Time to bring together all the things we’ve done so far and learn how to brand and present what we’ve done. This can be for yourself to look back at, for friends and family, and even for people who want to hire you.

console.log("Hello, World! See what I've made.");

Hosted by: Monika Para

Motivation

Comic: JOHN GREEN: Make gifts for people

Slides

The slides presented can be found on Google Slides. UIUC login required. Below we’ll share a few links and pointers.

Some Guidelines

  • Always use black and white for your resume. Blue is fine too. Any flashy color is a no.

  • Make it in a WorddDoc or flowcv.io.

  • When you list relevant coursework, do not put irrelevant courses.

  • Quantify impact and specify tools where possible.

  • Save your file as “FirstName-LastName-Resume.pdf.”

  • How to Write a Rockstar Resume - Kristina Hu

General Format to Follow

  1. Header
  2. Education
  3. Experiences
  4. Projects
  5. Skills

LinkedIn

  • Think of it as your resume but on social media.

  • Include any activities, experiences, awards, projects, etc. on there that you feel are relevant that won’t be able to fit into your resume.

  • Make a custom LinkedIn URL.

  • Beat the algorithm: follow company recruiters and use your connections.

  • Example Linkedin template.

What you should focus on

  1. The Headline - The single most important thing people look at in a profile. Don’t make it dull. Keep it short and sweet. Good to include Role @ Company or Major @ Illinois (e.g. ECE @ Illinois; SPIN Intern @ NCSA) LAST RESORT: “Student at University of Illinois”.

  2. Experience

  3. Education - Focus primarily on college over high school experiences.

  4. Projects or anything that speaks best to you (research, an article you wrote, etc.).

Personal Website

  • Recruiters may or may not care about this as much, but it’s worth making one to establish your credibility.

  • Get a custom domain (.com, .me, .tech) instead of a subdomain like (.github.io or .netlify.app).

  • Keep a minimal UI with a focus on content.

  • Mention your name, projects, hyperlinks to socials, and your resume.

  • Helpful examples.

Github

  • Make sure to write good README files.

  • Don’t forget to include open-source licenses on your files. Just put MIT or GPLv3 if you’re not too sure what to put.

  • Mention tech stacks and short descriptions of your projects.

  • Create an intro text file for your account.

  • Never share code that you shouldn’t be sharing, like class assignments. This can get you academic integrity violations and looks like a red flag to employers.

Ideas for more projects/learning

Contributors: Monika, Harsh, Maaheen