u/Arctic_Cowboy_13

Last week, I shared a free resume builder I created. I originally built this for myself and my coworkers, partly because I needed it, and partly because I thought it would make a good project for my resume. But the responses from this community have been genuinely overwhelming. My DMs have been filled with so many kind words. 

A few days ago, I had an interview where we ended up talking a lot about the project. I explained how frustrating resume formatting is, and how gross it feels that so many resume-builder sites prey on unemployed people with “100% ATS optimized” promises and vague “AI-powered” marketing just to squeeze money out of them. I told my interviewer that I took this problem, and created a free website (of course, most of the convo was about the backend, system design, and scalability to account for all the users who have been using the site). But anyways, they were really impressed and I got an offer! It is a contract position to help get my foot in the door again as I look for something more permanent. 

I also incorporated a ton of the feedback people gave me directly into the builder. Looking at the number of resumes that have been created/downloaded through the site has been surreal.

A few things people DMed me about:
AI features: I don’t plan to add them. ChatGPT is already free. Write your resume, paste it alongside the guide page I added based on the r/EngineeringResumes guide, and ask it to critique your bullets using STAR formatting. You do not need to pay someone for that.

On donations: A few people offered to pitch in to help cover website hosting costs. But please don't! I made it free for a reason. If you want to help, please share it with people who are job hunting or report any bugs you find. 

On new templates: I want to add design and marketing focused templates but genuinely don't know what those roles need. Suggestions welcome. Thanks everyone!

Free resume builder in question

Resume builder here

I got laid off recently and got so fed up with resume builders charging money after you've already spent quite a while filling everything out that I just built my own as a side project. You don’t need to sign up and the resume you make lives in your local browser. But you can make a free account to keep track of different versions!

As an engineer I keep multiple versions for different roles like MLE and SWE, so I wanted something free that actually worked. The template on here is the same one I've been using since undergrad that landed me interviews at FAANG, quant firms, and startups. You don’t need an account to use it and there are no ads or watermarks. You are able to switch between templates, change fonts/sizing, and rearrange sections easily.

Open to feedback and suggestions! I’m not familiar with marketing/design resumes but if anyone has suggestions for new templates, feel free to let me know and I’ll add them to the site if I have time!

I got laid off recently but I’ve been applying since earlier this year. My resume keeps getting auto-rejected and I have 2 years of experience so I don't qualify for new grad roles. But I keep getting filtered out for mid level positions too. I feel like I'm stuck in the middle. I’d love some brutally honest feedback on whether my experience is being communicated clearly and if I'm targeting the right roles.

Also since I have a ton of free time on my hands I made a free resume builder because I got so fed up with resume builders charging money just to download your own resume. You don't need to sign up or create an account because everything saves directly to your local browser storage so nothing ever leaves your device. There are no watermarks, no ads, and no checkout screen at the end, just download your resume as a free ATS friendly PDF whenever you're ready. This resume was made with it! Here is the resume builder :)

I got laid off recently but Ive been applying for jobs since the beginning of this year. My resume gets rejected almost immediately at most places, and the times I do get through to interviews at small startups, I end up getting ghosted after completing their take homes. So they basically got free work out of me and couldn't even send a rejection email.

I've been tracking everything and the pattern is pretty clear but I can't figure out what's actually broken.

Two things I'm genuinely unsure about:

1. Am I applying to jobs way out of my level? I've been applying broadly because the market is rough but maybe I'm wasting time on roles I'm not qualified for.
2. Do I need completely different resume versions for different positions like ML vs general SWE? Right now I'm using mostly the same base resume with minor tweaks.

Attaching my resume and application stats. Would love brutal honest feedback because at this point I genuinely don't know what's not working. Thanks!