Key Sections to Include in a Tech Resume

As a recruiter for top tech companies, I’ve reviewed 1,000+ resumes. You only need to get these 5 sections right to land 6-figure interviews. 1. Positioning Statement Forget the generic “motivated team player” summary. Your top section should tell me in 3 lines: - Who you are - What kind of problems you solve - Where you’ve done it Example: “Backend engineer with 4 years of experience scaling infra at early-stage startups. Shipped distributed systems handling 50M+ requests/day. Currently focused on latency, observability, and developer experience.” If this section is clear, I’ll keep reading.  If it’s vague, I won’t. 2. Experience (But Structured Like a Case Study) Instead of dumping tasks, each role should answer: - What were you hired to do? - What did you actually build or own? - What changed because of your work? Bullet points should reflect results, not responsibilities. Redesigned caching logic → reduced API latency by 47% across 3 services. Led incident response for system outage → cut recovery time by 60%. That’s what hiring managers remember. 3. Company/Team Context Especially if you worked at a large company, give 1 line of context. “Worked on the Ads ML Infrastructure team at Meta, supporting $XXB in annual revenue.” It helps recruiters understand the scale and environment — fast. 4. Projects Section (Optional, but powerful) For newer engineers or people transitioning into tech, 1-2 serious projects can carry a resume. But only if you show real thinking and impact. Instead of: Built a web app using React and Node. Try: Built a budgeting tool used by 800+ users; integrated Stripe and Plaid APIs, reduced error rate to <0.3%. Show that you didn’t just code, you shipped. 5. Skills That Support the Story Don’t list everything you’ve ever touched. List the tools, stacks, and domains that match what you’re applying for. And reinforce them in your bullet points. “Python” in your skills section means nothing if your experience doesn’t prove you’ve used it in real scenarios. Your resume's job isn’t to tell your life story. It’s to get you in the room. If yours isn’t built to convert, it’s time to rethink it. Repost if this helped. P.S. Follow me if you are a job seeker in the U.S.  I talk about resumes, job search, interview preparation, and more. 

This resume got someone a job as data analyst at Meta. Last week, someone asked me to review their resume seeking a role in data analyst. On the surface? It looked “okay.” But here’s why it still wouldn’t make it past the recruiter screen — or even the ATS. 1. Generic summary with no focus The resume opens with: “Strategic thinker with data analysis skills.” But… strategic for what industry? Data analysis in what context? There’s no domain positioning (healthcare, finance, e-commerce), no mention of specific business problems solved, and no hook to tell a recruiter, “This person is perfect for our team.” 2. Experience lacks impact, depth, and direction Phrases like “Built dashboards,” “Maintained reports,” and “Collaborated with teams” are too vague. There’s no context: → Who used the dashboards — finance teams? leadership? sales? → What decisions were made from the reports? → Did this work lead to cost savings? Process efficiency? Customer insights? There’s also no consistent mention of tools per project — Power BI, SQL, or Tableau are listed once in the skills section, but not tied to real business value in the bullet points. 3. No project section or external proof For a data analyst, personal projects are non-negotiable. When you don’t showcase independent work (via GitHub, Tableau Public, Kaggle, or even a portfolio site), it tells the hiring team: → You only do what’s assigned. → You haven’t built anything meaningful outside your 9–5. → You’re not invested in sharpening your craft. That’s a dealbreaker. 4. Certifications feel surface-level “Certified in Excel” or “Completed workshop at GrowthSchool” means little without application. There’s no story of how those certifications were used to solve real problems. Hiring managers don’t want to know what you passed — They want to know what you built. 5. Education section is a missed opportunity The candidate holds a Master’s in Data Analytics — that’s a powerful asset. But there’s: → No mention of core coursework (e.g. predictive modeling, data visualization, SQL, Python) → No capstone or thesis project → No tools or datasets referenced Your education should prove you’ve done real work in real environments. In contrast, here are 5 key rules that get a resume shortlisted: 1. Start with a clear positioning statement. Tell me what kind of analyst you are and what industries you serve. 2. Make every bullet show a result. “Reduced processing time by 40% using Power BI” > “Built dashboards” 3. Add 1–2 real projects or GitHub links. Let your skills speak beyond your job title. 4. Use keywords from the job description. Tailor every resume. No generic blasts. 5. Format it like a sales page — not a diary. Clear sections. Action verbs. No fluff. Your resume is a marketing doc. Make every line earn its place. Need a second set of eyes on your resume? DM me — happy to help.

This ENTRY LEVEL resume got interviews at Palantir Technologies, Amazon, Microsoft, Google & here are the reasons why: 1. Strategic Information Hierarchy: - Education is rightly placed at the top (May 2024 graduation). - Clear, bolded section headers (EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, PROJECTS, ACHIEVEMENTS, TECHNICAL SKILLS) guide the reader's eye. - Consistent date and location formatting on the right margin keeps it tidy and easy to scan. (MAKE IT EASY FOR RECRUITERS!) 2. Quantifiable Achievements Everywhere: - "achieving a 23% reduction in latency" (Amazon) - "reduce API load by 30%" (Amazon) - "HackWashu Hackathon 1st Place" - Metrics demonstrate the impact of their work. 3. Action Oriented & Tech Specific Descriptions: - Starts bullet points with strong verbs: "Optimized," "Implemented," "Directed," "Spearheaded," "Engineered," "Developed." - Specific technologies (Spring MVC, ElasticSearch, DynamoDB, ASP.NET MVC, React Native, C++, Python, GPT) are embedded WITHIN their bullet points. 4. Clear Progression & Diverse Skill Application: - Internship experiences show solid software development fundamentals in different environments (Amazon, U.S. Bank). - Projects demonstrate versatility across different domains: full-stack mobile app development (FitnessPal), systems programming (CLI Replication), algorithmic trading (WUSIF Algo Trading), and AI application (Hackathon). - Shows growth through application of diverse skills and technologies in practical settings. I've been lucky enough to have mentors who have shared their resumes with me and I want to do the same for others. Find what VERIFIED resumes landed people interviews at Google, Meta, Microsoft: https://bit.ly/3HKbsOO Not every resume should look like this. I’m sharing it because this is what’s actually working in today’s job market. For me, I never had anyone share their resumes that got interviews at companies. It was always a black box. And if this post helps even one person get a foot in the door, then I’ll keep sharing.