The tech job market is currently navigating a complex landscape. While major industry players continue to implement layoffs, plenty of other companies are actively hiring. However, in today’s AI-driven era, these companies are facing a unique hurdle: sorting through floods of automated applications and fake profiles to find the right talent.
To help job seekers cut through the noise, we are launching a comprehensive job search guide featuring actionable advice straight from the local tech companies hiring on VentureFizz. Over the next few months, we’ll break down every step of the job search process, starting with the biggest hurdle of all: Standing out in the resume pile.
When hundreds—or even thousands—of applications pour in for a single open role, how can you ensure a human actually reviews your resume?
We went right to the source and asked tech hiring professionals to share their advice on:
How Job Seekers Can Stand Out, and Get Their Resume Seen
Two things will help get your resume seen:
- Spend more time on fewer companies and lean into human connections instead of applying everywhere, whether that’s sending a thoughtful note, connecting on LinkedIn, or asking an old college friend at the company to pass your name to the hiring manager. When you reach out, focus on the company and the impact you could make there, not just on what you’re looking for. Think of yourself as a salesperson and the product is you, a good salesperson doesn’t stop after one unanswered call.
- Make your resume speak the company’s language, since even small tweaks can move it closer to the top of the pile (if you reported on quota attainment and they call it percent to plan, use their term). Use AI to help, but don’t change what you actually did or make anything up.
Shannon Berens
Director of Talent Acquisition
Candidates should think of their resume as their brag book. Make sure to really emphasize your accomplishments, projects you owned, and the impact it had on the business or the team. Today, most candidates are throwing their resumes into AI and it’s spitting out more generic summaries of their job responsibilities. Recruiters already know what your day-to-day responsibilities likely were based on the function. If you really want to stand out from the rest, raw data catches the eye of a recruiter, not buzz words that match a job description. For example, if you’re in sales, let’s see your stats; quota attainments, regions & segments covered, deal volume, sales awards, etc.
Casey Balog
Director of Talent Acquisition
In today’s tech market, the resumes that stand out are the ones that clearly demonstrate ownership, impact, and outcomes. Rather than simply listing responsibilities, candidates should highlight what they owned, the problems they solved, the decisions they drove, and the measurable results they delivered. Hiring teams want to understand the scope and complexity of your work, as well as the value it created for the business. Strong, qualified referrals from colleagues, former managers, or peers who have worked closely with you can also help your resume get noticed, as they provide credibility and firsthand validation of your contributions. Ultimately, a compelling story backed by tangible impact is what earns interviews.
Jolene Adler
Principal Talent Acquisition Partner
At Checkly, we review every resume that comes in. However, with 100s (if not thousands!) of applications per open position, application reviews have to be fast.
What makes me spend less time on your resume: a title mismatch between your resume and your LinkedIn, job ad responsibilities copy-pasted into your experience section, or bloated or untrue descriptions of what you did in your job.
What makes me spend more time on your resume: thoughtful and authentic answers to the application form questions, and a resume layout that makes it easy to find key info and relevant or adjacent experience and skills.
Kaylie Boogaerts
Director of People
Highlight quantifiable accomplishments, tailor towards the job (but don’t just ask AI to do it), highlight AI use and tooling, even if it’s only personal or projects.
Showing curiosity about the technology and the willingness to try new things and get out of your comfort zone is directly translatable.
Ryan McSweeney
Sr. Talent Brand & Experience Partner
