This episode is a live recording from the Hacker House fireside chat on February 5th, 2025, in the Codédex community, kicking off our “Roast My Resume” February Monthly Challenge. 🔥
We invited Jovanay Carter, Co-Founder of The Dev Difference & ex-Google Technical Recruiter (and former coworker!), who’s reviewed over 20,000+ resumes in her career. She shares insider tips on crafting standout resumes, optimizing LinkedIn profiles, networking strategically, how to get a referal, and everything in between to land more interviews in 2025.
Stick around for the Q&A at the end, where we answered live questions from the community!
Want to see more Boba Talk? Follow us @boba_talk on Twitter! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review — it really helps!
Show Notes:
(0:00) Intro
(1:27) Lightning Round!
(4:39) Becoming a tech recruiter
(6:32) Moving to Google and hiring for Android, OS, Privacy
(7:29) Pivoting to Software Engineering
(9:41) Plug: Roast My Resume Challenge
(9:54) Common pitfalls in resumes
(11:42) Importance of a personal portfolio
(14:26) The Experience Paradox for CS students
(18:41) Skills section on a resume
(22:52) Keywords on a LinkedIn profile
(30:04) Landing a job at the Grace Hopper Conference
(35:28) Advice on talking to a recruiter
(36:56) Finding events via Luma
(42:55) Asking for referals
(44:02) The Dev Difference
(50:26) @Valérie: What are common dealbreakers for recruiters?
(53:03) @juanpabloduqueb: What are some entry-level roles in tech that are open to people without formal industry experience?
(55:23) @AW: What’s the best way to approach a recruiter on LinkedIn without sounding desperate or generic?
(59:54) @Samppiii: How can a CS student build a standout project that will catch the attention of recruiters and hiring managers?
(1:00:39) @CoderBlue10: Which roles should we go for in the age of AI?
(1:04:30) Outro
Episode links:
- 🗣️ The Dev Difference
- 🔥 Roast My Resume
- 🤖 Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
- 📄 Jovanay's Resume
- 👩💻 Grace Hopper Celebration
- 🧑🏾💻 AfroTech Conference
- 🗓️ Luma
- 💖 WECode Conference
Keep up with Jovanay:
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/jovanay-carter
- Website: The Dev Difference
Boba Talk:
- Host: Sonny Li
- Producer: Jay Yow
Codédex:
The Boba Talk podcast has been brought to you by Codédex. We are a learn to code platform with 300K happy users. Based in Brooklyn, NY.
- Website: codedex.io
- Instagram: @codedex.io
- Twitter: @codedex_io
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.