This session featured perspectives from the following representatives from Google, sharing what makes a resume stand out at Google and beyond.

  • Kavita – SWE & PM Rotator
  • Barbara – AI Engineer
  • Michael – Technical Recruiter
  • Allen – SWE

General Resume/Career Tips

Resume Tips

Here are some general tips the Google representatives had to make sure your resume is able to properly portray your story, skills, and capabilities.

  1. Must-Have Sections:

    • Contact info: Use your personal email rather than your UofT one
    • LinkedIn and GitHub
    • Education: Post-secondary is enough, so no need to add your high school
    • Technical skills: Order these from most to least proficient
    • Work experience
    • Projects
    • Leadership / Activities

  2. Optional but Good:

    • Awards
    • Scholarships

  3. Formatting Guidance:

    • Keep your resume to 1 page
    • Save it as a PDF
    • Use bullet points
    • Make your education and roles very clear

  4. Work Experience:

    • Include your employer, role, and dates
    • Use an impact-driven format:

      Accomplished X (what you did), as measured by Y (the metric/result), by doing Z (the actions you took).

  5. What To Do If You Don’t Have Work Experience Yet:
    You can highlight your passions and skills through:

    • Student organizations
    • Research opportunities
    • TA/tutoring
    • Competitions
    • Class & personal projects
    • Tech-focused development programs

  6. Projects:

    • Upload these to your GitHub which should be linked on your resume
    • You can include personal or class projects, and even non-coding ones as long as they are relevant
    • Highlight measurable impact and technical skills

Actionable Takeaways

  • If your GPA is less than 3.5, do not include it
  • Let go of your high school experiences to make space for recent, relevant ones
  • Add proficiency levels for technical skills (e.g., Proficient, Intermediate, Beginner)
  • At the end of each week, write down accomplishments from that week while they’re still fresh on your mind to make them easier to compile into a resume later on

Tips for Working in the Industry

  • Learn from people around you and notice what makes others successful
  • Be vocal about what you want to do and seek feedback

After First-Year Summer

  • Focus on your passions through internships, projects, research, or organizations

Handling Private Projects

  • You don’t need to share specific code; describe your contributions and impact instead

Google-Specific Guidance

Application Process

  • You can only apply to 3 roles so make sure to choose wisely
  • Deadlines: some are October 31, some are in November
  • Use a personal email so recruiters can always reach you even if you lose access to your school email
  • Keep a flexible graduation date to apply for both internships and new grad roles

Resume Screening

  • Don’t message recruiters directly, they check the career site so it’s better to apply there
  • Open-source contributions stand out, so make sure contribute to open-source projects where you can
  • Research experience should be listed as work experience

Inside Google

  • Google values versatility (depth and breadth). Many employees switch to different roles or teams internally
  • Google employees spend 20% of their time working on whatever passion projects that they think will most benefit Google. These 20% projects give them a chance to explore side passions and interests
  • Once you pass the hiring bar, you can ask recruiters about team placement within Google.
  • Even if you don’t land your preferred role, any sort of SWE experience at Google is highly valuable

Final Thoughts

The speakers emphasized: Resumes are living documents. They should be tailored to each role, showcase measurable results, and reflect who you are.
By focusing on clarity, impact, and passion, you’ll stand out, both at Google and beyond.