Résumés and portfolios

Why it matters

Your résumé is often the first thing an employer sees. Recruiters and hiring managers usually scan a résumé quickly before deciding whether to read it properly, and many companies use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to store and search applications. A clear, tailored one-page résumé gets you to the interview. A generic one, however impressive your experience, often does not.

For entry-level STEM roles, a portfolio (projects you can show) often matters as much as the résumé. They work together: the résumé makes the claim, the portfolio proves it.

The core idea: tailor to the posting

A résumé is not a list of everything you have done. It is an argument that you fit this job. So start with the job posting, not with your history.

1. Read the posting and highlight the required skills, the main tasks and repeated keywords (for example "SQL", "data cleaning", "PLC troubleshooting", "customer communication").
2. List your experiences, projects and courses that show those things.
3. Put the strongest matches near the top, using the same words the posting uses where they are true for you.

Never claim skills you do not have. Interviewers will ask about anything on the page.

A simple one-page structure

NAME
City, Region | email | phone | portfolio or GitHub link | LinkedIn

SUMMARY (optional, 2 lines)
Entry-level data analyst with SQL, Python and Excel skills, focused on
cleaning messy data and explaining results clearly.

SKILLS
SQL (joins, aggregation) · Python (pandas) · Excel (pivot tables,
XLOOKUP) · Tableau · Git

PROJECTS
Bike-share demand analysis | Python, pandas | github.com/...
- Cleaned 1.2M trip records and found that weekday demand peaks at
  8 am and 5 pm, supporting a proposal to rebalance 40 docks.
- Wrote a 2-page summary with three charts for a non-technical reader.

EXPERIENCE
Sales assistant, City Hardware | 2024-2026
- Tracked weekly stock levels in a spreadsheet and flagged low items,
  reducing out-of-stock complaints on popular products.
- Trained 3 new staff on the till and returns process.

EDUCATION
Certificate / degree, school, year
Relevant courses: Statistics, SQL Fundamentals

For entry-level candidates, projects can go above experience when they match the job better. Education goes higher if it is your strongest qualification.

Writing strong bullet points

Each bullet should show an action and a result, with numbers where you honestly have them. A useful pattern is:

Action verb + what you did + how + result.

Weak:

- Responsible for the lab inventory.
- Worked on a website for a club.

Stronger:

- Reorganised the lab's reagent inventory into a shared spreadsheet
  with expiry dates, cutting time spent searching for stock.
- Built a 5-page website for a student club with HTML and CSS,
  used by about 200 members to find event dates.

Start with verbs like built, analysed, tested, reduced, trained, automated, documented, repaired. Skip "responsible for", which describes a duty, not an achievement. If you have no exact number, describe the scale or the outcome honestly ("for a team of 6", "used every week").

Non-technical jobs count. Retail, food service, tutoring and volunteering show reliability, customer communication and teamwork. Phrase them in terms the posting values.

Formatting for people and for software

• One page for entry level. Cut older or less relevant items first.
• Simple layout: clear headings, one or two fonts, consistent dates. Many tracking systems read plain layouts more reliably than complex designs with text boxes, tables or graphics.
• Save as PDF unless the posting asks for another format, and name it clearly: Firstname-Lastname-Resume.pdf.
• Proofread carefully, then ask someone else to proofread. Typos are an easy reason to reject.
• No photo, age or other personal details unless it is normal where you are applying; in many countries, including the US and the UK, they are left off.

Portfolios

A portfolio shows your work. It should match your target role:

• Software and web: 2–4 projects on GitHub or a personal site, each with a README that explains what it does, how to run it and what you learned.
• Data: notebooks or reports that state a question, the data, the method and the conclusion, with clear charts.
• Design: case studies that show your process, not just final screens.
• Engineering, lab and trades: photos or write-ups of projects, labs, builds or repairs you did (with permission and no confidential details), plus certifications and training records.

Quality beats quantity. Two well-explained projects are better than ten unfinished ones. Link the portfolio near the top of your résumé.

Common mistakes

• One résumé for every job. Tailor at least the summary, skills order and top bullets.
• Duties instead of results.
• Dense two-page layouts for an entry-level role.
• Broken or private links to the portfolio.
• Exaggeration. It usually comes out in the interview.

Quick recap

• Start from the posting; match its skills and words where true for you.
• One page, simple layout, PDF, proofread twice.
• Bullets: action, method, result, numbers where honest.
• Back up claims with a small, well-explained portfolio.

Try it

Open the Do tab. You will pick a real posting and draft a one-page résumé tailored to it.