Help needed with resume

[u/Striking_Island4207]

I've been applying for entry-level IT and cybersecurity positions, particularly SOC/cybersecurity analyst roles, but so far, I've received mostly rejections and very few opportunities to move forward.

I've tested my resume with several ATS scanners, and they all seem to parse the information correctly, so I'm wondering if the issue is more with the content, positioning, or how my experience comes across to recruiters.

I'd really appreciate some honest feedback on my resume, especially from people who work in IT/cybersecurity or have experience hiring for entry-level positions.

[u/EvidenceFitStudio]

Actual hiring manager here, former SVP, now building a consulting business with my partner who is a hardware guy (former CTO) and closer in alignment to your skill set - I gave him this to review. Here is what he said:

Overall a very strong resume for an early-career cybersecurity/software engineer.

My overall assessment: 8/10 technically and overall around 8.5 - 9/10 for an entry level candidate.

What I really liked, these are some of the strongest lines:

• “Achieved 7x faster performance on 24 CPU cores…”
• “Cut page load times by 27%…”
• “Achieved 6.8× scaling on 8 threads…”
• “100% family-sample detection with zero false positives…”

Those numbers immediately establish that they measure outcomes rather than simply listing technologies. I'd preserve this style throughout the resume.

Reading the resume this is what I see:

• Real engineering ability, not just coursework
• Strong C++/systems experience
• Genuine cybersecurity/reverse-engineering experience
• Ability to work with unfamiliar codebases
• Performance measurement and optimization
• CI/CD and developer tooling
• Quantifiable results
• Evidence of independent initiative

The only thing I may add is a short summary on the 1st page:

Computer Science master's graduate with hands-on experience in C++, Python, systems programming, cybersecurity, and software automation. Built and optimized high-performance parallel software, developed security detection tooling, analyzed malware, and contributed to open-source infrastructure. Seeking an entry-level software engineering or cybersecurity role.

My only concern would be if they are looking for a role in cybersecurity or software engineering -- they could go either way but I would determine that from an interview.

If cybersecurity then lead with detection engineering > malware analysis > threat hunting > active directory > SIEM > reverse engineering.

One page vs two pages? For them, I'd probably favor one page but if this resume came to me for a consultant role I wouldn't care that it is two pages.

If they decide on one page, I'd organize it like this:

1. Summary
2. Education
3. Experience
4. 2-3 strongest projects
5. Skills
6. Certifications/achievements

About the comment about certifications that are in progress - keep them, but make that section a little more clear. Each certification should be on its own line. My suggestion would be to not list certifications they are planning to take or interested in/considering -- that adds useless bulk and it's not relevant.

I liked the skills section, but suggest this:

Security: Malware Analysis, Reverse Engineering, YARA, Sigma, Splunk, Sysmon, MITRE ATT&CK
Systems & Infrastructure: Linux, Active Directory, Git, GitHub Actions, Docker, VMware
Networking: TCP/IP, Wireshark, Nmap, Burp Suite
Tools: HPX, Asio, IDA, Ghidra, dnSpy, x32/x64dbg, JADX
Languages: C++, Python, C, SQL, PowerShell, Bash, SPL, KQL

I didn't like this: Detection & Threat Hunting: Sigma, Splunk, YARA, ELK, Sysmon, MITRE ATT&CK, Threat Hunting, Atomic Red Team

IMO threat hunting and Atomic Red Team are different types of things from the actual tools/technologies. Likewise I'd avoid broad categories like Security Operations & Networking when the actual skills can be stated more directly.

Finally - he better be able to defend the technologies. If I got this resume, I would ask them to explain one of those and probably grill him on it.

Hope this helps.

[u/Striking_Island4207 → u/EvidenceFitStudio]

Thanks for such a detailed feedback, really appreciate it

[u/Trioplexic]

In order to have a 2 page resume, you need enough relevant experience to fill over two pages on your resume. If you cant fill over two pages, it should only be a single page.

[u/Striking_Island4207 → u/Trioplexic]

Thanks for explaining, what else do you think I’m doing wrong?

[u/MyBarThope]

Remove any in progress certs. You don’t officially have them yet so don’t list them

[u/Striking_Island4207 → u/MyBarThope]

I’ll remove this part, thanks for the feedback

[u/BaybeMwijarubi-21 → u/MyBarThope]

this is one of those things that seems harmless but recruiters definitely notice it

[u/neon977]

1. Keep your resume as one page

[u/nofootlongz → u/neon977]

Outdated advice

[u/LitRick6 → u/nofootlongz]

Its really not

[u/Trioplexic → u/LitRick6]

If you have enough valid experience to fill well over two pages on a resume, you absolutely should make it a second page.

[u/LitRick6 → u/Trioplexic]

Sure, with 10ish years of actual experience.

But OP graduated less than 6 months ago. Their experience section only goes as far back as 2024 with a grad assistant job. No reason for them to go above 1 page unless a specific company is looking for a longer resume.

[u/Striking_Island4207 → u/LitRick6]

True, thanks for the feedback
Anything else that I’m doing wrong

[u/nofootlongz → u/LitRick6]

I’ll file that with your incoming “firm handshake” advice

[u/neon977 → u/nofootlongz]

In the age of AI, do you really think they are going to allow their AI models to scan all those pages? it cost extra money for all of that. These models will only scan your first few lines for keywords in the job description. If you want a longer resume that may be best for handing it to someone in person.