How (not) to apply for a software job. (I guide others to a treasure I cannot possess :(

 I review a lot of resumes and written interviews, and many of them are badly written. This article describes a few things not to do when applying for a software engineering role.

I work for Canonical (see my endnote about our process), but this is advice that I believe is good when applying at any company.

Most of this is writing advice, useful when writing your resume, cover letter, and any other written parts of a job application. In fact, I’d argue that most of it applies to any kind of non-fiction writing.

To set the scene, remember who you’re writing for: a busy hiring manager or an engineer who’s been tasked with reviewing your application (and hundreds of others). They have to make a decision based on limited information, and they want to hire people who stand out, who’ve built things, and who can communicate well.

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