Nothing happens until that resume is written. And because you don’t often write resumes, it’s okay if you are feeling a bit nervous. While your resume is like those for many other careers, there are obviously some specifics unique to iOS development and presentation of your skills to a potential employer.

Employment managers are averse to wasting their time screening resumes and interviewing people. They will probably narrow resumes down to three. Those three will have captured attention within the first eight seconds or so – the employer will have seen something that makes him/her want to review the whole piece. Here are some tips that may help yours be one that gets that further review.

General “Rules” for All Candidates

1. Obviously include your contact information somewhere at the top. No employer wants to have to go back and search for it. Include name, phone number and email address. Don’t worry about physical address. It just takes up a line for no reason.

2. Make your email address professional. Get a Gmail account and use some variation of your name.

3. Understand You Will Get Googled and searched for on Social Media. If you have some sketchy stuff on social media accounts, go through and delete things, and perhaps de-friend some people (or at least hide all posts from them for the time being.

Think about the stuff you do want potential employers to see. Update your LinkedIn profile (if you don’t have one, get one now), your website and portfolio (this is a must for iOS developers), and write a blog post or two, submitting them for publication. The more you can be published in your niche, the better.

4. Job Objective or Summary? The predominant thought now is that you are better of writing a professional summary than a career objective statement. Why? Because a potential employer is not as interested in where you want to go as he is in what benefit or value you can bring to the organization. Put your summary at the top somewhere.

5. Be Brief. You have to find the right balance between getting all of the important stuff in and yet not overwhelming the reader. One page is often enough for an entry level position right out of school; two pages is ideal for an experienced candidate with a strong job history. Sometimes it is a good idea, once you have finished your resume, to send all of your detailed information as well as your finished resume to a writing service that specializes in resumes for review and editing. This is especially true if you believe your resume is too short or too long. Here is a list of the best writing services which has an entire department of resume creation pros who will gladly do this for a reasonable price.

“Rules” Specifically for iOS Candidates

1. Do Your Research. iOS positions are found in all types of organizations. These include in very conservative organizations such as banks and other financial institutions, to established IT companies to progressive startups. Your professional summary at the top of the page is your first impression, and it should match the organization’s climate in style and language. If you are not sure, research the company and get a feel for the language and style on the website.

2. Your Education Section. List the school from which you received your degree, not schools before that. List any honors in your field of study. No one really cares if you were president of your sorority or fraternity or clubs you were active in. They take up precious space. You can expand on this during an interview.

Do consider any relevant conferences you went to as a part of your education. Employers like to see candidates who take extra time to attend these things.

3. Your Technical Skills Section. Here you will list languages, databases, technologies, development software, platforms, and app/web services. It’s a good idea to put how many years you have used these in parentheses after each entry – it gives the reviewer an idea of your skill level without you having to take up space describing it. Again, this is something you can expand on in an interview.

If specific skills are listed in the job posting, those go first on your list.

Work History. Here are important tips to consider.

• If you don’t have a lengthy work history, be certain to include contributions to any open source communities. If the list is long, put the most important ones first. If you have a lengthy work history, you may still list a couple of important ones.
• List you work history in chronological and keep the descriptions as brief as possible (again, the interview is for expansion). Your achievements will be in the areas of tools and apps you developed. If you mention apps, provide the appropriate link.
• If you refer to a portfolio on your website, provide the link to that specific page, not just the site. Your goal is to make navigation as easy as possible.
• If you have a long list of positions, you can group the very early ones under “Other Work Experience” or just list the company, job title and dates all in one line.

Some Other Do’s and Don’ts

• You will be sending your file digitally. Give the file name something that is easily recognizable, perhaps Your Name-Resume.pdf
• Always send the resume in PDF format – it’s universal and will always look right.
• Always double-check your spelling of terms – “iOS,” not IOS, “Xcode,” not “xCode,” etc.
• Don’t include any work experience that is not related to iOS development. No one cares.
• Don’t list references. They take up space. You can arrive at the interview with a printout if you should be asked for them. You can also include them on your website or your LinkedIn profile.
• Don’t include a picture. This may be common in other places in the world, but not in the U.S.
• Don’t put soft or irrelevant skills in your resume. No one cares if you have skills in Windows 10. You may want to include some soft skills in your cover letter but not in the resume.

A Word on Design
Take your clues regarding design from the research you have done on each organization. You will know pretty quickly whether you need a classic traditional resume or a more avant garde piece for a more progressive “jeans and t-shirts” company. Today, colors are acceptable, especially for headings, and graphics may be appropriate for a more progressive organization.