Resume and Career Prep

This guide combines advice from SoDA resume workshops, career prep decks, and industry talks. The core message is simple: make it easy for a recruiter to understand what you can do, then create enough opportunities for that resume to be seen.

resume goals

A strong CS resume should make these things obvious in a fast skim:

• Who you are and how to contact you
• What you are studying and when you graduate
• What technical skills you can actually use
• What projects, jobs, research, or leadership show those skills
• What impact you had, not just what tasks you were assigned

For most undergraduate recruiting, keep it to one page unless a specific application asks for something else.

header and personal info

Include:

• Name
• Phone number
• Professional email
• City and state, usually Tempe, Arizona or wherever you are based
• GitHub, portfolio, or LinkedIn if they help your case

Avoid:

• Full street address
• Unprofessional email addresses
• Long raw URLs
• Objective or summary sections that repeat obvious information

education

Include:

• Arizona State University
• Degree and major
• Graduation month/year or expected graduation
• GPA if it helps you, commonly if it is 3.0 or above
• Relevant coursework only when it strengthens the target role

High school usually should disappear once you have enough college experience, projects, or leadership to fill the page.

projects

Projects are especially important when you do not have much work experience yet. A good project entry should show what you built, what technologies you used, what problem it solved, and what you learned.

Useful project bullets answer:

• What did the project do?
• What was your specific contribution?
• What tools, frameworks, APIs, or systems did you use?
• What was the result or impact?
• Is there a GitHub repo, demo, paper, or deployment to link?

Course projects can count, but unique personal, team, open-source, research, or hackathon projects usually stand out more.

experience

Experience does not have to be a software internship to be useful. TA roles, part-time jobs, research, club leadership, and nontechnical work can all show reliability, ownership, communication, and impact.

Write bullets with active verbs and concrete outcomes:

• Prefer Built, Automated, Reduced, Improved, Led, Designed, Deployed, or Analyzed.
• Avoid vague openers like Responsible for or My duties included.
• Show technologies in context instead of dumping buzzwords.
• If possible, quantify impact with time saved, users supported, cost reduced, accuracy improved, or scope delivered.

skills

The skills section should be short and easy to parse. Group related items when helpful:

• Languages: Java, Python, TypeScript, C/C++
• Frameworks: React, Node.js, Streamlit, FastAPI
• Tools: Git, Docker, Linux, PostgreSQL
• Cloud or AI tools if you have used them in real projects

Do not label skills as beginner, intermediate, or advanced. If a skill is on the resume, be ready to talk about how you used it.

common resume mistakes

• Exceeding one page for early-career recruiting
• Using inconsistent dates, spacing, bullets, or alignment
• Uploading a Word document when PDF is expected
• Naming the file something like final_company_x_resume.pdf
• Using too many colors or hard-to-read fonts
• Repeating the same verb or same bullet structure everywhere
• Listing projects you cannot explain clearly in an interview
• Cramming every class, tool, and activity onto the page

how to get useful feedback

Ask reviewers for specific passes instead of general thoughts:

• Can you do a 30-second recruiter skim and tell me what stands out?
• Can you check grammar, spelling, and verb tense?
• Can you tell me which bullets feel least relevant for this role?
• Can you quiz me on every project or experience I listed?
• Can you check whether the ordering matches this job description?

Do not follow advice blindly. Resume advice often conflicts, so ask why a change helps.

getting interviews

The SoDA career decks frame the process as two steps: get the interview, then pass the interview. To get interviews:

• Improve your resume before career fair season.
• Practice a short elevator pitch.
• Apply early when roles open.
• Use LinkedIn, Handshake, company websites, and job boards.
• Ask for referrals when you have a real connection.
• Track applications in a spreadsheet.
• Keep application details consistent, such as email and availability dates.

For internships, early-career programs like STEP, Explore, and similar first-year or second-year programs can be worth applying to even if you are unsure you qualify.

internship alternatives

If you do not land an internship yet, you can still build signal:

• Become an undergraduate TA.
• Do research with a professor or through FURI.
• Work on open-source software.
• Build and ship a personal project.
• Attend hackathons.
• Find a part-time campus or technical support role.
• Contribute to club projects.

The important thing is to keep creating evidence that you can learn, finish work, and collaborate.

tough market advice

One industry talk emphasized that students should think beyond “I can code” and become problem solvers in real domains. AI, cloud, cybersecurity, data, MLOps, and backend systems matter, but they become more valuable when tied to real problems in healthcare, supply chain, sustainability, finance, education, nonprofits, or local businesses.

Ways to stand out:

• Build projects for real users or real organizations.
• Attend hackathons with non-tech problem statements.
• Volunteer technical skills for nonprofits.
• Intern or work in non-tech companies that still need software.
• Network with people in industries you are curious about and ask what problems they face.
• Put measurable outcomes on your resume.