Tech Resume Guide for 2022 (2023)

FAQs

What is the best resume format for 2022? ›

What is the best resume format for 2022? For most people, the reverse-chronological resume format is the best option. This means listing your work experience and education in reverse-chronological order, i.e. starting with the most recent position and working backwards through previous jobs or degrees.

Don't include lots of information that's irrelevant to the job you're applying for. “Sure, you've got hobbies, interests, languages, favorite bands, and ambitions,” Cenedella says. “But keep the information that doesn't address your ability to be responsible, accountable, and a hard worker to a reasonable level.”

There are mainly four things that recruiters and hiring managers look for in the resume scanning stage: work experience, education, skill set, and personality.

How far back should your resume go in 2022? The common advice is to keep the work experience in a resume between 10 to 15 years. Doing so will give your hiring manager a general outline of your start, your growth, and where you find yourself now.

The chronological format is the most recognizable and traditional format for resumes. It is preferred by most recruiters and hiring managers because it requires less guesswork than other resume formats. In a chronological resume, your experience is laid out in a familiar and easy-to-understand manner.

You should list as many jobs on your resume as you can assuming they are all relevant and you're not going beyond the 10-15 year limit. The number of jobs typically varies between 7 and 3. As long as each job or position is relevant, you shouldn't worry about the exact number.

You should use a resume summary section when you want to highlight your skills, experience, and overall showcase your professional background to recruiters. Use this opportunity to intrigue and draw them further into your resume by helping them get a quick overview of your know-how and how you can be a valuable asset.

What are 3 things you should not include on your resume? ›

Personal details. There's no need to include personal information on a resume such as your social security number, marital status, nationality, sexual orientation, or spiritual beliefs. In fact, it is illegal for employers to ask for these personal details.

What are four things a great résumé shows employers? qualifications, meet the employer's needs, likeable, work well with others, appeal to both human and electronic reviews.

Several components go into an effective and well-rounded resume, but with few exceptions, all resumes should include a contact section, objective or summary, experience, education and skills sections.

How long should your resume be in 2022? There is no perfect answer. Depending on the job description and your work experience, your resume should be one or two pages long. If you have over 10 years of relevant experience, a multi-page resume works better than a one-page.

In most cases, using a 3-page resume is a bad idea. Recruiters want job applicants to present qualifications in a one-page resume format. A three-page resume for a job most likely includes irrelevant information, and a hiring manager won't have time to read all of it.

The short answer is: No, you don't need to add an address to your resume. In today's workforce, most communication is done via email or phone. This makes the need for a full address outdated. Instead, you should list a general location on your resume.

There have been surveys done that show employers and recruiters prefer a Microsoft Word document over PDF. A Microsoft Word document is easily opened by many programs and devices. An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) could easily read a resume.

What do employers actually look at a resume? ›

They search candidates by skillset, experience, location, previous employers, and how recently a resume was updated, all much more than they scan for level of education.

You may find yourself asking, “Should I include picture on my resume?” The answer to that question is no, you should not. That is because a resume photo can: Distract the hiring manager from what's most important (your skills and experience) Get instantly thrown out of the pile to avoid bias or discrimination.

So, are you job-hopping too much? Around 44% of managers will not hire a candidate that changes jobs too often. The majority of executives polled said that holding six or more jobs within a ten-year span is too much.

Limit to relevant work if you have extensive experience

If you have work experience that is not relevant to the position you are applying for, it is acceptable to leave it off. If you have little experience, you can include all your history to show your skills.

You Don't Need to Include Every Job on Your Resume: Highlight jobs that demonstrate your experience, skills, and fit for the role. Leave Off Jobs That Are Unrelated: You can also omit jobs that are more than 10 to 15 years old, to avoid age discrimination.

Replace buzzwords with keywords

Refer back to the job ad, and pick out any specialist skills, action words and other important terms you can see. Then, include these words throughout your resumé where they're relevant to you.

A good headline for a resume must be: Short: Just one sentence that can help you describe your professional experience. Memorable: Avoid clichés and be original to boost your chances of getting noticed. In Title Case: Write it in the title case, like the headline of a newspaper article.

What are the 4 things a resume should include? ›

The core contents of a resume include: contact information, resume summary / resume objective, work experience, education and skills.

Most resumes should be two pages long. Two pages are the standard length in 2021 to fit all your keywords, work history, experience, and skills on your resume.

Should a resume have bullet points? Yes, using bullet points on a resume clearly and concisely highlights your strengths. You can showcase your most relevant accomplishments and you most important skills and qualifications without burying them in chunks of text.

From a job-seeker's perspective, having a well-known company on your resume definitely works in your favor when it comes to catching the eyes of recruiters or setting yourself up to move forward in the future.

You should not include your age on a resume because it can prevent you from being hired. Although many employers have adjusted their hiring process to reduce bias based on age, hiring discrimination still exists in the workplace. For many, this bias is implicit, meaning it's unintentional but inherent in people.

Should I Include Irrelevant Work Experience On a Resume? Most of the time, yes. It's better to include irrelevant work experience (tailored to fit a specific job) than to leave it off your resume. You don't want to create gaps on your resume and often some experience is better than no experience.

If you are a senior candidate the most important is your personal career achievements and the name of your past employer, the least important still remains your interests but also your GPA becomes less relevant.

Personal pronouns. Your résumé shouldn't include the words I, me, she, or my, says Tina Nicolai, executive career coach and founder of Resume Writers' Ink. Don't write your résumé in the third or first person. It's understood that everything on your resume is about you and your experiences.

You should use a resume summary section when you want to highlight your skills, experience, and overall showcase your professional background to recruiters. Use this opportunity to intrigue and draw them further into your resume by helping them get a quick overview of your know-how and how you can be a valuable asset.

Do resumes need an objective in 2022? ›

You do not need an “Objective” section on your resume in today's job market. A resume objective is seen as outdated by many employers and takes up valuable space near the top of your resume that could be better used for other sections like a career summary statement.

Personal details. There's no need to include personal information on a resume such as your social security number, marital status, nationality, sexual orientation, or spiritual beliefs. In fact, it is illegal for employers to ask for these personal details.

There are also some things that don't need to be listed. The hiring manager should be able to skim through your resume and see your qualifications without knowing everything about you. It often makes sense not to include information on your resume that could hinder your chances of getting an interview.

Keep it current. Career coaches and professional resume writers advise you focus on the past 10 to 15 years, for most industries. (Some roles, like those within the federal government or in academia, typically, require more complete career histories.)

Don't include obvious examples

Examples include your experience with a commonly used email platform or that your first language is English. Since the resume objective section is already limited, it's best to use this space with key differentiators and aspects that showcase the value you bring.