Do you feel like there is so much more you want to do in your development career and that now is the time to do it? You’ve already put in the time and investment in growing your skills as a developer — so what’s next?
Sounds like it’s time to dust off your old resume and tailor it to your next position.
But don’t just write anything on your resume, take into account the requirements for the new job of your choice. This will come in handy with the recruiter or recruitment team, and with the Automatic Tracking System (ATS) that most use. (Trust me, you’ll thank me later!)
Here’s what we’ll review:
Table of contents
First, let’s start with the basics: Comparing your resume to the specific job requirements.
As you know, not all development jobs require the same tasks. That’s why it’s important to always read the requirements of a job description, and if it matches your abilities and career goals, update your resume to match.
But remember — be honest! If a little white lie gets by the ATS, it won’t get through an in-person interview.
Let’s review what an ATS is, and its purpose.
What is an Automatic Tracking System?
An Automatic Tracking System (ATS) is a software many companies use to filter and manage applicants for an open job.
This system will review your resume and match it to the job description sourcing qualified candidates using artificial intelligence (AI).
This is a benefit to you when you are applying to open jobs because it filters important information from your resume that aligns with the job description and requirements.
The ATS will pull your years of experience in numerical logic order with your skills and in some systems your summary making it easier for you and the recruiters to have a smooth process from beginning to end.
So keeping in mind the ATS, you want to market yourself using key requirements from the job description in your objective, skills, education, and experiences using transferable skills for the position of your choice.
Have you ever read — no wait, skimmed — a job description, and applied with the same resume you have used for various other applications?
Did you get a callback?
If so, did you get the job?
Most likely the answer is no and it is because you did not align your resume with the job description.
Aligning Your Resume to the Job Description
Let’s take a look at one of Shero Commerce’s open positions, we have an open position for a Remote Ecommerce Project Management. When you find yourself on the job description you can see it starts off with some personal characteristics that candidate x should have including a chart-loving, cat-herding, timeline-eyeing project manager.
We at Shero like to keep things very transparent so when we say our developers are Get S%^!# Done professionals — we actually mean that.
This should tell you that as a candidate, you should have experience in the key languages, platforms, and systems that we use, as well as be familiar with some if not all of the tools listed further down the job description.
When applying to Shero, keep in mind that Integrity is one of our core values — and so is Learning. If you don’t fit the job description’s needs 100%, that’s okay! Let us know what your abilities are, what your future goals include, and where you see yourself heading.
Tasks, Responsibilities & Requirements
Moving down to the tasks and responsibilities, the job description makes a note that this person needs to have a clear understanding from start to launch.
So as you’re prepping your resume, you are going to want to mention either in your summary or experience if you have experience in doing this.
While going through the responsibilities and tasks on your resume you are going to go bullet by bullet to make sure you are aligning your skills.
If your resume is missing some of these key tasks it will more than likely be missed by the ATS system.
Continue down to the requirements this is where you are being told, YES apply or NO you need a little bit more experience and knowledge before applying.
This part of the job description is not made to be annoying to applicants but it is to help save time for both the hiring manager and candidate as they are job searching.
Let’s face it, there is nothing worse than finding a job than applying for one that says no because you did not fit any of the qualifications.
Developer Courses to Build Skills
If you find that you’re underqualified, there are several resources online — both free and paid — to help you build new knowledge and brush up on old skills.
Udemy, Coursera, Google, and Codecademy offer a huge variety of resources.
Or, you can choose a specific niche if you prefer, like becoming a Shopify developer.
Best Tutorials to Become a Shopify Developer
The following resources can help you build the skills you need to become a Shopify developer.
- Shopify Partner Academy: Free courses from the Shopify team to learn how to work with Shopify tools
- View content on Shopify’s official Shopify Dev YouTube Channel or Shopify Dev Twitch Channel
- Shopify Partner Blog: Articles and guides about design inspiration, Shopify development tips
- Udemy’s “How To Become A Shopify Expert (From Zero To Hero !)” course (available for purchase).
- The Shopify team also created a tutorial for building a Shopify React Node App.
Final Tips
Build your future the way that you see fit!
Your resume is your first impression and what matters is the content within the resume; how well it shows you fit the role you are applying for within that company.
So whether you are applying for an open position with Shero Commerce (cough, cough) or another company, make sure you are correctly aligning yourself.
You are rolling with the changes in each job description so you can stand up front in hiring managers’ inboxes and be one step closer to your initial call and that much closer to your next job placement.
