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Career Advice · Engineering Resumes

8 Resume Mistakes That Get Software Engineers Rejected

Hiring managers at Indian startups see hundreds of engineering resumes. These are the patterns they immediately filter out — and how to avoid them.

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01

Listing skills without evidence of using them

❌ Common pattern

"Skills: React, Node.js, Python, AWS, Kubernetes, Docker, MongoDB, Redis, Kafka, Terraform…"

✓ How to fix it

Every skill you list should appear in at least one bullet point under a job or project — showing when you used it and what you built with it. A skills section with 20 buzzwords and no context is the first red flag hiring managers look for.

02

Describing responsibilities, not impact

❌ Common pattern

"Worked on the backend API. Maintained the database. Participated in code reviews."

✓ How to fix it

Replace every duty with an outcome. "Reduced API p99 latency from 800ms to 120ms by rewriting the query layer" is 10x more compelling. If you don't have a metric, describe the scale: "for a service handling 2M daily active users."

03

A generic objective or summary section

❌ Common pattern

"A motivated software engineer seeking a challenging role to leverage my skills and grow professionally."

✓ How to fix it

Skip the objective entirely if it's generic. If you write a summary, make it specific: your stack, your level, what you've built. "Backend engineer with 5 years in distributed systems (Go, Kafka, PostgreSQL). Led infra for a 50M-user platform."

04

No GitHub, portfolio, or deployed links

❌ Common pattern

Resume lists 10 projects — none with a link to code or a live demo.

✓ How to fix it

For every side project or open-source contribution, add a GitHub link. For products, add the live URL. Hiring managers at startups frequently check GitHub before reaching out. A strong commit history is worth more than a college CGPA.

05

Too long or too short — not calibrated to level

❌ Common pattern

A 4-page resume for a 2-year career. Or a 1-pager for a 12-year career that cuts off key context.

✓ How to fix it

1 page for 0–5 years of experience. 2 pages for 6–15 years. Never more than 2 pages — if something doesn't fit, cut the oldest or least relevant jobs, not your most recent impact. Hiring managers spend an average of 7 seconds on the initial scan.

06

Burying the tech stack

❌ Common pattern

Tech stack listed only in a small font at the bottom, or buried inside paragraph-form job descriptions.

✓ How to fix it

Put your primary tech stack near the top, and repeat it in context under each role. Hiring managers and AI systems (like Switchly's parser) scan for tech keywords early. If your stack is hard to find in 3 seconds, you've already lost.

07

Dates in the wrong format or gaps unexplained

❌ Common pattern

"Jan–Dec 2022" vs "2022–2023" — mixed formats confuse timeline. Or a 14-month gap with no explanation.

✓ How to fix it

Use consistent MM/YYYY format throughout. Unexplained gaps longer than 3 months will get flagged. Add a one-line note: "2022–2023: Career break for family care" or "Freelance consulting." Honesty reads better than a mysterious blank.

08

Applying to roles where your skills don't match the JD

❌ Common pattern

Sending the same resume to 100 jobs hoping something sticks.

✓ How to fix it

Read the JD and check: do you have 70%+ of the listed skills? If not, you'll score low in any AI system and you won't pass the EM's first scan. Apply selectively — 10 targeted applications beat 100 random ones. Switchly's AI shows you your match score before you apply.

More questions about engineering resumes

Why do engineering resumes get rejected even when the candidate is qualified?

Three main reasons: (1) The resume doesn't surface the right keywords for ATS systems. (2) It describes responsibilities instead of impact, making it hard for the hiring manager to gauge seniority. (3) The tech stack isn't clearly visible in the first pass scan. All three are fixable.

Should I have a different resume for each job application?

You don't need a completely different resume, but you should tailor 2–3 bullet points for each role you apply to — specifically highlighting the experience most relevant to that JD. When you apply on Switchly, our AI shows you which skills in your profile match the JD, so you know what to emphasize.

Do certifications (AWS, GCP, etc.) help on an engineering resume?

Cloud certifications (AWS Solutions Architect, GCP Professional) help for DevOps and infrastructure roles. For pure software engineering roles, working experience and shipped code matter far more than certifications. A certificate with no hands-on experience signals that you studied for an exam, not that you've built real systems.

Is it bad to have a CGPA below 7 on my resume?

For most Indian startup engineering roles, CGPA matters very little if you have 2+ years of relevant industry experience. If you're a fresher, a low CGPA hurts more — compensate with projects, internships, and GitHub activity. After your first job, consider removing CGPA from your resume entirely.

How does Switchly's AI evaluate my resume?

Switchly's parser extracts your skills with a confidence score (high/medium/low based on how deeply each skill appears in your experience), your years of experience per role, and your career trajectory. It then matches you to JDs where your skill overlap is strongest — so you apply where you'll rank in the top candidates.

See exactly how hiring managers see your resume

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