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Wisecrack
3y

How many keywords are appropriate to put in a "skills" section on a resume?

Technically I've played with a lot of tech and stacks, and done tiny one offs, tutorials and independent projects but nothing that wasnt more than a day on any one of them.

Basically im fast at picking up a language and api and just rolling with it and getting something done, even without tutorials or tons of googling. Though I find myself constantly relying on manuals and reading apis.

Is this normal or should entry level be familiar with the api of something from the get go?

I see a lot of people say to game the system just to get your foot in the front door past the automated keyword filters and on to an interviews where the real requirements are listed.

But I'd rather not list under the skill section something I only used for all of ten hours in one or two sittings.

Also is it acceptable to list a "learning", "would like to learn/know more of", or "planned skill additions" section?

Also what do I add for extras? "Achievements"? "Volunteer work"? "Hobby projects?", "past times?"
Is any of this seen as necessary or well rounded?

If it is really just about the numbers I'll just go scrape junior and entry level positions and take their keywords and automatically fill out template resumes to automate applying.

Could even use SQLite to store the results and track progress lol.

I've never worked as a professional programmer, but it's the only thing I ever enjoyed doing for 12 hours a day.

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  • 6
    3y
    Don’t put any skills on there that you wouldn’t want them asking you a technical question on. If you think you know enough to field any type of question they might throw your way, go for it. Just don’t be surprised when they start asking questions on those topics even if not related to the position.
  • 0
    3y
    @EstrnAdventures hey thank you for the reply.

    My answer is about as honest as it gets "I used it one time in a project, picked up the api and manual pretty quickly. Only listed in case you were interested for an entry level position."

    Idk maybe they might see that as wasting their time.

    Do you list general knowledge as a skill?

    "JSON"?
    "SQL" (even though that's not a specific database")?
    "Functional programming"? (Does it count as knowing a subject if my knowledge boils down to how to use map reduce and filter?)
  • 4
    3y
    Whatever you type make sure to leave small space on bottom so you can copy paste small font white text job offer requirements for robots to open gates of corporate hiring systems
  • 1
    3y
    Reading guides & API references is not entry-level, it's probably 10-50% of a working day for any level (including in-house docs)

    I write FP/OOP/CQRS/DDD under the "programming methodologies" header, JSON etc as "data formats" under "[familiar] Techstack" header, along with Atlassian stack & others. Usually they value you being familiar with tools like JIRA, Postman, Git flow etc as a proxy for your familiarity of "how things are done"

    Just make sure you have proper question-answering knowledge about the 2-3 "main" keywords.
    Also: involvement in (modestly popular) open-source projects helps, especially for someone without tech degree (like me)
  • 0
    3y
    @vane you're a genius.
  • 1
    3y
    @webketje I would have never guessed. Had to always resort to manuals and api because my computer is such a potato that anything that COULD run intelisense lagged (well until I discovered sublime).

    I just thought I sucked at it.

    Dont have any open source experience, but built a few small apps, a todo list in nwjs, a flash game, building a selenium visual builder, and have a cms started that uses olap (column store implemented over sqlite, because I guess I'm insane.)
  • 0
    3y
    Most of this I just sort of picked up last few months, while apparently learning not through study, but osmosis, like a friggin sponge.

    Put "heads up object oriented design!" Under your pillow and absorb knowledge like a red wizard accidentally shooting the food.

    + 1 knaaaaaaawledge.
  • 1
    3y
    The Skills section is for well established Main Skills.

    You can put extra stuff you've dabbled in into a separate section.
    As you mention there's nothing wrong with adding extra sections.

    But you should avoid mixing stuff you have actual noteworthy experience in with shit you tried once. (If I you write "Skills: JS, C++, CSS" it's weird if you spent years on frontend but only dabbled in C++ for two days)
  • 1
    3y
    @webketje I feel like some skills like JSON, Jira and Postman are so easy to learn that I wouldn't even list them unless it's a format that requires listing Everything.

    I don't do initial screens for candidates but am involved in some step 2 filtering and tech interviews and find some CV:s are bogged down by too much stuff. Sometimes that means I miss some more unique or complex skill among the basics.

    Anyone who's worked with any ticket system can transition to Trello/Jira/Favro easily. Anyone who's worked with JS pretty much knows JSON whether they know it or not. Anyone who can cURL can use Postman.
  • 1
    3y
    Expanding on my prev post: it can be worth mentioning some of those "simple" skills if you worked with them more than the average dev. If you set up Trello workflows ans integrations for a large multi-team org then that could be listed. (should perhaps even be expanded on under a Project Description)

    But if it's just "I can move tickets" then it's barely worth mentioning imo.
  • 0
    3y
    @jiraTicket what a fantastic and quality set of replies. Every suggestion here I can put to use. Thank you for your advice.
  • 1
    3y
    @jiraTicket yes I write JSON under data formats, not skills, and it does imply knowledge of jsonschema, jsonld etc..
    As for JIRA I imply sprints, writing descriptive stories, linking ticket numbers in commits and being accustomed to scrum rituals a.o.

    I disagree with "anyone who can use curl can use Postman" though. Postman has a TON of features to learn to usd efficiently like automated testing & docs generation & collection vars
  • 2
    3y
    @webketje Yes. Knowing all features Postman offers is quite an advanced skill. My statement was a bit Blunt. If I see someone mention they've got a suite of complex postman stuff I'd be impressed.

    But if postman is just mentioned as part of a long list of basically "Tools" Without further specification of skill level, I don't think much of it. (As I'm used to people being quite specific about their language skills but when it comes to Tools and Formats it's common to just see a long list without much distinction between basic level or expert level)
  • 0
    3y
    @jiraTicket you make a good point. A lot of people probably include anything they ever played with for 5min so it is naive on my part to include it without details and assume interviewers know I'm not one of them. Though I guess that would become clear quite quickly in the interview
  • 0
    3y
    @jiraTicket I thought it was pretty standard to list years/months of experience in each stack?
  • 2
    3y
    @Wisecrack There's a lot of various styles. Many specify some certain things (often languages) carefully but when it comes to Tools it's often less specific list.

    Example: "Languages: C#: very experienced, used for 10 years from this version to that version. C++: experienced. used for three years at company Z.

    Tools: MS Office, Photoshop, Postman, InDesign"
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