Transcript from the "Building Your Resume" Lesson
[00:00:00]
>> We are on the phase everybody's been talking about, everybody's excited about. Let's build that resume. First thing I'm gonna give you guys is from me, from my experience, from dealing with over 250 people. The number one thing that you should be focusing on that no developer focuses on is their copy and their writing abilities.
[00:00:23] In the end, no matter what you say, no matter what you do, your writing abilities are still going to be put to the test. Because you're doing confluence, you're doing JIRA tickets, you're doing repose. You have to focus on being a good writer. So this is something that's really helped me in my career.
[00:00:40] I have it, I read it, I go through I went through this workbook. I say this workbook, I bought a new copy just for this because my old copy is tattered. I got this and there's a book that they had me and another workbook that has a spot Coding not is a pain and quill from the Air Force.
[00:00:59] I can put on you guys enough to become like really strong writers elements of style. It's the one thing this workbook I recommend to everybody in this industry, regardless. Because knowing how to write code is great. Knowing how to write about code, even better, right? Being able to get your ideas clear and concise in a manner that the HR person can understand, your non-technical team or the DevOps guys can understand, you can understand, make it easier for everybody.
[00:01:33] You can't beat that. So please get this book, it is a great investment on your career. So introductory pitch, to me, this is the most important part of your resume, better yet on everything that you're going to be writing. From your LinkedIn to your Twitter, to your resume, to your website, this is the most important copy that you can have.
[00:02:00] It's a place where you put all your keywords and your skills in and you make it flow really, really well, so that it gives that total idea of you. You also amend it or get rid of it, minimize or maximize, depending on your audience, right? So if you're on Twitter, where you're allowed to have a little bit of humor, you can add humor into it.
[00:02:23] If you're not on Twitter, I mean, if you're on LinkedIn and it just needs to be professional, you can take away the humor. Your website, you can add a little get humor, change words with emojis, things like that. This gives you an idea how you're gonna build the rest of your things.
[00:02:37] I recommend people building their writing or copy, write an introductory statement before they even think about whether you want a website. Because when they're talking about themselves, they learned talking about themselves. They can help mold how their portfolio or website should go and look like, right, from their resume, from what projects they're gonna focus on and build anything, right?
[00:02:59] So once you learn these skills, you write about the things about you and then you pull your projects out of your introductory statement. That is an exercise that I do with my veterans all the time, right? And also this third one, it focuses on disinterest. This introductory statement focuses on diligence over passion.
[00:03:24] You hear in tech community all the time, I wanna see if you're passionate, I wanna see if you're passionate. No, you only passion, passion is an emotion. What you need to showcase is diligence. You need to showcase the systems that you use, the projects that you use to continue bettering yourself.
[00:03:43] Even when you don't have the motivation, even when you don't want to, right? Especially, it's a crazy time right now out here, you may not be motivated. You're stuck in the house, it feels like the world is ending every other day [LAUGH]. You're like, 2020 can't get anywhere else and it's like [LAUGH].
[00:04:02] You need to show those things that will motivate you beyond another bad day or the one bad day as the Joker said with Batman. Let's go into that, right? I actually have mine staying up here. I put it on my whiteboard all the time. But because I'm doing this, I'm going to do it live with you guys.
[00:04:23] So I pulled up a template, right? It says profile. This is where my introductory statement is gonna be. So let's talk about some things about me, right? I'm a JavaScript developer. Let's see, all the things I said, we need to focus on, when you focus on frontend systems.
[00:04:47] Frontend framework like React, that's what I work on, right? I do frontend, I am React. Plus Angular. I need to also I love design systems, I love design systems, all right, so web, Accesability, what's the biggest? Yeah, okay so biggest project I'm working on right now is the vets who code website.
[00:05:23] Or not what my motivation projects, vets who code website which is all JAM stack. So it helps me now that I remember that's JAM stack. That's all serverless, I can go up here, and I can do serverless technologies, right? Or I can deep dive and talk about that.
[00:05:44] Things have asked them questions, right? Vets who code is my passion project. I love bacon and Captain America every day, all day, all right? All right, so what am I gonna say? Make sure to stays plugged up. There we go. So now right here, I'm a JavaScript developer.
[00:06:25] That focuses typo, see? Which is React and Angular. All right, have a passion for design systems. Web, Accesability and, Serverless, Technologies. So now I got all those three in right there, boom. To keep, not to keep, what's best way to say this? To grow my skills. Focus on building a JAM.
[00:07:41] Especially like someone that has no idea what JAM stack is. What's JAM stack? And then you can have other conversation, right? So JAM stack. Application for a non-profit, that's the only time I will use the acronym in this when I'm talking about a stack. But I wouldn't say like NPO or JS developer, or Angular JS.
[00:08:11] Any of that stuff, keep the acronyms out of your introductory statement, all right? It's a pitch, right? It's like an elevator pitch of an elevator. You wanna be able to say this as fast as you can, or just like that, right? You got 30 minutes or 30 seconds, wherever, you can say all this to so on.
[00:08:34] Vets who code, and yeah, well, there we go. Get those two out of the way. All right, so that's my introductory statement. Now, here's I'm looking at this, all right? I'm JavaScript developer, focuses on frontend frameworks such as React and Angular. Have passion for design systems, websites building, and service technology.
[00:09:09] Let me capitalize those because those are now, so just don't worry I'm throwing out there, all right? To grow my skills I focus on building a JAM stack application for non-profit called Vets who code. Basically letting them know that, hey, I have a project that I focus on to ensure that I am constantly evolving.
[00:09:33] This is where I get my diligence. When I'm not feeling motivated, this is where I go to continue to grow, right? This is what I do. My vices are bacon and Captain America. They don't need to know that on this part, so I'm gonna go ahead and delete that for the resume.
[00:09:49] So that's what I'm gonna put for my introductory statement on the resume. Just to let them know that I do JavaScript, it's gonna pick that up. Say frontend frameworks such as React and Angular, I need to capitalize those. The bot is gonn pick React and Angular up. Design systems, web accesability, service technologies, that's for the HR rep because they're gonna be looking for that stuff.
[00:10:16] I could right here put such as AWS and Google Cloud, bot's gonna pick that up, right? Think about all these little keywords that C3PO bot that the HR tech uses to give me a green light or red light, right? So that's what we're focusing on. So to grow my skills, I'm focusing on building a JAM stack.
[00:10:45] Now, let's say I know it, but still I just wanna make sure, see? So I'm gonna use that, so JavaScript APIs, Markup. Markup, right? So now I'm saying JavaScript twice in just my introductory statement, all right? So that just as, snap, now it says, well, I'm a JavaScript developer twice.
[00:11:29] I focus on frontend frameworks. I got React and Angular, the things I want to work in. Always make sure you put the things you want to work in, the things you want to get paid for doing. 3 AM rule is paramount here, because if you put some stuff in here, you don't wanna be doing but you know, trust me and believe me, you'll be getting hit on interviews for people who will be hitting you up for that stuff.
[00:11:51] I put on when I was a Rails dev for your score in seven years ago, well, forever ago, I still get emails about some resumes out there floating around about me being a Rails dev. And I haven't touched Rails in legit three years. So just know if you put it on there and you start getting experience, people will start hitting you up for stuff, even stuff you don't wanna learn.
[00:12:20] So I should probably change my thing. I'm getting notifications like Carol Baskin. I'm sorry y'all, [LAUGH] I'm a Tiger King fan, don't hate on me, don't judge me. So that goes into that. Now, how does what I just wrote apply to, say, LinkedIn, all right? So here it is, LinkedIn.
[00:12:44] I have a million messages as everybody else does. This is where I have so much stuff. I'm right here, I'm a JavaScript engineer and developer advocate that focuses on React, Angular, design systems, web accesability, and server technologies, and Agile, and compound settings. I made sure that they knew that stuff.
[00:13:05] I highly recommend you look up Agile or Kanban. You went to a code boot camp. You probably worked in Agile a little bit or Kanban maybe as well. But I know at VWC we focus on everybody knowing and working in Kanban. And my passion project is building an operating, a JAM stack web application called Vets who code.
[00:13:28] Well educated fellow veterans in frontend development to follow my footsteps and attain lucrative jobs in the technology sector. So I'm always letting them know that hey, I'm doing stuff, right? I'm always focusing on doing things. Now let's say I go to Twitter, right? Here it is. I'm a JavaScript engineer and developer advocate at the Java net currently Quicken Loans.
[00:13:51] Educate vets in frontend at Vets who code. I love reading, bacon, and all things America, Captain America. I just chopped that up and been like, hey, here's the stuff that I do. This is what I'm having fun for. This is me, and of course, one of the pictures I shared in last 24 hours is a Captain America gif because me, all right?
[00:14:16] So [LAUGH] I'm on brand if there's anything else.