/iOS-resume-checklist-and-advice

Overall

  • CAVEAT EMPTOR: I am not an expert. This document was something I made in my free time to help people out but is by no means definitive or exhaustive. Much of the info contained in this doc is opinion and not objective fact.

  • Imagine you're a recruiter or hiring manager tasked with going through 50 résumés. You must find a qualified candidate that will add value to your team ASAP.

    • You're looking for experience in certain technologies. What would you like to see?
    • How could a candidate prove to you within 30 seconds whether they're worth your time?

  • Do not put anything on your résumé you cannot intelligently talk about.

    • Ideally, every item on your résumé should have a quick story behind it where you can explain a challenge and how you triumphed and what you learned.
    • Do you really know those 4 programming languages? Most professional engineers master 1-2 languages at a time. If you have less than 2 years of experience, you likely only know one language.

  • Numbers always trump generic descriptions of accomplishments.

    • "Improved customer satisfaction" —> "Improved average customer satisfaction score from 3.5/5 to 4.6/5 after only 3 months."

  • The three best ways to demonstrate value to a potential employer: accomplishments, awards, & leadership / communication opportunities.

    • "Implemented continuous integration pipeline that improved deployment from once a month to once a week."

    • "Awarded employee of the month three times from 2018-2020"

    • "Shortened QA turnaround by 2 days by actively taking the lead in communicating and coordinating with our QA team."

  • Many people like to put bullet points where they simply describe what they did. Sometimes that's necessary so that reviewers know what you actually worked on. But, don't make all your bullet points simple descriptions. Use the three demonstrators of value I described above: accomplishments, awards, leadership / communication opportunities.

    • The following bullet points are an example of what not to do. Notice how each bullet point just describes what you did but doesn't demonstrate value beyond you just showing up as a warm body.
      • "Graduated with a BA"
      • "Served customers at Joe's Bar & Grill"
      • "Attended a meeting for iOS engineers"
    • The following bullet points are a better example of what to do.
      • "Graduated with a BA in Fine Arts with a 3.85 GPA. Organized and led the Student Painting Club."
      • "Provided top notch customer service as a food service professional in a high stress environment. Won employee of the month twice in one year."
      • "Organized a meeting group that empowers aspiring iOS engineers to become their best selves."

  • Many people with less technical experience try to cast a wide net by listing many technologies they're loosely familiar with in hopes that they'll improve their chances of "getting a hit." I think this is a bad idea.

    • If you're reading this doc, you're likely applying as an iOS engineer. So, make an iOS engineers résumé. Listing a bunch of other unrelated technologies that you're not very experienced in is simply not going to help. If you want to be a web engineer, then make a separate web engineer résumé and submit that for a web engineer position.
    • Applying for your first iOS engineer job and don't have any experience to list? Start making your own experience.
      • Projects, projects, projects. Publish them & make the code available on Github.
      • Courses with a certificate of completion.
      • Code bootcamps are expensive but there seems to be good ones out there. Do your research!
      • Check what your local community college offers. CC's often offer inexpensive gems to the community.

  • How many pages should your résumé be per relevant years of experience in your field?

    • 1-10 years = 1 page
    • 10+ years = 1-2 pages

  • List experience in reverse chronological order.

  • List the most important information at the top of the page.

    • As an iOS engineer, this will be information that shows you can do iOS engineer work. (e.g. engineering experience, projects, certificates, degrees, etc.)

  • Use active language: "achieved", "earned", "accomplished", "led", etc.

  • Make a generic resume then specialize it for different companies. You'll find a pattern where you can reuse résumé variations: a big corp version, a startup version, etc.

  • Getting that first job is always the hardest. I don't want to leave you with empty and/or toxic platitudes telling you to "keep hustling!" But, I also don't want to preclude you from any opportunities. So know that you're probably going to have to put in extra work during this time and it won't be easy. It's very challenging but of course the reward is great! I wish you the best of luck!

    • Use your network! Reach out to friends. Get on LinkedIn and start messaging people. Start applying online.
    • Don't let potential employers abuse you. They should treat you like the professional you are. Don't jump through any unnecessary hoops or challenges. Use your best judgment.

  • More info...

iOS Specific

  • For 99% of iOS engineers, UIKit is a must-know framework. SwiftUI is just not there yet for most complex production apps. (As of January 2021. That will likely change in 3+ years.)
  • By now, Swift is the primary programming language used by iOS engineering orgs.
    • Obj-C experience is great but is quickly becoming less relevant.
  • List specific frameworks you're familiar with. (e.g. CoreData, AVFoundation, ABAddressBook, etc.) You should be prepared to answer a range of questions on any framework you list!

Résumé Heading

  • Must have information...
    • Name
    • Contact info
      • Email
      • Phone
    • At least one online profile
      • Github, LinkedIn, Twitter
  • Putting your photo on an American résumé is a bit of a faux pas as it may implicate the company in potential (illegal) bias in hiring.
  • Some people put their location but I don't think that's best.
    • We live in a time of mass tele-work
    • Adding your location may potentially preclude any opportunities.

Executive Summary / Personal Statement

  • In general, I don't think executive summaries or personal statements add much value to the résumé. Often, they just take up space that should instead be used for showcasing your accomplishments, award, and leadership.
  • There's two exceptions for when I think an executive summary might be useful...
    • You're applying to an industry / role where they're the norm and expected.
    • You're going thru a career change. In this case, the executive summary should be a quick explanation and context for the rest of your résumé.
      • e.g. "Former HR consultant seeking career change after realizing the transformative power of technology and discovering my passion for hard technical problems. Excited to bring my adept people and leadership skills to the engineering field."
  • Keep it 2-3 sentences max. It may take a few rounds of editing to get it explanatory & punchy enough in such a small amount of space.

Formatting

  • Each section should be similarly formatted for ease of quick scanning by eye.
    • Short bullet pointed sentences work well for this.
  • No more than two fonts.
  • Every bullet point should be the same design & size.
  • You're an iOS engineer so look to Apple for inspiration. Their products are usually simple, sleek, easy-to-use, high attention to detail, etc. Go for that. Look at their WWDC slides for inspo in how they use simple, clean formatting.