When a recruiter or hiring manager looks at your resume, they spend an average of six seconds scanning it before making a decision. In today’s market, they are busier than ever and overwhelmed with applications. They aren’t going to “dig” into your history to find the value—you have to hand it to them.
Your goal is to make your resume easy to read and even easier to parse. If a hiring manager has to work to understand your experience, you’ve already lost.
The best way to make your value obvious is to optimize your bullet points. In my experience, there are three distinct levels of resume accomplishments. To land a top-tier tech role, you need to be aiming for the third.
Level 1: The Basic Accomplishment
“Did the thing.”
In this format, you’re simply stating a task you completed.
- The Pro: You’re showing what you did.
- …The Reality: This is a “black box.” It lacks context, tools, and results. It forces the recruiter to guess how well you did the task.
Level 2: The Skillful Accomplishment
“Ran this aspect of the business using Technology A and Technology B.”
You are now sharing the tools and technologies you used to get the job done.
- The Pros: This is great for SEO, but more importantly, it adds legitimacy to your skills. I often see resumes with a “meaty” tech skills section, but no evidence in the experience section to back it up. By including the tech within the bullet, you prove you’ve actually shipped code with it.
- The Con: It still fails to answer the most important question: So what? Just because you used a tool doesn’t mean you moved the needle.
Level 3: The Impactful Accomplishment (The Gold)
“Improved [Process X] using Technology C, which reduced latency by 15%.”
This is the desired format for every single bullet point. You are sharing what you did, how you did it, and the value you created.
- The Pros: It demonstrates that you are self-aware and value-driven. As a manager, I always preferred hiring people who understood the whybehind their work. These are the folks who know how to prioritize and deliver the most value.
- The Con: None. While you can’t quantify every single task, you should aim for this structure 90% of the time.
Summary: Make it Easy for Them to Say “Yes”
In a competitive field, clarity is a competitive advantage. My suggestion is to use the pattern that provides the most detail and context for your audience. Don’t leave your impact up to their imagination—put it on the page.
Is your resume telling a powerful story? If you’re struggling to find the “impact” in your daily work or want to ensure your tech skills look legitimate to a busy recruiter or hiring manager, let’s chat.
I've spent over 25 years navigating the software engineering landscape—scaling teams, fostering well-being, and mentoring the next generation of technical leaders. After 6.5 years at Google, I built a coaching practice to help talented engineers and techies unlock their potential and build the momentum that transforms careers. I'm the coach who meets you at your pivotal moments and helps you make the most of them.