[throwaway_sp11]

Ok, that is truly useful feedback. I didn't consider it like that.

My current role is 3.5 years. 1.5 years was a startup, start-to-finish. In the end it failed, so it's not like I left voluntarily. Before that I was a student so I picked up junior and project-based jobs to finance myself.

[jasonlotito]

So, you are selling this wrong. You didn't have 5 jobs over 8 years. You had 3 jobs. Your current role, a startup, and when you were a student, you did "contract work." Lump them together. Contract work can be explained. 5 jobs in 8 years is sus.

Now, with 1.5 years at a startup that didn't go anywhere, fine, but people are going to see this as your first job out of school.

If FAANG isn't your current job, that means it was during our "contract work" period, which is gonna be meh at best. Spending 8 months in a junior role at a FAANG tells me 1) that you interview well or that you have connections in some way (neither of which are impressive) and 2) you aren't working there now.

FAANG alone gets your resume a second look. FAANG likes to play up the "you'll have us on your resume" and sure, it might impress some people, but it's also just like any other job.

My frank opinion? With what you've posted? You are still likely junior dev/dev. Apply to a lot of places. Best chance? Make connections with people. I hate to say it, but knowing people is still the best way to get in. Maybe reach out to those FAANG contacts you should still have.

[throwaway_sp11]

Thank you for the suggestions and the reality check. It all makes sense.

I think my original post was misleading, but I can't edit it anymore. I currently work at FAANG, 3.5 years there, mid-level but expecting a senior promo soon.

[clcaev]

Consider listing 2 jobs then, over 5 years of professional experience. If you think it's actually relevant, include college experience under the education section or another grouping that includes open source works, community volunteering, etc.

[Scubabear68]

Just based in your initial post and your replies here, putting on my hiring manager hat, you have me a bit confused (and that is not good).

For me at least, I want to see work experience first (post-college), then educational experience, then projects, open source, part time stuff. The progression is full time pro work, school, and “other”.

Your answers appear to be conflating full time work with school and projects and maybe open source. It makes it very difficult to get a handle on your “true” background.

You can deviate from that pattern, but you have to be very clear about it. Because as a hiring manager, if it’s clear we are starting on a good foot and building trust. If it’s not clear, I worry about communications skills, and maybe I worry you are trying to promote a side project as a full time job. Trust wanes a little.

Another example of that is single person consulting to various companies. Some people are clear about this on their CVs, and list the roles and companies they consulted to. Very clear, and short tenures are not a problem because that’s the nature of the beast (as long as you’ve had a perm job somewhere and shown some stability).

I have seen others with similar backgrounds list themselves as CEO of XYZ LLC and paint themselves as a C suite exec, and you dig and single it’s a sole proprietorship out of Kentucky (or whatever). Not good, I lose trust in the candidate (side note: LinkedIn kind of sucks at showing this clearly).

CV’s are very interesting because you do want to sell and market yourself, but at the same time you do want to steer clear of dark patterns that go over the line from selling yourself to over inflating your role too far.

Always put yourself in the shoes of a hiring manager truly trying to understand your career and abilities, market yourself well but be accurate and clear.

[throwaway_sp11]

Thank you for the feedback. I regret wording my OP that way, but I can't edit it anymore.

It makes a lot of sense to split it up like that. My early experience (throughout college) was some full-time roles (that I quit e.g. to accept a FAANG internship, which I think I would be foolish not to), some project-based work, and I list all of that as regular work experience. It's clear to me now that this causes some confusion.

I really appreciate you taking the time to explain this to me as someone who is on the other side of the process, and I'll incorporate this knowledge in my resume (which, it looks like, I need to fully rework).

[Scubabear68]

Happy to help! Yeah, the point is it not all about the code, but also how you work in professional corporate environment and how productive you will be in that environment. That is why college and projects are separated out.

[tomrod]

Project-based roles aren't jobs, typically, they're freelance or consulting.

I had three "roles" during graduate school that I jointly put on as "independent contractor" for awhile. It barely had relevance afterwards and certainly by a year in my field it was not really worth mentioning.

[lotsoweiners]

That sounds to me like you have 5 years professional experience since I’m not sure I’d count side jobs/projects while you were in school.

[astura]

That's only 2 jobs over five years.

>Before that I was a student so I picked up junior and project-based jobs to finance myself.

If you think this is relevant (I review resumes and I don't, fwiw) list them all under one "independent contractor" umbrella.

This is why I said we can't give you useful feedback without seeing your resume.

[ac2u]

best to file that under one contiguous period titled "Contracting" or "Freelancing". On your resume you can go into detail, but I wouldn't list them all as separate positions.

The resume game is sometimes a matter of the same information framed in the right way.