Your resume is not the whole you. It is the door people walk through first. This guide is about making that door easy to open, and making sure what's behind it actually sounds like you.
resume vs cv vs portfolio
- Resume (1 page, usually): a tight snapshot for a specific job or internship. Lead with what matters to that role.
- CV (longer): the full academic/professional record. Talks, orgs, projects, certifications, all of it. Fine to be 2+ pages if you have real stuff to show.
- Portfolio / website: proof you can build. GitHub, live demos, screenshots, writeups. A resume says you did something. A portfolio shows it.
I keep a one-pager at cv.stimmie.dev and a longer story at stimmie.dev/career. Same person, different depths.
put linkedin and github where people can actually find them
If someone has 30 seconds, they will not dig through three PDF versions to find your GitHub. Put your LinkedIn and GitHub in the header of your resume, in your email signature, and on whatever profile you hand out most.
- LinkedIn: your professional face. Headline, photo, featured projects, and a summary that sounds like a human wrote it.
- GitHub: your builder face. Pin 3 to 6 repos that best represent you. Add a README on your profile that says what you care about.
what actually belongs on a student / early-career resume
- Impact over task lists. Not “worked on clinic portal.” Try “shipped fixes for 100+ tickets, cut bug resolution time ~20%.”
- Projects count. Hackathons, org work, freelance, open source, even a Minecraft server you ran for years if you can frame the ops/community/technical side.
- Orgs and volunteering count. Leadership is leadership. Running workshops, moderating Discords, and organizing events are real skills.
- Teaching counts. Tutoring, peer mentoring, and speaking engagements show you can explain hard things to real people.
- Cut the filler. “Proficient in Microsoft Word” is not doing the work you think it is.
personal branding is not a linkedin buzzword bingo card
Branding is just: when someone hears your name, what do they remember? You do not need a catchphrase. You need consistency.
- Same name and links everywhere (or close enough).
- A short bio you can reuse: who you are, what you build, what you care about.
- A point of view. “I like building tools for students” is a brand. “Passionate team player” is wallpaper.
- Show your work in public when you can. Blog posts, talks, guides, repos. People hire people they have already seen think.
pitch yourself as a whole person
Recruiters and mentors are not hiring a list of technologies. They are hiring someone who will show up, learn, and not flake. Your community work, teaching, and side projects are evidence of that.
I talk about this in my Networking, Resume, & Personal Branding 101 talk. Short version: lead with curiosity, be easy to help, and make it simple for people to see what you have already done.
networking without being weird
- Ask real questions. “What did your first year in X look like?” beats “please hire me.”
- Follow up. One message after a talk or coffee chat goes a long way.
- Give before you ask. Share a resource, intro two people, fix a small bug. People remember that.
- Hackathons, orgs, and Discords are networking. You are already doing it if you show up consistently.
quick checklist before you send anything
- PDF exports cleanly on mobile (yes, people open it on their phone).
- Links are clickable and not broken.
- Dates and titles match your LinkedIn.
- One typo hunt. Then another. Then ask a friend.
- Tailor at least the summary and top bullets for the role you want.