---
name: engineering-resume
description: Write engineering resumes with quantified impact bullets, honest tailoring, and machine-readable formatting. Use when writing or reviewing a technical resume.
---

# Engineering resume

A resume gets seconds of human attention after passing automated
filters. Every line either advances the case "this person creates
impact with the skills you need" or dilutes it: edit accordingly.

## Method

1. **Write bullets as impact, sized.** Action verb, what,
   *measured outcome*: "Cut checkout p95 from 2.1s to 600ms
   by moving cart pricing to a precomputed cache, lifting
   conversion 1.8%" beats "Responsible for performance
   improvements". No metric available? State scale instead
   ("service handling 40M requests/day", "used by 200
   internal engineers"): the number is what makes the claim
   inspectable (see status-updates' quantify rule; your
   promo-packet is the source material).
2. **Lead each role with the strongest true claim.** Order
   bullets by impressiveness, not chronology; 3-5 per recent
   role, 1-2 for older ones; cut anything you cannot discuss
   fluently in an interview: every line is an invitation to
   probe (see technical-interviews' story bank: same
   material, same honesty bar).
3. **Tailor to the job's language, honestly.** Mirror the
   posting's genuine overlaps (their "distributed systems"
   is your queue migration: see delivery-guarantees) in your
   summary and skills; reorder bullets to front the relevant
   work. Tailoring is emphasis, never invention: keyword
   stuffing that interviews cannot cash bounces you later at
   higher cost.
4. **Format for machines first, then eyes.** Single column,
   standard section names (Experience, Education, Skills),
   real text (no tables/graphics/headshots), PDF with
   selectable text: parsers eat multi-column layouts and
   with them your callback. One page under ~10 years'
   experience, two beyond; consistent dates
   (month + year), no unexplained gaps you are unready to
   discuss.
5. **Make the skills section an index, not a wall.** Group
   by fluency ("Daily: Python, Postgres, k8s; Familiar:
   Rust, Terraform"): a 40-item comma cloud signals
   indiscriminate listing, and interviewers will pick your
   weakest claim to probe. Links that carry weight: GitHub
   with real work pinned, a portfolio/writeup page (see
   readme-writing for making repos legible): only if they
   survive inspection.
6. **Review it like code.** Peers red-line for vague
   bullets and jargon (see code-review-comments' candor);
   read aloud for rhythm; verify every number; then keep a
   master version with everything and cut per application:
   maintenance beats archaeology (the running-notes ethic
   of status-updates, annually).

## Boundaries

- Resumes get interviews, not offers; over-polishing past
  "clearly worth a call" has steep diminishing returns
  next to referrals and portfolio work (see
  community-building for the network side).
- Regional norms differ (photos, personal data, CV length
  in academia/EU); check the market's conventions before
  applying this US-tech-default template.
- Career-changers and new grads invert emphasis toward
  projects and trajectory; the impact-bullet grammar still
  applies to coursework and side projects.