How to deal with a career gap?

Hi Jonathan,

Following is the text form of his resume -

Objective

I am a highly motivated and skilled Software Engineer with 7 months of hands-on experience in Java and Spring Boot. My problem-solving skills have been instrumental in reducing software defects and enhancing system performance. Additionally, I hold several industry-recognized certifications from premium institutes like Academind and freeCodeCamp in MERN, React JS, Node.js, Tailwind CSS, Frontend Web Development, and Responsive Design. I am proficient in creating full-stack web applications and am eager to leverage my skills in new and challenging projects.

WORK EXPERIENCE - (Present - Freelancer)
Company Name (7 Months - Java , Spring Boot) Bangalore, K.A, India
Software Engineer April 2022 – Nov 2022

Utilized SonarLint and SonarQube to conduct static code analysis of Java projects, ensuring code quality and adherence to best practices. Created APIs in Spring Boot and Spring Framework, removing numerous vulnerabilities and enhancing security. Reviewed and analyzed codebase reports generated by SonarLint and SonarQube to pinpoint areas for improvement. Worked closely with developers to provide actionable recommendations for code refactoring and enhancements based on SonarLint findings. Debugged and resolved complex issues in existing Java codebase, resulting in reduction in software defects.Optimized database queries and utilized JDBC to interact with relational databases, improving data retrieval time.

Technical Skills

Reactjs, Tailwind Css, Java, JDBC, Servlet & JSP, Hibernate, Spring Framework, Spring BOOT, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Typescript, SQL, MongoDB, Material-UI, Docker, ExpressJs, Redux, Data Structure & Algorithms, Microservices, Git, Maven, Rest API, Stripe, Github, Redux toolkit.

PROJECTS

MkShop - E-commerce Platform (MERN with Typescript) Deployed Link: MkShop MERN | https://mk-shop-mern-frontend.vercel.app/

Responsibilities:

● Developed a full-fledged e-commerce platform using the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, Node.js). The project includes comprehensive features such as user authentication, product management, order processing, payment integration, and an admin dashboard for managing the platform. Designed and implemented the user interface using React.js, Redux, Typescript, Tailwind CSS. Developed RESTful APIs using Node.js and Express.js. Integrated MongoDB with Mongoose for data persistence. Implemented authentication with Passport.js including strategies passport-local, passport-google-oauth20 and passport-github2. Set up payment processing with Stripe API. Built and managed an admin dashboard for streamlined operations and generated analytics bar, line and pie charts based on real data in real time. Deployed the application on Vercel (frontend) and Render (backend) leveraging benefits of Hybrid Architecture.

Key Features:

• User Authentication & Authorization: Secure login, registration, OAuth2 integration
• Product Management: CRUD operations, image uploads, caching
• Order Management: Placement, status tracking Payment Processing: Integrated with Stripe
• Admin Dashboard: Manage products, orders, and users
• Coupons: Create, retrieve, and delete discount coupons
• Caching: Optimized for products and orders using Node-Cache.
  
  EDUCATION

MEDI-CAPS UNIVERSITY (4 Years) Indore, M.P, India

Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) Aug 2016 - May 2020

Major in Information Technology; Specialization in Web Technology , Cumulative GPA: 6.33/10.0;

I read through the resume and viewed the side project that had a link: there's unfortunately not much substance I can find on the resume.

• The resume is just a salad of words and it's very hard to understand what they did.
• The side project didn't even load immediately for me and I had no idea what it even does.

The root cause of the problem is clear: your friend isn't writing enough code. I'll break this down into some themes:

• The volume of code is low. Your friend is likely just spending more time spinning in circles than they are coding. They need more side projects.
• The quality of code is low. Any projects linked need to at least have the happy flows working. The side project linked pretty much never really loaded for me.
• The value of code is low. Being a software engineer is not special from any other profession: you get paid to do things that provide value to a business. Your friend's resume is more focused on the technologies and not the problem the work is solving.

I'd recommend the following to them:

• Spend some time focusing on building a side project that actually works. If they're just farming the project to pad the resume, it's really obvious. Make sure it's a project that they feel can be used by other people: they should then ship this project out to the public & get feedback on what to fix and what features to add.
• https://www.jointaro.com/course/get-more-interviews-write-a-stellar-resume-as-a-software-engineer/ats-obsession/

Thank you very much, Jonathan. I will ask him to focus more on building side projects and improving his resume.

How much do you think the career gap will affect his chances of getting an interview?

Since he's pretty junior as an engineer and has likely not being coding during the career gap, it will impact them signficantly. The gap itself is fine (can easily say career/mental health/whatever break) if anyone asks, but the time in that gap that was spent spinning is wasted. If they want to maximize their chances, they need to sink in time now and start writing code.

Thank you Jonathan