Contact Information

This is the top section of your resume and it is straightforward to nail this section by following the recommendations below.

Recommendations

✅ Include important information

Make sure you have the following information listed at the top of your resume: name, email, phone number, location, LinkedIn profile URL.

✅ Use a personal email

Use email addresses you have permanent access to, avoid using school emails if there's a possibility of you losing access to it in future. Regardless, it's still better to use personal emails as it will be relevant for life.

✅ Be explicit about location information

Be explicit about state and city information if you're in large countries. E.g. USA is huge, if you are in the same state as the company you're applying for, the geographical proximity could give you an edge over other applicants.

✅ Format your phone number

Format your phone number and include the country code. Example for US phone numbers: +1 (123) 456-7890

✅ Include useful links about yourself

Add links to websites that demonstrates your professional background - personal website, blog, GitHub profile, Stack Overflow, Twitter, Medium, Substack, etc.

✅ Show the platform and username in links

Links text should include both the platform and username, e.g. "linkedin.com/in/johndoe" as opposed to "LinkedIn". This is because interviewers might print out the resume.

✅ Supercharge your LinkedIn profile

✅ Give your GitHub profile a makeover

Common Mistakes

❌ Don't add unnecessary information

There's no need to include unnecessary personal details like birthday, age, photo, which should not affect the outcome.

❌ Don't include links where there is no content

You probably have GitHub, Medium, Stack Overflow accounts but if you don't have anything to show there, there's no point including them. Only add links if they showcase your professional background.

❌ Don't include broken links

Before submitting your resume, you should click on all the links in your resume to ensure they're leading to the right destinations.

Example

Note how the link text is kept to a minimum to contain both the service and the username.