How to Tailor Your Resume for Entry-Level Tech Roles

One common problem entry-level women in tech face is not having enough experience to apply for tech roles. However, if you’ve taken the time to gain the necessary skills and have one or two projects to show for it, you’re good to go.

All you need is the ability to tell your story in a way that shows your potential and to create a resume that stands out. The key to making your resume stand out is tailoring it to align with the role you are applying for.

If you have no idea how to do that, here are a few ways to make your resume work for you even as a newbie in tech.

1. Start with a Clear and Honest Summary: After your name, email, phone number, and a link to your LinkedIn, the next thing is to write a short summary of who you are, what you’ve learned or you are learning, what you do, and where you are headed. It should be a 3-4 sentence elevation pitch. 

Example: Aspiring front-end developer with a background in digital marketing and a passion for building inclusive, user-centered web experiences. Proficient in HTML, CSS, and Javascript, and currently learning React. Looking to join a collaborative team where I can grow and contribute.

2. Match your Resume to the Job Description: Go through the job posting line by line, pick out the key skills and responsibilities, and make sure your resume mirrors that, especially in your skills and experience sections. You can use websites like Jobscan to see how well your resume matches the job description. 

3. Reframe your Past Experience Even If It Is Not Tech: What you probably don’t know is that most work you have done has transferable skills. Write them in a way that aligns with tech roles. For example, if you were into content writing before, you can add skills like research, UX writing, analytics and CMS, same for customer service. Instead of saying “Handled customer complaints and resolved issues”, you can now say “Resolved 50+ customer support tickets weekly, using empathy and clear communication to troubleshoot and resolve issues efficiently.”

4. Spotlight Your Project: For entry-level roles, your projects are important, in fact, maybe more than your job title. Create a section for them and add links. You can say “Built a personal portfolio using HTML, CSS and JavaScript”,  “Designed a food menu app using Figma, Figjam and Miro.”

5. Try to List Your Skills Clearly: Highlight your skills clearly under the Skills or Tools section. Break them down into their different categories. For instance, Languages: HTML and CSS, Tools: Figma, Git and Soft Skills: Communication, problem-solving, and collaboration.

6. Keep Your Resume Clean and Simple: Recruiters look through resumes very fast so make sure to use bullet points, stick to a clean font, use white space and save as PDF with a simple title like Your Firstname_Lastname_Resume. Pdf. There are free resume templates on Canva and Notion that you can use. You can also search on Twitter or Linkedin for a well structured resume.

You don’t need to have all the experience, and your resume does not have to be perfect before you apply for jobs. Create a standout resume for the job opportunity, continue learning and improving to gain an upper edge over others.