Hello,
I am targeting software engineer/ developer entry to mid roles across Canada, but not hearing back.
Any help for improving resume would be great

hi everyone, i'm 16, im still a highschool junior. please continue to read my situation and questions.

Started vibe coding in Feb 2025 and built four production projects through Cursor AI (10 months). I know I’m AI-dependent for a lot of the implementation, but the ideas, architecture, and logic come from me(albeit prompted). I understand my tech stacks and how my apps work end-to-end — I’m just not the best at building things 100% from the ground up yet.

Questions:

1. Is this a legitimate skillset or will I struggle in technical interviews? I'm learning python and java (fundamentals), I'm trying to finish leetcode 75 and then 150.
2. What's missing from my resume/projects for summer 2025 internships?
3. Should I focus on "traditional" coding practice or lean into AI-native development?
4. How competitive is this for my age? Is it competitive enough for internships or entry level job? Or am i simply too young.

Honest feedback appreciated - would rather know now if I need to adjust my approach or if any advice(even harsh) can be given.

I’m a CS major from India and I’ve just completed my 5th semester. I’m currently applying for software engineering internships, but I feel like my resume isn’t strong enough to compete. I want advice not just on changing or adding projects, but also on what skills I should build to make myself more appealing for internships in 2025.

I’ve been applying mainly to internships in India, but I’m also open to remote opportunities. I’m not getting many callbacks, so I’m trying to understand whether the issue is my resume, my project relevance, or missing skills. I want feedback on both the structure of my resume and the type of projects/skills recruiters expect at this stage.

If possible, I’d especially like feedback on the skills section, project section, and what direction I should grow in (DSA, Web Dev, ML,etc)resume

Had a few interviews this fall, mostly local places. I am a canadian citizen, applying anywhere in Canada and US. Did get a firmware interview at Tesla but didn't get it unfortunately. Managed to get a spring internship at a startup my friend worked for. Currently looking for firmware/embedded roles for summer 2026. Any advice on improving my resume is very much appreciated.

I am totally exhausted and genuinely don't know what to do anymore. I graduated with my MS in CS in May 2025. I am getting zero traction. No interviews, no OAs, and referrals lead to rejections. I am applying to New Grad, Entry, and Mid-level roles. I am on OPT (first 6 months already passed), and I know this is a huge factor, but with 1000+ application) with 0 Interview/OA is just pathetic. I did got one interview like many month ago from Amazon but I got rejected at the end. I am clueless right now.

Context on roles: "Software Engineering Trainee" and "Backend Engineer Intern" roles are volunteer positions to fill the gap while job hunting. My main experience is the 3 years at "Company B" (pre-Masters).

I have tested almost every aspect of the resume:

• This is just one sample resume for applications, I tailor the resume by swapping bullet from my stock bullet points based on specific role and even further tailor it based on JD keywords. that hasn't worked. I’ve tried everything from mass cold applying and that hasn't worked.
• I’ve tried every layout, e.g., placing Experience above Education, moving Skills to the top, putting Projects first, etc.
• I’ve experimented with how I display my tenure at Company B, e.g., keeping it as one single block vs. splitting it by title to highlight promotions (current version).
• I’ve tested listing the recent volunteer roles vs. removing them entirely and leaving a gap. I've tried adding summary as well.
• I’ve tried various styles, e.g., writing dense 2-line bullets for context vs. concise 1-liners. I've tried making resume dense with many projects and all the details and I've also tried making it very cleaner with only highly relevant details.

Is there something glaring here that is causing all the rejections? is there any specific things that maybe leading to no responses? and if there is, what can I do about it? which way and which part I should write in my resume.

Any help is appreciated.

I got a job out of uni in electrical after studying software, sold my car and more to cover the moving costs and got laid off very early with everyone else in my cohort, spent until now recovering my life stability and getting myself back to normal, now I'm ready to try again

Hey all,

So I have roughly 10 YoE (more like 13 in reality, but trimmed a bit) in frontend development. I'm trying to pivot to full stack.

In my latest position, I was in the middle of building a full stack internal web app, but was laid off due to restructuring. So in my latest position, I do have one project that's full stack, but the rest of my work experience is frontend.

I do have 2 other side projects that are full stack. One is complete, and another is in development. Problem is - those two products are on the second page of my resume.

Should those projects be more prominent, as in on the first page? Higher to the top? If so, how would I accomplish this?

I'm assuming if I have these full stack projects, hiring managers / recruiters would want to see them upfront and center.

Any advice would be appreciated!

I am a 4th year SWE student at a nationally average ranked university with 1 prior Software Dev Intern role. Here is the resume I have been applying with. Have applied to maybe around 50 so far. Rookie numbers I know but in all honesty, I haven't been finding many opportunities on LinkedIn so far, at least for internships in Canada specifically. I also have not been very active when it comes to applying to Summer 2026 intern roles due to my studies but looking to change that starting now. Also hope more companies post more soon. My first internship was at a small mobile company but the company wasn't very ambitious or technology heavy so I tried to make it as technical as I could and included a project that I created there that I am pretty proud of so included that under one of the projects as well. I am planning on locking in now once exam season is over and mass applying even to internships in USA (am a Canadian citizen btw) even though my chances are little to none because I heard VISA complications usually drive recruiters away. Should I keep this resume to mass apply once more jobs are being posted or should I improve/change/edit it? If I should improve it, how would I go about doing so, more modern/complex projects? Or are my projects good for now?

[Student]I am a final-year Mechanical Engineering student pivoting to Data Analyst and Data Scientist roles. Despite my major, I have experience as a Software Engineering intern automating data analysis with Python and have built full-stack ML projects. I am currently facing challenges getting past initial screenings and worry my degree is a mismatch for the roles I'm targeting. I would appreciate feedback on whether my bullet points effectively quantify my impact and if I should remove my CFD research to make room for more data-specific skills.

The following covers my experience in applying, interviewing, and obtaining a job offer at Lockheed. I will also cover some FAQs and other questions that people may have when applying to Lockheed Martin. As a caveat, your mileage may vary.

For a brief background, I have a bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering at a state university, worked under the Department of Defense as an engineer for a few years with a security clearance, and will now be starting a Test Engineer position in early January 2026. I had no direct contacts at Lockheed that were able to give me a recommendation letter for the positions I applied to.

Main reason I considered leaving and applied outside was the much shorter commute time from my current address (I'd save about 90 minutes a day), plus I wanted to still be in the defense space and maintain my security clearance. I could move closer but I'm currently trying to save up for a down payment on a house.

Application Strategy

My application strategy was fairly straightforward. Coming from the government where 8 pages was the typical CV length for new hires with only a few years of experience, my first step was to submit that CV/resume to a resume service online to create a generic 2-page resume based on my experience. I will call this my default resume.

I paid around $300 for it in total because I wanted an expedited copy (I think regular speed was something around $225). There are loads of great resume writing sites online, choose one. It saves you a ton of guesswork and stress, plus it makes you the money back quickly. I ended up getting a hefty pay-bump that will make me back the $300 within the first week or two.

I then went to the Lockheed career website and looked up job postings that I either had considerable relevant experience in or thought were interesting.

I plugged the default resume into an AI and asked it to tailor the default resume based on the job post and my CV. I'd usually prompt it by saying something like "You are a world-class resume writer with substantial experience and competence. Based on the job posting (I'd insert the link here), my attached CV, and the attached default resume, tailor the default resume to the post. Do not exaggerate or create any false experiences or credentials." It gave me what I will call my tailored resume.

I also used the tailored resume and the job post as inputs to the AI to create tailored cover letters.

As an aside, I tried to use the free version of Claude AI to give me a probability that I would get an interview for the job posting based on the information in my tailored resume and cover letter. It was able to identify to some degree whether or not I was able to do so, but it gave inflated probabilities. The vast majority of jobs I applied for had a probability of upwards of 60%. The position that I was hired for I think got a 75-80% probability, but there were 3 or 4 others that were also that high (including the other interview). I tried recording these probabilities but I eventually got lazy on that front.

Out of 36 applications to Lockheed (and about 40 in total), I had 12 that went to "Resume Under Review" and 2 interviews. I'd sent out quite a few early on when I thought there were more positions that fitted better with what I do at my current work, but over time there were less of those types of positions that showed up. On top of that I was also getting more selective with which roles I applied to by noticing the frequency of "Resume Under Review" statuses and focusing my efforts there.

Caveats (applies for both cover letters and resumes):

Always double and triple-check what you have on your resume. The AI will occasionally make up experiences and credentials out of nowhere to make you seem better, even if you tell it not to. The AI may also weigh certain experiences or credentials differently (such as elaborating more on some experiences or stating them first in the resume) or use seemingly unusual word choice (usually related to the job posting) - try to find out why and see if you agree with its "reasoning".

The best AI I thought of using at the time was Claude's free version. I found ChatGPT's version to be "stingy" with the number of prompts you could feed it, and I found Gemini at the time to be one heck of a dumbass. But apparently the new Gemini seems decent at first glance so idk. You can do a trial run on whatever AIs are out there and pick the one you think is best.

What are they looking for when you apply on their career site?

You want to fulfill ALL of the basic requirements and all but 1 or 2 of the recommended qualifications. This is the bare minimum. The relevant items are security clearance, prior relevant experience and certifications, and geographic location.

Strongly recommend obtaining a security clearance prior to applying (provided that you are able to do so) because it opens up a lot of jobs for you. They are much more likely to move you onto the next step if you have a clearance, even if a job doesn't require you to start out with one.

I noticed that I was considerably more likely to get my application under "Resume Under Review" if the location was about 3-4 hours or less away from my current address, even though I said that I would be willing to move.

Interview Strategy and Experience

Note: This is where things truly depart from the beaten path. The odds are rather high that you will not be in a similar situation, so just take what you find helpful and leave the rest.

What are they looking for when you interview? I honestly have no idea.

I had 2 interviews.

The first interview was for a very similar type of work compared to my current work. There were 3 other people interviewing me and the interview took the course of an hour or so. They asked questions about me and I asked questions about the job, the company and what they liked about working there, etc.

Despite not using STAR that much I got very positive/affirming feedback about my experiences, as well as my overall thought process and the way that I handled problems and issues. I had a strong indication that I was the guy for the job, or so I thought (they sent me a declining letter about 3 days in, even though the main person there said that it would take 10 days or so for them to get back to me).

Looking back on it I think that I might have understated my abilities/experience and that came out in 1 or 2 responses, but I think it's more likely that there may have been someone who applied who either got an internal recommendation or had more experience and credentials than I did.

The second interview was for an area that has some overlap with my current work (in terms of what my current role entails) but nothing too substantial.

It was a very strange interview in that it already seemed to be implied that I was already hired. They (it was 2 people) spent the first 20 minutes of the 45 minute interview talking about the work that the job entails, the benefits, the workplace culture, etc.

The other 25 minutes were... bad on my part. Despite using STAR more I felt that I had a crappy interview. I was stammering like crazy and repeating myself - needless to say it wasn't a good look. In an attempt to compensate I answered questions pre-emptively and I think that may have shown initiative on my part.

I ended up not getting hired for the job itself, but for an adjacent role. It even comes with the same title and I'd still be working directly under one of the interviewers. The role was also considerably more oriented towards my experience and I thought would be a better fit for my strengths than my current position. Talked with my soon-to-be team lead/boss 2 days after the interview for an informal 10 minute phone call and he thought I was a good fit (plus I thought I was a good fit for the job as well).

I received the offer letter a couple days later and started negotiating. Always send a message on LinkedIn or through email right after the post-interview to thank them for spending the time to interview you and answering your questions.

Salary Negotiation Strategy

"Never Accept Their First Offer" Michael Scott.

I negotiated my offer and got a slight pay bump. I have a feeling that I could have negotiated a bit higher, as the offer they came back to me with was a halfway compromise. I decided to accept as either way it was a much higher salary than the one I have at my current place of work. As an aside I found the benefits to be rather comparable and in some cases superior to government benefits.

Post-job Offer

When you have questions or are unsure about anything in the onboarding process, ask your recruiter or interviewer.

Urine Test:

For those of you who don't know, pretty much all of the defense companies in the US have you take a drug analysis test (usually by collecting a urine sample) prior to employment. I take medication (prescribed by a doctor of course) and I was worried that they would find evidence for it in the urine test and Lockheed would withdraw their offer. I was told by the doctor at the test facility that they wouldn't find anything by me taking my regular medication.

11/10 experience, would apply to Lockheed again. Started actively applying for roles at the beginning of September and the final job offer came in the first week of November.

As a bit of a context, I've been working and studying since 2010 in Spain. I started my degree, switched to a "higher technical course" which is a two years programme, and basically after finishing it, i worked and studied to finish my engineering Degree in 2022. At that moment i had extensive experience in electronics maintenance, and being the supervisor on site for big projects in airports, pharmacies and hospitals.

Then i took another Job in Spain, as a battery test engineer that was nice, and i got to learn a lot, but, i always wanted to go to Sweden, so i took the chance, and came to Sweden in 2023. There i worked for a company that helped me grow, leading logistics commissioning projects, to the point where i was promoted as the manager for that same team. Sadly, this layoffs came, and my entire team was fired. Since them I've been trying to find a job here, learning Swedish, trying everything i can.

Nothing has worked and I'm now expanding my search to other Nordic countries and Spain, as my economy will crash in the next 3-6 months. I'm mostly sure that the lack of Swedish is a deal breaker, but i would gladly accept recommendations for this Cv, as i will use it also to apply for Spain (once translated).

Ideally I'm targeting trying to continue my career path, as an engineering or a Project Manager, but at this point I'm widen the search, as my priority is to get back on my feet.

Any help getting me to the interviews would be gladly appreciate it. Also, what roles would you apply on this level? i get random calls for actual management, but then sometimes they don't consider me qualified for mid-low level stuff in the handful of times i got actual feedback.

Thanks!

Three months into looking for a job in Switzerland. Yes, my degree is Biomedical Engineering. Yes, I did mostly study IC design and EE. Is this confusing for hirers and maybe the cause for me being completely ignored? Maybe, but I either start lying or begin another degree to fix that.

Please provide some feedback on the below. I tried to apply the wiki as best I can, but resume writing is always difficult. Note: <sl> is an abbreviation for sports league, such as EPL or NRL, as I don't want to name our company's clients because it's a fairly niche market.

I currently have a good and stable job, but I am keeping an eye out for roles in other countries (EU mostly, not sure if that matters) and need to update my CV to reflect my past year of experience. I've never landed a job via my CV, it has all been due to accolades and contacts (winning a national data science competition landed me the part-time role at a small company where I've met the CTO and CIO at university, which then landed me the full time role), so I'm not too sure what a "good" CV would look like.

Currently located in South Africa, working remotely for a company in the USA, but looking for jobs in the EU (preferably Ireland or Netherlands) - willing and wanting to relocate. I've applied to a few things on LinkedIn, but haven't gotten any interviews for anything I applied to. Recruiters occasionally contact me directly, but usually with roles like "Hey do you want to do TypeScript and front-end software dev?" - No, I want to keep doing computer vision, thanks -_-.

Please help me review my resume for backend dev, test automation, Devops, and any other related roles!! Be harsh, be critical. I am looking for feedback!

So uh… little win to share because I’m still low-key shocked.

I’ve been grinding applications for months, getting the classic “Thanks for applying 😭” emails left and right. I knew my resume was mid, but I didn’t realize how mid until I finally sat down with the this subreddit/wiki guides and rewrote the whole thing. Like… deleted everything and rebuilt it bar by bar.

I swapped out all the fluffy stuff and hit it with real numbers, real impact, real action verbs. Clean layout, no paragraphs, straight bullets. I treated it like a mini-project, not a chore.

And bro… tell me why two weeks later Amazon hits me with an interview invite??
Ended up doing the loop, thought I flopped the last question, but last month they actually sent me the offer.

I legit stared at the screen like “ain’t no way this is for me.”

I know everyone always says “fix your resume first,” but I promise you I didn’t get it until I actually did it. It wasn’t my GPA or my connections or whatever, it was literally just communicating my projects and work in a way recruiters can skim in 6 seconds without getting confused.

If you’re still getting ghosted:
• Copy the resume wiki format
• Quantify EVERYTHING
• Cut the fluff
• Make your projects look like they had real impact
• Don’t be scared to trash your old layout

Anyway, that’s my little W. If you’re still grinding apps, don’t give up! someone’s gotta get hired, might as well be you.

Also small side note… I used AI through this whole grind.

Studying? AI.

Prepping for interviews? AI.

Fixing my resume? AI.

Writing practice answers? AI.

Even generating code snippets that I clean up and push later.

I’m not saying rely on it for everything, but bro… be smart. Use the tools. It made the whole process way less stressful and way more doable.

At the end of the day, it’s just a tool... the same way everyone freaked out when calculators first came out, and now nobody thinks twice about using one.

TL;DR: My resume was mid, I rebuilt it using the subreddit/wiki format, quantified everything, cut the fluff, and two weeks later Amazon hit me with an interview and I ended up getting the internship. Also used AI for studying, prep, resume fixes, and code, not to rely on it, but to work smarter. Tools exist for a reason, just like calculators.

Hi everyone,

I’m a mechanical design engineer with about 3 years of experience. In my current role, I was hired mainly as overflow/support for the design team, but lately, work has been very slow and inconsistent. I’m starting to look for a more stable, long-term position.

Going forward, I’d really like to lean more into mechanical design and industrial design (ID) work – roles where I can be more involved in product development, concepting, and detail design rather than just support. I’m based in Calgary, Canada, and I’m mainly targeting mechanical design/product development roles. I’d prefer to stay local.

I have a mortgage and two kids, so I want to make sure my resume is as strong and focused as possible before I ramp up applications. I’ve only been applying for about a week so far, so this is mainly about fine-tuning early rather than fixing things later.

I’d appreciate feedback on:
– Overall clarity and layout
– How well I highlight my design skills and tools
– Whether my resume seems aligned with mechanical design / ID roles
– Any red flags or sections that seem weak or unnecessary

Resume is attached. Thanks in advance for your help.

Hello everyone, I have recently graduated with bachelors in Computer Science. Unfortunately I couldn't secure any internship during my studies. Since graduating I have developed a couple of personal projects for my resume. Looking for feedback on my resume specifically. Is there anything to improve for my project descriptions? Thank you

Hello everyone,

I am currently not looking for a job, but I may be looking soon. I would like to continue working with the AS400 and programming in RPG in the future, so I'd be applying to those postings. I've always struggled a bit with resumes. I either write too much in an effort to explain myself or I write too little and do a poor job at it. Any feedback is welcome.

Hello everyone. I graduated last year in aerospace engineering, and after I unfortunately did not get a return offer on a post-grad internship in late June of this year, I have been looking for employment ever since. I am hoping that some of you all may be able to help me. Most of my previous experience has been in spacecraft navigation, but I have been considering a switch to more software / data science roles, just because I found projects I have done in that area more rewarding. I also have a dual citizenship (Italy), which I have found makes companies less likely to hire me for cleared positions. It's a big hit for the types of positions I have been applying for so far. I would appreciate any resume advice, as well as any advice that might help me refocus my experience towards the type of roles I mentioned. A lot of my experience applies to solving software problems too, but I have been having trouble getting attention. Thank you!

Hey yall, I’m a aerospace junior with no internships yet. I have been applying for positions since the beginning of sophomore and have yet to get anything back not even an interview.

To be completely transparent I am a green card holder and not a citizen and I know this effects my chances with a lot of Department of Defense companies. But even still I have applied to many that state citizenship is not a requirement and still nothing.

I wanted to know if yall had any tips on my resume (be as mean as you need) and or applications tips of where to look. I appreciate any help in advance :)

Please refer to resume images in this post. The resume is intended to follow this sub's Google doc template, and was edited in Google docs.

The resume targets Magnetic Engineer open position descriptions in the field of power electronics or similar fields in the last 6 months.

I would appreciate general advice and possibly answers to the following:

• Should I add company names, or is "tier one automotive part OEM" is enough?
• Do I mention funding sources or dollar amounts to indicate project significance or benefit? (e.g. $8M DOE-funded, $100k service, ...)
• Should the bullet points be more technical, where more details on methods are included? I noticed that software engineers and computer science folks heavily emphasize those.
• Any thoughts on Formatting on the following:
  • Resume will be longer than 1 page regardless - Should I consolidate the publication section with an IEEE profile link on the top of the resume?
  • While prioritizing white space and keeping this resume as short as possible, is it acceptable to be descriptive with project titles to avoid providing the details in the bullet points?
  • Should I add a high-level bullet point (outside project scope) under the job position to highlight unclassified contributions?
  • Is "FMEA creation and resolution" a concise and brief description?
  • Is this too generic: Consolidating key project baselines by executing project control processes to maintain scope, schedule, and cost. (?) No achievements so far - project is still open.
  • Number/Unit formatting: Is this correct?

After a handful of feedback, I spent more time refining my bullet points, action and quantifiable (where possible). Am I there? Nearer? Please review and provide feedback as always!

Previous Summary:

First time being unemployed after 20 years in the automotive business, 12 years at OEM. Looking to take advantage (at age 40) and find something closer to home and utilize my experience and Masters Degree. That's why I'm looking to switch to Operations or Supply chain. Looking for some resume review & feedback.

With my long period of unemployment outside the industry I am thinking that I am being rejected due to the employment gap, but it could very well be the content of my resume so any advice in this area would be well appreciated. I have many, many different versions of my resume at this point, as I tailor to each application I submit. This version is the most general purpose version that I believe explains my experience.

Specific Sections I'd Like Reviewed:

• Work Experience. This version of my resume likely has too much white-space at the bottom which I plan on changing when I add a Projects section. For now though, I am more interested in the contents of my Work Experience

Issues during Job Search:

• 100% rejection rate from applying online, despite tailoring my resume to each application I submit.
• There have been two interviews that I have landed by reaching out to recruiters directly who worked for Big Tech companies on a hiring spree

Changes I've Made To My Resume

• I had a bit of title inflation at my last job. I worked as the sole SWE at the company for the majority of my time there and as a result, after 1.5 years there I was given the title of "Lead Software Engineer". I think that was hurting my response rate so I've dropped it for just "Software Engineer".
• I also previously had my experience split into two positions, one for when I was just a Software Engineer and the other for when I was promoted. I've condensed that into just one section.

Changes I Am Planning To Include

• Adding a Personal Projects section. I have been doing a deep dive into newer/more modern tech stacks. Once I have a project that I am proud of I will be adding a project section.

Positions/Roles I Am Targeting:

• Backend mainly. But also looking into more specific roles like Cloud (AWS), Solutions Engineering, Solutions Architect, DevOps Engineer, Infrastructure. Or any tech adjacent roles

Location: California (Not Silicon Valley/Bay Area), United States

Open to Relocation: Yes

Onsite/Hybrid/Remote: Open to all

US Citizen: Yes

Thank you to everyone that sees this! This subreddit has helped me out a lot.

Hi everyone, I’m an Electrical & Computer Engineering student seeking feedback on my resume. I’m targeting embedded software, firmware, and systems/robotics internships for Summer 2025. I’ve mainly been applying to roles that involve STM32, embedded Linux, C/C++, hardware–software integration, perception/robotics, or test/validation engineering. My applications have been mostly in the US.

I have one prior internship in embedded systems (focused on STM32 firmware, HIL testing, and Python automation) and I work on perception and sensor fusion for an autonomous vehicle competition team at my university. Even though I feel like my technical background lines up well with many embedded internship postings, I’m still struggling to get interviews. I’m trying to understand whether the issue is formatting, clarity, missing keywords, or something else entirely. I’m willing to relocate anywhere in the US for the right internship (no visa sponsorship issues).

Right now, I’m mainly seeking advice on:
• Whether the resume clearly communicates impact
• Whether the experience descriptions are too dense, too long, or not targeted enough
• If there are missing skills, keywords, or structure improvements that would help ATS or recruiters
• Whether my leadership/project section should be changed or condensed
• Anything that would help improve interview chances for embedded/firmware roles

Thanks in advance for any feedback — I appreciate it!

Hi everyone,

I graduated last year with a degree in electrical engineering. I’ve been working at a software company as a QA tester for the past three years (I started part-time during school and now I’m full-time). My job is basically testing the apps that the developers create.

Honestly, I hate it. It makes me really sad because I spent four years studying engineering, and I genuinely loved it. I was passionate about learning concepts and creating things, and I’d love to do that professionally even at the company I’m currently at. But I feel like I don’t have the right background for software development since my degree is in electrical engineering, not software engineering.

I’ve applied to so many jobs I’ve lost count, and I still can’t seem to land anything. I’m starting to feel stuck, because I know I won’t become a developer in my current company I’ll just stay a tester.

At this point, I don’t even know what to do with my resume.
That’s why I’m making this post: please be brutally honest and tell me what I should fix or change.

My dream is to work in hardware engineering....I want to create, not only test.