to master programming with AI. But from the practical to the theoretical, from the present to the future: programming with AI is a worthy practice to add to your tool belt.

    Originally written by Mike Parker in May 2019. Updated by Hired Content Team and Coursera in October 2023. More

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    in Talent Acquisition

    Why Your Career Narrative Is Just as Important as Your Work History

    To maximize your chances of making a meaningful impression and landing a phone screen with the recruiter, offer a clear career narrative upfront. Recruiters and hiring managers are busy reviewing dozens or even hundreds of applications for a single role. They only have a few minutes (if that) to look at your resume, LinkedIn, portfolio, or Hired profile.

    In today’s competitive job market, simply having a list of past roles and accomplishments isn’t enough. The most successful jobseekers tell a compelling story — a career narrative — that positions them as the ideal fit for the roles they pursue.

    Here’s how to do it.

    Connect the dots

    First things first, a career narrative isn’t just a retelling of your job history. It’s a strategic story that connects the dots between where you’ve been, where you are, and where you want to go. Its purpose is to help potential employers see not just what you’ve done, but who you are as a professional and how you’ll add value to their organization.

    Begin by making a list of the roles you’ve held, projects you’ve undertaken, challenges you’ve faced, and accomplishments you’ve achieved. Go beyond the resume bullet points and think deeply about what each experience taught you, how you grew, and how each step led you to the next.

    As you reflect, you’ll likely notice recurring themes or patterns. Maybe it’s a passion for leading teams, an ability to optimize processes, or a knack for solving complex problems. This common thread will be a cornerstone of your career narrative.

    Don’t be afraid to mention challenges head-on in your career narrative too. Highlight what you learned from them, how you overcame them, and how those experiences equipped you for future roles.

    Finally, while it’s important to know your entire history, you don’t have to share every detail in your narrative. Instead, pick out 3-4 defining moments that exemplify your professional growth, showcase your skills, or highlight key transitions. These will serve as the main “chapters” of your story.

    Have a catchy headline

    You know that sentence at the top of your resume or below your name on your Hired or LinkedIn profile? That’s your headline. It provides a snapshot of who you are, what you do, and how much value you might add to an organization in just a sentence. It should be impactful, catchy, and clearly state what job you currently have and/or are pursuing.

    A few things to keep in mind:

    If you’re a new grad, your headline should clearly communicate the role you are looking to be in.

    If you have multiple years of experience, your headline should highlight key skills and what you’re looking for in your next opportunity.

    Here are a few examples to start:

    A headline for a mid-level software engineer with an interest in artificial intelligence and machine learning could be: “Java engineer with 5+ years of experience, seeking roles in AI and ML.”

    Let’s break it down. The headline states:

    The language they’ve worked with the most often and recently (Java)

    How long they’ve been doing this (at least 5 years)

    What they’d like to focus on (artificial intelligence and machine learning)

    A recent grad who just earned a visual design degree should have a headline reflecting this experience: “Junior visual designer with strong interest in typography seeking role in edtech.” It might be tempting to include personal interests. However, you only have one chance to make an impression on the recruiter.

    Be strategic about your summary

    Think of your summary as an extension of your headline. This section allows you to build out the details of your headline. Do so by including context around your past experience (if you have it) or talk about your motivations for the role you’re looking for. This is your opportunity to provide a glimpse into your three-minute elevator pitch before diving into your work history.

    In your summary, write up to three paragraphs touching on the following points:

    What job you want

    What you’ve done

    What skills you have

    Why you are the perfect candidate for the role

    Remove the guesswork

    If you have a diverse skill set spanning several disciplines, tell them which you’re most interested in and try to zero in on one or two roles at most. For example, if you’ve worked as both a backend engineer and a data engineer, make it clear you’d like to continue pursuing a career in data engineering.

    If you have a background in graphic design and just completed a user experience design bootcamp, tell them you’re looking for user experience design roles. Employers can only guess what interests you. Make the job easy for them by explicitly stating the roles you want.

    After discussing the job you’re looking for, explain how your previous experience explicitly relates to the role you’re pursuing. Provide a few lines about what you’ve worked on, what languages, skills, programs, or tools you’ve used, and any achievements.

    Next, state how your experiences make you the perfect candidate for the job. Don’t hesitate to mention professional attributes. That could be adaptability and strong communication skills that make you stand out and contributed to your previous successes. Your objective is to keep the message focused so it retains the hiring manager’s attention.

    Inject personality into your profile

    After establishing your career narrative in your headline and summary, give your resume and online profiles a breath of life by adding your personality. Bringing your application to life will make you stand out among dozens of other applicants. Plus, it will also make you more memorable to hiring managers.

    Your application will be judged in part by how well you convey the qualities that would make you successful in the role. As an engineer, you’re supposed to use logic, rationality, and consistency. If your work is primarily client-focused, attributes such as being personable and relatable will be prioritized. If you’re applying for a role in design, you should represent yourself in interesting, unique ways.

    Show employers what you do best

    But how do you insert your personality? If you’re a good writer, show off your skills. Being able to write well is not an inherent skill. For example, if you’re a product manager, it’s important to communicate effectively since time is often not a luxury. While you can probably write a lot about your experience, whittle each role down to five points. They should touch on each aspect of your job in the work experience sections.

    If you’re a designer, prove it. Don’t just use a generic resume template. Instead, make your own résumé with the design programs you rely on every day. Designers need to know how to organize information clearly. So make sure to keep the design fundamentals of type, space, and color in mind. A visual designer will be judged on the quality of their visual layout. Your resume and portfolio should accurately reflect your skill level.

    As always, stay on topic. If it doesn’t make sense to talk about your love of coffee as it pertains to your desired role, exclude those details from your resume. Add anything that relates to the role in question and nothing more.

    Moving forward with your career narrative

    Be sure to practice telling your narrative. Whether it’s in a job interview, a networking event, or a casual conversation, being able to articulate your story confidently and coherently will leave a lasting impression. With these tips in mind, you’ll grab the attention of hiring managers and be that much closer to getting your dream job.

    As you progress in your career, gain more experience, and achieve new milestones, revisit and refresh your narrative. Your story is ever-evolving, just like you.

    Originally written by Brittany Curran in March 2018. Updated by Hired Content Team September 2023. More

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    in Talent Acquisition

    Tech Candidate Spotlight – Gian Frangiamore, iOS Engineer in the UK

    Can you share a little bit about your educational background? 

    For the most part, I’m self-taught. I did join a bootcamp that taught me the basic fundamentals of software development. Shortly after, I found my first job as a software developer through an apprenticeship. 

    What has made the biggest impact on your tech career? 

    I’d say developing my own app was the most impactful. Not only did I learn a lot along the way, but it also gave me something to showcase when applying for jobs and to speak about when interviewing.

    What would you like to learn more about?

    At the moment I’m very focused on my iOS career. However, I am interested to see what kind of impact Apple’s Vision Pro will have on the industry. When the first iPhone launched, it didn’t even have an App Store. Now, look at where we are. Maybe this will open up a whole new career path – visionOS engineer. Who knows!

    What led you to pursue a career in tech?

    I’ve always been interested in anything to do with tech. Like many others, I was the go-to IT guy in the family (really all I did was turn it off and on again!). I didn’t know exactly what career path to go down when I finished college. However, once I started learning about software development, it really interested me and here I am today!

    Related: Code Your Career: Staying Competitive in the Developer Job Market (VIDEO)

    How has your skill set evolved over the course of your career?

    I started out as a software developer working with a bunch of different languages and frameworks. That included JavaScript, Java, C#, and SQL to name a few. I started learning more about app development soon after. That’s when I found my love for Swift. I then decided to create my own app, which led me down the career path as an iOS engineer.

    Related: Hired Releases 2023 State of Software Engineers Report

    For the past few years, I’ve mainly been focusing on iOS development. I’m really enjoying it. I think it’s amazing to have an app (or work on one) used by people all over the world!

    How is your new role different from previous ones? 

    The industry has shifted from housing to finance. But the roles are very similar. I’m still doing what I love, which is working on native apps for iOS.

    In my previous roles, I’ve worked in small teams. I’m looking forward to working in a larger team at JPMorgan where we can bounce ideas off each other and learn from one another. I’m also excited to work for such a large and well-known company.

    What was your job search experience like before you joined Hired?

    I used LinkedIn a lot to apply for jobs and even reached out directly to the hiring managers sometimes. I was also in touch with a few recruiters who put me forward for roles. I had the odd interview here and there, but never really had much luck.

    What’s your best advice for job seekers registered on the Hired platform? 

    Try to fill in as much of your profile with relevant information as you can. This will give you the best possible chance and make you stand out from others. Also, make sure you’re responsive. It will show recruiters you’re active on the platform.

    Related: Want More Interviews and Better Matches? 8 Key Tips!

    What would you tell someone who’s curious about Hired?

    Go for it! I was fortunate in that the first company that got in touch for an interview ended up being the one I joined. If you haven’t had much luck with your job search, give Hired a try. The same could happen to you so what do you have to lose?

    Any general advice you’d like to give other tech professionals?

    Try not to compare yourself to others. Focus on being the best you can be and always try to improve. At the same time, remember to take a break and enjoy life. 

    About JPMorgan

    JPMorgan is a leader in investment banking, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. Founded in 1858, JPMorgan has 5000+ employees and is headquartered in New York.

    Benefits

    401K plan/matching, stock options, health/dental/vision/life/disability insurance, paid time off, flexible working hours, tuition reimbursement, management training, mentorship opportunities, and more.

    Tech Stack

    JavaScript, Java, Python, MongoDB, Cassandra, Kafka, Hadoop, NoSQL, Access, Microsoft SQL Server, ASP.NET, Spark, C#, jQuery, Splunk, Cloud Foundry, MySQL, Ember.js, Spring, C++, Scala, React, Promtheus, Azure, DB2, Oracle, TensorFlow, SQL, Grafana, Kubernetes, MariaDB, AngularJS, Node.JS, .NET, Swift, Dynatrace, AWS, DevOps, Big Data, Mobile, Natural Language Processing (NLP) More

  • 138 Shares189 Views

    in Talent Acquisition

    Where Do Engineer Salaries Pay the Best (Highest) Standard of Living?

    Opportunity shifts from higher cost-of-living markets

    The rise in remote work prompted engineers and other tech workers to move, freeing many from higher cost-of-living (CoL) markets. Because an engineer’s salary goes farther in lower cost-of-living markets, tech workers are reconsidering where to live. 

    Hired data in the 2023 State of Tech Salaries showed positions based in higher CoL cities continued to decline from 78% in 2020 to 59% in the first half of 2023. Unsurprisingly, San Francisco (one of the priciest markets to live in) saw the biggest decline change. Positions based there were cut in half. They dropped from 38% in 2020 to 19% in the first half of 2023.

    Medium CoL markets gained the most, expanding from 20% of positions in 2020 to 32% in the first half of 2023. Lower CoL markets increased from 2% in 2020 to 9% in the first half of 2023. While mid-market’s growth of 12% is higher, it’s worth nothing lower CoL markets more than quadrupled their previous percentage.

    Average software engineer salary offers

    Here’s the list of average salary offers made to software engineers on the Hired platform in 2023 (compared to 2022):

    SF Bay Area: $186,629 (up 4%)

    San Diego: $174,643 (up 20%)

    Seattle: $171,314 (up 1%)

    Los Angeles: $162,471 (up 2.5%)

    New York: $159,847 (down 1%)

    Boston: $156,510 (up 1%)

    Washington DC: $153,412 (up 1%)

    Austin: $150,246 (down 5%)

    Denver: $149,883 (up 0%)

    Philadelphia: $144,911 (down 0%)

    Dallas/Ft Worth: $139,742 (down 4%)

    Chicago: $138,795 (down 2%)

    Atlanta: $135,240 (down 8.5%)

    Houston: $134,711 (down 8.5%)

    Tampa: $129,323 (down 10%)

    Columbus: $128,854 (down 2%)

    The draw of lower cost-of-living markets 

    While it’s useful to compare top offers in top cities, these average offer numbers are most compelling in the context of actual living expenses. For instance, what does a salary of $149,000 actually get you in Atlanta? And what would you need to earn in San Francisco dollars to maintain the same standard of living? This is where it gets really interesting.

    After the CoL adjustment, most major metros offer more than their counterparts in San Francisco and New York City.

    When you compare city-specific salary offer data with the actual cost of living in San Francisco, surprising winners emerge. Namely: Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Phoenix where tech professionals are offered an average of $40K more than those in San Francisco. Unfortunately, New York is the only place where adjusted tech salaries are less than in San Francisco. 

    These adjusted salaries tell us a few things about the cost of living in each city, and where salaries might help you afford more in one city than another. 

    Sign up to join Hired’s talent marketplace and find a new engineering role. It’s totally free for jobseekers!

    Average software engineer salary offers — in SF dollars

    Houston: $228,000

    Atlanta: $227,000

    Philadelphia: $223,000

    Phoenix: $218,000

    Denver: $217,000

    Austin: $210,000

    Dallas/Ft Worth: $209,000

    Chicago: $201,000

    Los Angeles: $199,000

    Seattle: $196,000

    San Diego: $195,000

    Tampa: $193,000

    Boston: $191,000

    Washington DC: $190,000

    New York: $156,000

    [Tweet “TL;DR: Let’s all move to Houston.”]

    In all seriousness, these adjusted salaries tell us a few things about the cost of living in each city, and where salaries might help you afford more in one city than in other cities. (Read how C2ER’s Cost of Living Index is calculated here). 

    Here’s a breakdown of average salary offers, average/median living expenses, and other metrics that might affect your quality of life, by some example cities:

    HOUSTON

    Average software engineer salary offer: $137,000

    Average monthly rent for a 1 bedroom apartment: $1,087

    Median home price: $370,650

    ATLANTA 

    Average software engineer salary offer: $149,000

    Average monthly rent for a 1 bedroom apartment: $1,507

    Median home price: $485,182

    PHILADELPHIA 

    Average software engineer salary offer: $151,000

    Average monthly rent for a 1 bedroom apartment: $1,138

    Median home price: $450,913

    PHOENIX

    Average software engineer salary offer: $140,000

    Average monthly rent for a 1 bedroom apartment: $1,179

    Median home price: $559,132

    Sources: Apartment List, PayScale

    Originally published in September 2016 by Whitney Ricketts. Updated by Hired Content Team September 2023. More

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    in Talent Acquisition

    3 Keys to Write a Software Engineering CV or Resume in 2023

    3 Strategies for a Solid Software Engineering CV or Resume

    Whether you’re starting to look for new opportunities or just want to get your CV or resume in shape, it can be difficult to know how to best portray a software skillset on a single piece of paper. This article will provide general CV-writing best practices, as well as specific strategies to highlight your software engineering expertise. 

    1. Keep it clean and simple

    This applies to CVs for all jobs, but it’s worth remembering that recruiters and hiring managers generally don’t have the time nor the energy to sift through multiple pages, opaque wording, or confusing formatting. 

    First of all, be sure to keep your CV to a single page. Even if you have many experiences that seem worth sharing, you’re better off choosing the most important, relevant ones (and including more details about them) rather than trying to squeeze everything in, but losing the important details of your most impressive achievements. 

    One way to keep it short is to use concise, straightforward language rather than flowery descriptions. Once you’ve written a draft, go through and think critically about each bullet point: Ask yourself whether there’s a way to say the same thing in fewer words, or to make it punchier with more action-oriented words. It can also be helpful to have a friend, colleague, or mentor read it over for a second opinion. 

    Lastly, keep the formatting clean by using section headers and consistent fonts/font sizes. Must-have sections include education, employment, and skills (where you can list your proficiency with various programming languages); Others might include personal projects, awards, certifications, or interests. 

    2. Tailor it to the role

    Whether you’re applying to a very specific role or applying more broadly, be sure to tailor your CV accordingly. If there are a few types of roles you’re considering, it might be worth keeping a different version for each. 

    Some people prefer to keep a “master” CV with all of their experiences listed (this might exceed the one-page limit), which can be trimmed down based on which skills a role requires and how your background fits into that profile. Others may keep a few versions of their CV ready to go depending on which best fits a job they’re applying for. 

    Whatever your strategy, don’t underestimate the importance of what you do and don’t include on a CV you submit to a job posting: Even if you have the most relevant experience, if it doesn’t come through on your CV then the hiring team won’t know what a good fit you might be. Further, including more relevant jobs or projects may increase your chances of talking about them in the interview, as interviewers often use the candidate’s CV to guide the conversation.

    3. Show off your software experience 

    Unlike many other careers, software engineers’ work (e.g. tools, apps, websites, etc.) can often be publicly viewed. When it comes to CV writing, this is a huge plus, as it gives you the chance to show, rather than tell, what you’ve done. 

    Some engineers like to include a ‘Projects’ section, particularly if they’re earlier on in their careers but have undertaken personal projects to boost their skills or to explore an area of interest. Even if the work is incomplete or the projects are small, this section can also demonstrate your passion for engineering as it will indicate you’ve taken on this work outside of your day job. 

    You might also include links to online portfolios such as GitHub or StackOverflow, which can give the hiring team clear evidence of which skills you bring to the table. If you have a personal website with links to various projects, this can be a way of keeping your word count down while still showcasing all of your work.

    At the end of the day, your CV is only one small piece of the candidate profile that a company will assemble in the process of interviewing you—but it’s an important one as it’s often the first impression a hiring team will have of you. Spending time to tinker with and tailor your CV may seem mundane, but it’ll certainly be worth the effort if it helps you make it past the initial screening process. 

    Additional Resources to help write your tech resume or engineering CV

    Originally written in 2019, this blog was updated by the Hired content team in 2023. More

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    in Talent Acquisition

    Tech Candidate Spotlight – Leonard Barraugh, Security Engineer

    Can you share a little bit about your educational background? 

    I have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech and a Master’s degree in Information Assurance and Cybersecurity from Florida Institute of Technology. I am also a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).

    Earning an information technology-focused undergraduate degree opened the doors for me to start my career. Obtaining a CISSP certification gave legitimacy to my progression from an IT journeyman to a focused cybersecurity professional. 

    What would you like to learn more about?

    I am fascinated by the new developments in artificial intelligence. I’m excited to learn more ways to leverage AI to enhance personal productivity. Also, as a cybersecurity practitioner, it’s important to be aware of the many nefarious uses of this powerful technology and modern techniques to defend against them.

    What led you to pursue a career in tech?

    Computers weren’t ubiquitous when I was growing up. However, it was obvious that virtually every industry was clamoring to integrate software into their processes. I believed a career in software development would provide a great balance of career flexibility, security, and fulfillment.

    How has your skillset evolved over the course of your career?

    Initially, I began my career as a software developer, but the defense contracting world gave me exposure to many different facets of IT. I quickly became a jack of all trades, working on wildly varying projects that required database design, system administration, networking, and traditional IT help desk support. I discovered I had an aptitude for troubleshooting software and operating system issues. This helped me realize I was better suited in a generalist role than as a pure developer. This positioned me well for a transition into cybersecurity given the enormous breadth of the discipline.

    If you choose to specialize in one area, what was it and why?

    I’ve focused my career path on cybersecurity, which is still incredibly broad and continually evolving. Cybersecurity aligns perfectly with my disposition as a generalist. There is always something new to learn. Advances in technology present new attack surfaces that need to be secured, while novel methods are constantly being devised to exploit existing technology. Being a cybersecurity practitioner allows me to approach an IT system from a completely holistic viewpoint and requires an understanding of all the various components and interfaces.

    Is your new role different from previous ones?

    My new role will be significantly different from my previous roles as I will be venturing out of the defense contracting world and into the private sector. I’ve had a clearance job for nearly my entire career so this will be a big leap away from what’s familiar and comfortable.

    What are some of the things you’re most excited about in your new role?

    I am incredibly excited to get exposure to new methods and technologies and to see how teams outside the defense industry approach cybersecurity. Also, as a parent of a young child, I am equally excited about an opportunity to work completely remote! 

    What was your job search experience like before you joined Hired?

    I’ve worked in defense contracting for fifteen years and have built a large network of peers in that time, but I didn’t have many contacts outside of the defense space. Joining Hired provided an interface to employers in the private sector that I wouldn’t have been aware of otherwise.

    What’s your best advice for jobseekers on the Hired platform? 

    The best advice I can think of for jobseekers registered on Hired is to provide as much information on your profile as you can. Hired is different than traditional job search platforms. It showcases the candidates to potential employers. Therefore, having a robust profile gives you the best chance of attracting an employer’s interest.

    Related: Want More Interviews and Better Matches? 8 Key Tips!

    What would you tell someone who’s curious about Hired?

    After you find a possible match on a traditional job search platform, you typically have to leave that platform. Then, you need to provide all of your employment history, education, skills, and maybe even a cover letter on the potential employer’s career site. Doing this over and over again for every opportunity becomes robotic and impersonal. At some point, you might even start filtering out opportunities you would have otherwise applied to because the application process has become daunting and lost its zeal.

    With Hired, you only complete your profile once and they do all the work of showcasing you to employers. As an added benefit, they provide compensation information up front so you have a known starting point when beginning the interview process.

    Any general advice for other tech professionals?

    I take a genuine interest in what my peers around me are working on. That has provided immense value throughout my career. Building a rapport with teammates is critical in establishing a healthy and productive work environment. Understanding their challenges and accomplishments has a more tangible impact as well. You get a much better understanding of how your own responsibilities can impact or depend upon other efforts. This also offers great insight into how other teams may have already overcome some of the technical challenges you may be facing.

    About Berkeley Research Group

    Berkeley Research Group is a global consulting firm that helps organizations with assistance in disputes and investigations, corporate finance, and strategy and operations. Founded in 2010, BRG has 1,001-1,500 employees and is headquartered in California.

    Benefits

    401K plan/matching, health insurance, paid time off, work from home flexibility, company activities, conferences reimbursement, mentorship opportunities, and more. More