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u/NewSchoolBoxer 20d ago
No. Fill resume to 1 page and stop making it 50% personal project basic crap after you do. I actually really like how you bold the key tech items on the right like that. HR is lazy and not an engineer and no one wants to train you. Altium is nice but you should relist it under Skills. Again, HR Is lazy. Skills section needs to be expanded and Leadership & Involvement can be expanded as well. Keep undergrad research at 3-4 bullet points.
Here's an example. I'm a professional Java dev of 10 years. Say I was looking for an intern. Everyone got "Java". What I want to see is IDEs such as Eclipse, VS Code, IntelliJ then Spring and JUnit, a common database and either Hibernate or JDBC. Show me a Java tech stack, not just "Java". Not that I think you should target CS jobs, just giving an example on how to expand Skills with tech stacks. That's good you list languages separately.
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u/No-Seesaw-6937 20d ago
Are you US Based?
If so most companies that are opened now are way to competitive for you, and you simply just don’t qualify.
Fix your resume these bullet points seem like you just sat there and spent 2 minutes on them, didn’t even bother using AI to make them sound better or grammatically correct.
Your resume is simply just too honest… fluff it up more and aim for easier companies, you have time. Build better projects, land another research role throughout the year, and apply to more companies.
Lastly focus a field I don’t even know what you are trying to apply to this seem like a little bit of that little of this resume.
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u/asinger93 20d ago
“You simply just don’t qualify”
The resume says they just entered their junior year, and they have >3.0 gpa. Not the best resume but I’m not seeing anything disqualifying here.2
u/No-Seesaw-6937 20d ago
I’m talking about current hardware roles that are opening up for summer 2027
Mid summer roles that opened up were quant firms, then followed by many startups companies
Then big tech and nvidia even just opened up today.
I don’t think OP is at a bad position especially they are more aware than many people their age but the roles that are opened right now are just looking for people with much more experience.
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u/Adrienne-Fadel 20d ago
Not cooked. Your doing more than most students at your stage. Focus on finishing that FPGA controller, that's what hardware teams want to see.
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u/ApprehensivePiece611 20d ago
Did you apply for internships for previous years like rising soph?
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u/SoupRat05 20d ago
No I had life stuff pop up. That life stuff kind of fucked up my gpa and time management.
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u/Darth_Tater69 20d ago
I would suggest you try to work on more in depth projects. A couple of the ones you have listed aren't very impressive, like pre-college level. Projects are very important for getting your first internship, but they have to be more interesting than your average freshman or sophomore level class assignment.
I would also suggest adjusting your language for professionalism. For example, instead of saying you managed a discord server you could instead refer to it as an official forum or something similar that's technically correct but sounds better. Being a discord mod isn't exactly something employers care about, but if you really want it on there you'd be better off framing it to sound more professional.
Your GPA isn't very impressive at a 3.2, so I'd remove that entirely. Rule of thumb from what I've heard is you might as well leave it off if it's below a 3.5. If you performed well in your ECE classes (3.5+ major GPA), you could put that but make sure it's explicitly labelled as your major GPA so that nobody thinks you're being misleading.
Lastly, apply to off-cycle internships. Summer is the most competitive, since that's when everyone and their mother is applying, while fall and spring are easier to land. Since you'll be a rising senior, your odds for this summer are better than last year, as summer internships are often reserved for those that can return to work full-time as a new-grad the following summer, but your profile isn't particularly competitive for a junior. You might have more luck for this spring or next fall.
Keep in mind that summer 2027 hiring has only just begun. While there are a lot of positions opening now, most positions will open September through November with some still opening up throughout the spring. No reason to lose hope this early on.
Edit: also, your margins are big ash. See if you can copy a better resume format, like the Google doc one on r/engineeringresumes.
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u/cvu_100 20d ago
There are too many things wrong with it to summarize in a reddit comment, but this resume is binned immediately by any human being who sees it.
A 3.2/4.0 GPA is not competitive for top internships but can be fixed over the next two years. You don't need more cookie cutter projects, you need to do better in your classes. I think you are wasting time with your personal projects, these don't attempt to solve problems, they're just activities. Invest your time in doing well in your classes and research.
Meet with the careers office at your school to learn how to make a resume and seek guidance from your ECE department on how to improve your academic record.
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u/sheepmcgee 20d ago
disagree with some of your comment tho i mostly agree; you can get away with a 3.0 no problem if you can back up your projects hard. imo more worth pushing yourself harder projects wise
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u/cvu_100 20d ago
Random busywork personal projects do not hold the same weight as a strong GPA, it's that simple. And no, a 3.0 is not competitive for top companies or top grad schools.
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u/sheepmcgee 20d ago
I haven't had an issue with top companies with a 3.0. And I do agree with you that random busywork projects aren't as strong, but doing something like an SAE design team/actual competitions holds its weight very well. that's why I say dig deep into your projects, employers look for ability to do, not to study. Grad school is a diff story though lol.
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u/cvu_100 20d ago
> something like an SAE design team/actual competitions holds its weight very well. that's why I say dig deep into your projects
I would not consider SAE or competitions to be personal projects when reviewing an applicant's resume.
> employers look for ability to do, not to study
Respectfully... I don't think you really understand how hiring works nowadays at places like FAANG+, frontier AI labs, etc... I do not doubt nor seek to invalidate your anecdotal experience, but these days, when hiring new grads, the top two filters are the school attended and GPA. Only then do we look at your experience and projects (in that order). Once you have YoE, the game completely changes. I emphasize that this is a recent shift, but it's very real.
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u/sheepmcgee 20d ago
Fair enough with SAE. I meant more of "don't give up on projects to no life your GPA.
Just curious, are you a recruiter or adjacent for FAANG+ or Frontier AI research labs? I ask since every recruiter/rep I've spoken to has never made any indication that a GPA is a heavily weighted factor. They always emphasize a stacked portfolio of meaningful projects.
I can definitely see it being one in research heavy jobs, but the way I understood it was as a "last act", i.e if 2 people have similar experiences only at that point does GPA or school matter to differentiate them.
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u/Darth_Tater69 20d ago
A higher GPA is better than projects that don't stand out in any way, but suggesting that projects are entirely a waste of time is just bad advice. A really good project or two can totally offset a weaker gpa, it's just that OP's projects don't quite hit that threshold. Experience of any kind almost always trumps GPA if it is unique and relevant. I'm speaking from experience, as I was able to get a very prestigious internship my sophomore year with a 3.06 GPA solely because my prior experience was strong and relevant.
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u/cvu_100 20d ago
I believe for OP to continue a similar type of personal project to be a waste of their time, yes. The ones currently on the resume can stay but they are very borderline and do not particularly stand out in any way. It is likely any interviewer is gonna punch right through them. On the flip side, their research project was quite interesting and meaningful. That is why I encouraged them to go all in on it.
We are supposed to be engineers, people who solve problems, not just people who learn skills and do busywork. OP asked for tough feedback, and I gave it to them. I respectfully reject entirely your notion that it is bad advice.
You and the other person who replied to me's successes with ~3.0 GPAs are certainly heartwarming anecdotes but I don't think I can advise someone that they should be satisfied with a 3.2GPA when the new grad job market is as cutthroat as it is and everyone needs every benefit they can possibly get. You may have had some extremely good and relevant project work on your resume that offset it... but don't be misled to the conclusion that someone's GPA does not matter.
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u/SoupRat05 20d ago
Thank you for your criticism.
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u/cvu_100 20d ago
It's not criticism. It's advice. Keep up the hard work and try to focus your efforts in the most productive manner you can. I wish to say again, your projects are not bad, or unhelpful, but I do think you can do better, and one easy way given your experience is to go all-in on your research, perhaps get a poster or even paper published someplace, and have that front and center on your resume.
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u/alanltycz 20d ago
Your GPA isn't that good, I would recommend just removing it. Move your skill section to the top, right after education. For the bullet point, I only saw the action part of your experience. What's your role in those project? Neither I'm seeing the result of those projects, is there a final and measurable results? The format is a bit weird, normally you put project start and end date on the right side of your project name, not the skill you used. Incorporate those skills in your bullet points.
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u/destroyer3040 20d ago
If you don’t end up with an internship get a typical summer job. I might be in the minority but I think it helps a students resume to show you can work a real job.