So you’re an Android developer in search of a full-time gig, which means you’re polishing your résumé when you’re not sorting through job postings. What should your résumé include? How can you convey your unique mix of skills and experience to an employer? Here’s the thing about an
Android developer résumé: employers will really care about your previous work. While having a solid education, prestigious former employers, and great references are all useful, the decision whether to hire you will ultimately come down to the code you’ve shipped. In light of that, make sure to emphasize what you’ve worked on, and the results. For example, if you built an Android app at your last company that increased mobile engagement by 50 percent, you should structure your résumé to make that tidbit as prominent as possible. For example:
Android Developer, XYZ Gourmet May 2015-Jan. 2017 Worked with architects, engineering managers, business and product management teams to drive efficiencies and pursue new e-commerce opportunities for this savvy and growing e-tailer of gourmet food items. Selected Accomplishments
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Accelerated the company’s expansion by creating 2 mobile applications utilizing XML-RPC and JSON.
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Conceived, designed and implemented Gourmettogo, which boosted sales of high margin products by 15 percent.
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Reconfigured MYFAVGOURMET increasing customer loyalty and repeat sales by 18 percent.
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Integrated Facebook feature for easy sign on.
In other words, everything listed under “Selected Accomplishments” had a definitive result—exactly what a prospective employer wants. Anyone who’s worked with Android for any length of time also knows that the operating system has issues with fragmentation—simply put, not all Android smartphone manufacturers push through the latest OS updates on a regular basis. As a result, there are millions of phones out there running an outdated version of Android, despite Google
making a Herculean effort to bring the ecosystem into alignment. With that issue in mind, a “standard” Android developer résumé should emphasize that no device (or carrier) is left behind in the developer’s workflow; make sure to mention your skills with testing and deployment (while still maintaining an enviable time-to-market). An Android developer résumé should also touch on the developer’s tight code. If you have experience with updating patches to mitigate security risks, optimizing apps’ battery life, and documenting everything, you should make sure to mention it all. It’s one thing to create a fancy, shiny app; but showing that you’re rigorous in crafting the backend can go a long way to actually landing you the gig. If you’re not familiar with Kotlin, take the time to learn it before your next Android job hunt. Released in 2011 by JetBrains, Kotlin is now an official Android programming language, and it leverages Java libraries and APIs; questions about your familiarity with it
will inevitably rise during the job interview. If you know it, list it prominently in your résumé’s “Skills” section. Last but not least, if you’re submitting an online Android developer résumé, make sure to include hyperlinks to
Github and other pages containing your code and finished projects; your hiring manager will definitely want to take a look at your work before calling you in for an interview.
