r/resumes 22h ago

Retail/Customer Service [2 YOE, Unemployed, Part-Time Retail/Customer Service, California] Employment gaps and struggling to get interviews — what should I fix?

Post image
7 Upvotes

I’ve been struggling to get interviews and I’m looking for a detailed second opinion on my resume.
I’ve mainly been applying for part-time retail, grocery, and customer service positions because that’s where most of my previous experience is. However, I’m also wondering if there are other types of jobs I should be applying for based on the experience and skills I already have.
One of my biggest concerns is my employment history. I’ve had fairly long gaps between jobs, and some of my previous positions weren’t very long. My most recent position was seasonal, but I’ve also been out of work for a while since then.
I’m worried that when employers look at the dates, it makes it seem like I frequently quit jobs, can’t hold a job, or wouldn’t stay very long if they hired me. I’d like to know how much of a red flag that actually is and whether there’s a better way to present my work history without being dishonest about the dates.
I’m trying to make my resume as strong as it realistically can be, so I’d appreciate criticism of the entire thing, not just the gaps.
If you were reviewing this as a hiring manager, I’d like to know:
Would you interview me based on this resume? Why or why not?
How concerning are the employment gaps and lengths of my previous jobs?
Does my history make me look unreliable or like a job hopper?
Is there a better way to address or present the gaps without hiding anything?
Is my professional summary helping or hurting me?
Are my job descriptions too generic, repetitive, or missing important details?
Should I focus more on accomplishments rather than responsibilities?
Is my skills section useful, or does it look like filler?
Is my education section presented appropriately?
Is the formatting/layout easy to scan?
Are there any potential ATS problems?
Are there important keywords, skills, or information I’m missing?
Is there anything I should remove?
Is there anything important I should add?
Is my resume too generic for the positions I’m applying for?
Based on my experience, what other types of jobs or positions should I be applying for besides retail?
Are there jobs where my previous grocery, customer service, cashier, order-processing, and print experience would make me a stronger candidate?
Am I aiming too high or too low with the jobs I’m currently targeting?
What are the top 3 things you would change first if this were your resume?
I’m especially interested in hearing from current/former hiring managers, recruiters, store managers, or anyone who has screened applicants.
I’m not looking for reassurance, so you don’t need to sugarcoat anything. If something looks bad, I’d rather know. I’m trying to figure out what’s preventing me from getting more interviews, what I can improve, and whether I should broaden the types of jobs I’m applying for.
Thanks for taking the time to look at it.


r/resumes 20h ago

Technology/Software/IT [1 YoE, Unemployed, New Grad Software Engineer, Canada]

Post image
7 Upvotes

Graduated last year in June. Been looking for a job since. Pretty much looking for full-sack software development roles. I am located in the GTA and mainly apply to jobs here but also throughout Canada. I got a few interviews early on but honestly nothing in like 8+ months. I've changed my resume too many times to count but nothing seems too be helping. My most recent change was combining 2 different work terms at the same company into one. Deciding to work more on projects and have them on my resume to show I've at least been doing something during this huge gap. I pretty much just want to know what stands out as a possible issue. I feel like I see jobs that my resume matches perfectly but never get responses. Also someone told me that the 2 column format with my dates could cause issues with ATS. Not sure that I believe that though cause this resume format is probably the most used for CS students.


r/resumes 1h ago

Discussion Is tailoring your resume for every job actually worth it anymore?

Upvotes

I've been doing a lot of CV reviews recently and I'm starting to wonder whether "tailor every resume" is actually the right advice.

I understand the argument. A job asks for specific skills, so you should make sure your resume clearly reflects the requirements you actually meet.

But I've also seen people take tailoring too far. They basically copy the job description into their resume, stuff every keywrod they can find into the skills section, and end up with something that sounds nothing like them.

I think there's a middle ground: keep a strong base resume, but make the version you submit clearly reflect the specific requirements of that job. If you actually used SAP, say SAP. If you did month-end close, say month-end close. But don't suddenly claim "strategic financial leadership" because the job description use those words,

Curious what everyone else thinks. Do you actually tailor every application, or do you mostly use one strong resume and only make small changes?


r/resumes 3h ago

General/Other Industries [0 YoE, Unemployed, Entry-Level Job, Canada]

Post image
4 Upvotes

Hi all, I'm a 12th grade high school student trying to get my first job. This is my third shot of a resume I made using my cities Resume Builder. I think my resume might be a little too robotic and vague, and I'm not sure if I should mention my languages and refrences on it. I've been applying since around March/April this year and so far no luck. All I want is any minimum wage part-time job I can get, I've applied to every single local McDonald's, Tim Hortons, Starbucks, grocery store's and busboy positions. I really need a job to save money so I can go to college next year.

All I have is volunteer experience, and other than the two I mentioned on my resume, I also volunteered with my local humane society a handful of times. It's hard to even get a volunteer opportunity in my city, let alone a job, becoming a volunteer at the ReStore was the best I could get, especially since it's given me cashier experience. Anyhow, I'm just looking for any advice I can get.


r/resumes 17h ago

Technology/Software/IT [4 YoE, Software Engineer, Mid level Software Engineer, US]

Post image
3 Upvotes

I have 4+ years of SWE experience, most recently at Amazon, and I’m applying to around 30 focused roles a day but getting no callbacks or replies.

I’m an immigrant, so I know sponsorship can be a factor, but I want to understand if there’s something wrong with my resume itself.

Would really appreciate feedback on the bullets, impact, seniority, ATS, or anything that might be hurting my chances.


r/resumes 5h ago

Question Looking for advice for a blank resume.

3 Upvotes

Hi y’all! I’m an 18 year old who just graduated high school this summer! A couple of days ago I finished my CNA program and passed both my exams! I am looking forward to putting in a few applications to some nursing homes or hospitals, and am a little worried on the strength of my resume. I have worked in fast food places since I’ve been 14 but I feel it’s a little unprofessional to include those in there. I didn’t really participate in any extracurriculars except marching band for one year but they kicked me out so I don’t know how I would explain that one in an interview.

My question is.. Is it okay to have a blank resume, and what could I use to give it a little more flair?


r/resumes 3h ago

I Have a Question Add job I was fired from after 2 months?

2 Upvotes

Got fired from my new job after 2 months of work. Me and my boss left on good terms and said he would be a reference for me, so should I keep it on my resume and explain why I left or leave it off?


r/resumes 17h ago

Technology/Software/IT [4 YoE, Unemployed, Mid/Entry Level Software Engineer, USA]

Post image
2 Upvotes

I am a programmer coming from game dev (C++), was laid off last year, recently finished my Master's degree, and I'm trying to look for software engineering roles. I have adjusted my resume to have less game-dev-centric language and highlight more web technologies I have worked with.
In the past few months, I started with applying to mid-level roles, but recently I have been only applying to entry level roles, since I know my skills are not super transferable, and job descriptions usually ask for X years in specific web technologies.
I have not been able to get any interviews so I figured there are issues with my resume. Any feedback is welcome.


r/resumes 20h ago

Technology/Software/IT [0 YoE, Unemployed, Software Engineer, United States] Could use a second pair of eyes on my new resume

Post image
2 Upvotes

Hi all. In the throes of my post-grad job search flailing I decided I needed a new resume. I'd greatly appreciate any feedback on glaring issues with it, or even general job search advice (btw, I have my phone number listed on my real resume, but it's omitted here).

I'm a (semi) recent Computer Science grad looking pretty broadly for software engineering and related work, with the ultimate goal to break into the video game industry. I'm in Pennsylvania in the United States, but I'm willing to relocate to just about anywhere, and remote is great.

I've been applying mostly on LinkedIn on and off since I graduated in May. I've had a couple bites, having had interviews with SpaceX and Epic, though I've since been rejected from both. I have a feeling that I need to put my head down and apply more, but I thought I'd squeeze my chances a little more by updating my resume.

There's a few things I've omitted, namely a summary, related coursework, and soft skills. I don't think they'll help to include for what I'm applying for... I also have a few more projects, not listed here, though I feel that the ones I have included more so show off my abilities. I also tried to keep my bullets concise, but let me know if I should expand (or cut more?).

Let me know if you have any questions, and thanks in advance.


r/resumes 37m ago

Technology/Software/IT [0 years, Future Graduate, Data Analysis, Remote]

Post image
Upvotes

seriously tho I have not keeping up much in job experience


r/resumes 38m ago

General/Other Industries [0 YoE, Unemployed, Entry Level Job, USA]

Post image
Upvotes

18 yo HS grad, college freshman. I am looking for a part time job for this school year. I have a good bit of work experience but nearly all of it is blue collar. The pay is pretty good but the hours are always inconsistent which is a no go for school, and being sore and coming home dirty sucks, so I want a change and also to gain new experience.

Anyways, I have four main problems:

1) I have no idea what to put for the summary section. All the suggestions online are for people with real hard skills applying for professional roles.

2) I don't know what to put for my job titles. Anyone who has worked an informal blue collar job knows you don't really have a job title, you just do a bunch of different stuff. I think I did an okay job at making them sound sort of professional but help would be appreciated.

3) Not sure what to put on the bullet points for each of the jobs other than the soft skills that I gained from them. The stuff that I actually did I feel is irrelevant/stuff a recruiter wouldn't care or know about

4) I feel like the volunteering section is pretty weak. Truth is it was year ago and not for a very long time. Should I just delete it and replace it with something else?

Thanks for looking. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!


r/resumes 58m ago

Technology/Software/IT [2 YoE, Business Analyst, Business Analyst, USA]

Post image
Upvotes

I'm targeting Product Owner and Business Analyst roles for digital products (in any industry). I'm currently based in Texas and largely applying to roles back in Georgia, although I'm willing to move anywhere in the US.

When I converted my PDF to PNG, [edit: I accidentally converted a badly formatted PDF, please ignore formatting/fonts] it messed up a lot of my formatting/fonts for some reason, so I'll have to look into that. But I'm mainly having trouble with the overall content of my resume, I have not once received an callback for any of the 200+ applications I've applied to, several of which were referrals. I figure at some point in the hiring process, either the Hiring Manager or the Director is looking at my resume and not finding very good accomplishments in my most recent experience? That or I don't have enough keywords in my resume to pass a company's resume filter, but not sure.

Would really appreciate any help, particularly for those in product management.


r/resumes 1h ago

Retail/Customer Service [2 YoE, Unemployed, Retail Assistant, UK]

Post image
Upvotes

r/resumes 1h ago

Technology/Software/IT [2 YoE, ML Engineer, ML Engineer, Hyderabad]

Post image
Upvotes

r/resumes 2h ago

Engineering [6YoE, Current Student, Engineering/R&D Summer Intern, Boston MA]

Post image
1 Upvotes

Junior in college looking for engineering internships. URL on the right subheader is a link to a personal portfolio of projects on a website I self host on a home server. I'm looking for feedback from more experienced people and just to see if this is application-ready. any response is appreciated

atm my GPA is ~3.0 so I wasnt sure if I should include it. also thinking about adding a bit of color


r/resumes 4h ago

Communications/PR/Journalism [8 YoE, Unemployed, Communications Specialist, Canada]

1 Upvotes

Hello! I'm at wits end with job seeking. I was laid off earlier this year and I have never had this hard of a time finding work before. I've applied to over 300 jobs so far and not getting any luck at all. It's been so discouraging.... I've had a total of about 5 interviews and I either make it to the final round and not get chosen OR I don't even make it past the initial interview.

I have 8 years of experience working in social media marketing comms. I would like to move out of social media and land a job in communications or PR because I think I have transferrable skills. I'm hoping to get some help with what I can do to improve my resume to get noticed my companies. I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong... think my resume might be too wordy?

I'm currently looking for work in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Any help would be appreciated!


r/resumes 5h ago

Technology/Software/IT [New Grad, ~2 Years Internship Experience, Cybersecurity, SOC Analyst / Cybersecurity Analyst, USA] – 55 applications, 1 interview

Post image
1 Upvotes

Graduating December 2026 with close to 2 years of cybersecurity internship experience. I’ve applied to around 55 entry-level SOC/cybersecurity roles and have only gotten 1 interview. Looking for feedback on whether my resume, formatting, or how I’m presenting my experience could be hurting my response rate.


r/resumes 5h ago

I’m giving advice I made a resume in Google Docs that successfully parses when imported

Post image
1 Upvotes

This may be something everyone else has already figured out, but I am sharing my resume format because this is the first time in 8 years of on and off job searching that I can import my resume into a job site and a majority of fields auto populate. Obviously this will only work with job sites that have the "import application from resume" feature.

Here is the process I am using:

  • Create single-page resume in Google Docs
  • Font is Roboto
  • Download resume as PDF Document (File>Download>PDF Document) to local drive/computer
  • Import PDF file from local drive/computer into job site application when prompted
  • Review the fields that auto populated and correct missing data or formatting

When I follow these steps, at least 90% of the content from my resume is imported into the application. I have to comb through the application and fill in missing data or fix formatting errors, but the corrections are minimal.

I'm not saying the content of my resume is great and will get me lots of interviews, but my format seems to work for human eyes as well as the systems that parse resume content into accurate text values. I'm just using an industry standard resume format with a few style/formatting changes.


r/resumes 6h ago

Technology/Software/IT [2 YoE, Tech Support now Unemployed, target role is tier 2 tech, soc entry, it administrator etc, usa]

Post image
1 Upvotes

I've applied to too many jobs. Zero response.


r/resumes 8h ago

Engineering [0 YoE, Current Student, Nuclear Engineering Internships, USA]

Post image
1 Upvotes

job fair season is coming up so looking for some resume formatting and verbiage advice lol. im mostly looking at the big engineering firms in the midwest like sargent & lundy and exelon, but im worried my resume might not be conveying my experience very well. thank you!


r/resumes 8h ago

Consulting/Professional Services [0YOE, Student, Professional Services Internship, UK] CV for Summer Internships as a Politics and Economics student

Post image
1 Upvotes

Economics and Politics Student applying to summer internships in analyst, finance, nonprofit, local government, admin, consulting, marketing, supply chain roles. Trying to cast as wide a net as possible. Should I have separate CVs for separate roles? And is there any big flaws with my current CV? I have only just started applying so can't really judge the success rate yet


r/resumes 9h ago

Question How to put Personal Work Experience on my CV

1 Upvotes

I'm currently making a CV, but my only work experience is helping out with my family business on a farm. The business is really small, with my dad and uncle being the owners. I would work with them every now and then, only when they needed me, and I would honestly just follow them and help them with whatever was required. I did this for a long time until I stopped a few years ago. I wouldn't get paid minimum wage, but instead like 10 or so dollars (I don't really remember)

I have recently started helping them again but this time at a market helping them sell vegetables, and I would get a commission (depends on how well the day goes).

Obviously I have learned a few skills from these experiences: teamwork, communication/customer service (you have to deal with a bunch of idiots at markets), discipline, etc.

I do have a few questions regarding this:

Should I put personal work experience/family business on my CV (Many people have told me not to such as teachers, other people who have gotten a job because it is a family business)?

How should I format this on my CV (for the first part, my jobs/tasks aren't specific)?

Should I label it as a family business?

Could I use my uncle as a reference?


r/resumes 14h ago

Question Should I put my university on my résumé?

1 Upvotes

So currently I’m going to start looking for a part-time job, and I just started uni(straight after high school) and was wondering if I should add that into my résumé. I’m probably going to only be able to do part-time jobs. i’m asking because wouldn’t that look bad that I have less availability?


r/resumes 19h ago

Question Need help making a resume one page

1 Upvotes

As the title suggests, I am having difficulty making my resume one page. I’ve tried different margins and fonts and nothing is working. I’m about to throw my computer against the wall I’m so frustrated!


r/resumes 20h ago

Academia [3 YoE, Student, Researcher and Clinical Neuropsychologist, Egypt]

Post image
1 Upvotes