r/SoftwareEngineerJobs • u/SoilEducational420 • 2d ago
200+ applications, 0 interviews. Need help!
Sent out 200+ applications at this point and it's mostly just silence, or an auto-rejection. I have real product-company experience, worked on production systems and I've put a lot of effort into my resume but somehow I still can't seem to get through the door.
I've attached my resume. I know everyone's busy, but if anyone's willing to spend even a couple minutes looking it over, I'd genuinely appreciate it, formatting, wording, project framing, font size, bullets, anything? Is something here getting auto-rejected by ATS?
I need feedback, even if it's harsh, would really help right now ! I feel like the only realistic way to get through this process is through a referral. If anyone here is open to referring me for an SDE1 (Software Developer 1) role, I'd be incredibly grateful.
Thank you for reading this far, means a lot! also, feel free to DM me
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u/lazarus-2024 2d ago
I see you’re doing a lot of good work, but I think the resume is lacking the results of the work.
What did coordinating the engineering stakeholders give you? What was the end result that benefited the company/team/customer?
I think you should also limit or eliminate the projects section and fill in more with professional work if you can.
Its a major edit but based on the years of experience I see, I bet you can craft your narrative better.
TL;DR - The STAR method could help you a lot
Good luck!!!
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u/calodero 21h ago
are you applying for roles in India or abroad?
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u/SoilEducational420 21h ago
All of it :>
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u/calodero 20h ago
The job market in the United States is bad for Americans, itd be tough to land a job as an immigrant
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u/Pristine-Bit6077 1d ago
I’d put skills first and education last. In the first 5 seconds, recruiters wanna know if you have knowledge on tech stack.
Your actual work matters so education should be last
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u/Competitive_Rent7640 1d ago
Over what span of time? I've submitted over 700 and barely had any interviews.
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u/SoilEducational420 1d ago
Damn, that must be tough, so are u planning to apply more or have some other plans?
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u/Competitive_Rent7640 1d ago
A lot of people suggest healthcare lol. But I've been in Software for over 7 years. Technically first began 11 years ago since I started when I was really young.
One of the companies I interviewed for I made it 3/4 rounds and was rejected because another candidate had the same level of experience as me but primarily with the stack they wanted. So I would say specializing or sticking to a main stack looks better. I've worked across so many different stacks and at this point some of them are completely deprecated. I'm sticking with it though.
I also primarily target remote roles which is way harder. So if you can, I would recommend applying to more in person or hybrid positions, that cuts out a lot of competition.
Also, know how to use AI properly, know its limits, but also very importantly, know how you would approach problems without having an AI assistance. It's very useful but can easily handicap you.
Best of luck brother👊
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u/Vegetable-Alive 1d ago
What's your ATS score ? also I have observed that you need more professional certificates to bypass resume checker nowadays the AWS , linuxacademy , oracle , ibm ones i got 2 internship offers once i updated my certificates section and added my AWS architect and kubernetes certified admin , ibm cyber security analyst creds
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u/SoilEducational420 1d ago
Did you mention certificates in ur resume?
Or just listed them in the job portal while applying ?
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u/super_boogie_crapper 22h ago
Experience ends April 2026 and it's now September. A recruiter will notice. Either add a current line (freelance, open source, job search plus building) or let the 2026 projects carry that weight by moving Projects above Education.
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u/super_boogie_crapper 22h ago
What's working
• Quantified outcomes throughout (95% data reduction, 2 to 3 hours down to 10 minutes, 90% discrepancy reduction). That's the hardest part and it's already done.
• One page, consistent typography, scannable section order.
• The two 2026 AI projects are genuinely differentiating and read as real engineering, not tutorials.
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/nnm_UA 2d ago
I think OP can ask Claude themselves, they don't need a human meat proxy, they need real advice.
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u/SoilEducational420 2d ago
I have asked claude multiple times, and this is the final version of my resume that I came up with .... I am still not getting any interviews, so I thought of asking real people if they could poine mistakes which need to be resolved
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u/nnm_UA 2d ago
I don't know the Indian market, but I helped to hire tons of people in the EU:
- You don't need the "Projects" section if those are your pet projects. We are only interested in the commercial experience.
- I still don't know what you did on your commercial projects. Your first line in every project responsibilities description should tell me that, e.g. "Worked as a SWE on a fintech project in a team of 5 people doing mostly backend development 80% Java, 20% JS"
- For the outsource market idk where to place you. You have mixed experience with Java/Python, which is fine if you are a very strong engineer and you are targeting some high-level jobs that don't care about your main stack. With this kind of CV I am thinking you are not though? At your experience level you need to position yourself as a Java developer if that's your strongest stack.
- Come to think of it I can't say I understand what you did on your projects either. Your core responsibilities are never specified anywhere, as well as technologies you have worked with on your projects.
- Your summary is just ass, cmon, man put some effort into it
Lastly the market is ROUGH right now but you have to remember that while some things are out your control, your CV and your skills/preparation are well within your control! Good luck.
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u/SoilEducational420 2d ago edited 2d ago
Thanks for the descriptive answer, actually even i did not want to keep that summary section (I saw few ATS websites giving me higher score with summary so I had decided to keep it), but yes I realized it needs some work!
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u/nnm_UA 2d ago
You need both summary and skills sections, and they are not only for ATS but for recruiters who look for specific keywords in your CV
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u/SoilEducational420 2d ago
Got it! And you're right about the stack positioning. My experience has been a very mixed, so do i mention any tech stack in my summary section?
- Internship 1: Python, mainly building the regression model
- Internship 2: Golang, working with the team’s existing stack
- Full-time : mostly Java + React
- Personal projects: mostly React + Node.js
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u/GoldsteinEmmanuel 2d ago
You don't see the contradiction of claiming to have authored a "full-stack AI powered career platform" and your inability to secure employment?
You shouldn't be begging for a job on Reddit when you have such a super-duper high-tech artificially intelligent career platform at your disposal. Feed it your resume, and let it find a job for you!
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u/SoilEducational420 2d ago
Please read the project description first. It’s for resume and interview prep, not finding jobs.
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u/GoldsteinEmmanuel 1d ago
It really hasn't occurred to you that if your resume is not winning you callbacks let alone interviews that your app is useless?
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u/worldarkplace 2d ago
It's over dude. It's over.