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Resumé Driven Development - Your Career is In Your Hands

Summary

The episode introduces the concept of “Resumé Driven Development,” which reframes resume building as a proactive career strategy rather than a reactive job search tool. The core idea is that a strong resume should be a byproduct of measurable impact and achieved goals in your current role, not just a list of completed projects.

Jonathan explains that the key to demonstrating this impact is setting clear, measurable goals with your manager. Instead of accepting vague objectives like “deliver the project,” you should push for goals tied to specific business outcomes, such as improving metrics, reducing cycle time, or enhancing team culture. This shift forces you to focus on the why behind your work and its tangible results.

He acknowledges the inherent risk in this approach—tying your resume to business impact means a project’s failure could leave you without a compelling story. However, he suggests focusing on other measurable outcomes like technical solutions, scope management, or process improvements if direct business impact is unclear or fails to materialize.

The episode concludes by framing this as a complete feedback loop for career success. By proactively setting and tracking measurable goals, you create proof of your value. This proof strengthens your resume, impresses current and future managers, and, most importantly, puts you in control of your career trajectory. The ultimate charge is to stop waiting for external validation and start actively managing your career through deliberate, goal-oriented action.

Topic Timeline

  • 00:00:00 — Introduction to Resumé Driven Development — Jonathan Cuttrell introduces the podcast and the topic of resume-driven development. He explains that while a resume is often the first filter in a job search, the focus should be on the career outcomes required to build a good resume. A strong resume is built on demonstrating real impact, not just taking credit for work.
  • 00:03:23 — The Problem: Work Without Clear Goals — Jonathan identifies a common problem: our work often doesn’t align well with the ‘proof’ needed for a resume because we lack clear, measurable goals. He argues that improving your resume means focusing on how you met important, measurable goals. The fundamental practice is to discuss these goals with your manager.
  • 00:04:47 — Moving Beyond ‘Deliver the Project’ Goals — He critiques the typical company goal of ‘deliver project X by date Y,’ noting it communicates little value on a resume. The emphasis must shift to the measurable impact and business value of the work. He asks critical questions: What characteristic makes the project important? What business impact will it have? What metrics prove its success?
  • 00:06:14 — Acknowledging Risk and Alternative Metrics — Jonathan acknowledges the risk of tying your resume to business impact—if the project fails, that impact isn’t there. He suggests alternative, measurable focuses if business impact is unclear, such as technical solutions, reducing cycle time (for managers), or improving internal culture. These can also form the basis of strong resume points.
  • 00:07:15 — The Total System: Goals, Impact, and Career — He connects the dots, presenting a ‘total system.’ To have a thriving career (proxied by a good resume), you must be able to measure your impact. The best way to measure impact is to set and track goals. The best way to set those goals is by having a critical conversation with your manager. If your manager can only set delivery goals, you should propose your own measurable goals.
  • 00:08:59 — The Manager’s Perspective and Mutual Benefit — Jonathan explains the manager’s perspective: most managers want their team members to succeed, as it reflects well on them. There is mutual benefit in you setting and achieving impactful goals. Proposing your own goals can impress your manager and kick-start a more productive conversation about impact and career growth.
  • 00:10:06 — The Career-Changing Conversation — He provides a script for the conversation with your manager: explain you want to set measurable goals to ensure success in your current role, show the impact of your work, and demonstrate that impact on the manager’s behalf. This conversation can change your relationship with your manager and the course of your career.
  • 00:10:42 — Tracking and Telling Your Story — Jonathan stresses the importance of keeping track of your accomplishments. If you have major impact but don’t remember the details, it becomes useless in future job conversations. Your future jobs depend on your ability to tell a specific story of the value you brought, which is best done by showing proof through achieved, measurable goals.
  • 00:11:27 — Final Charge: Take Control of Your Career — In closing, Jonathan challenges listeners to stop waiting for external validation like performance reviews. Instead, proactively track goals and take control of your career. He states that your career success is mostly dependent on your own action or inaction, and if you don’t control it, no one else will.

Episode Info

  • Podcast: Developer Tea
  • Author: Jonathan Cutrell
  • Category: Technology Business Careers Society & Culture
  • Published: 2025-09-24T07:00:00Z
  • Duration: 00:12:27

References

Podcast Info

Transcript

[00:00:00] hey everyone and welcome to developer team my name is jonathan cuttrell and my goal on the

[00:00:11] show is to help driven developers like you find clarity perspective and purpose in their careers

[00:00:15] we’ve talked a lot about resumes on this show and there’s a good reason for that a resume

[00:00:23] does tend to be the first step the kind of top line item for getting your foot in the door

[00:00:33] at a at a new job but it also you know this resume driven development as we’ve as we’ve

[00:00:43] coined this before tends to also fit well with improving your career outcomes all right so

[00:00:53] we’re going to talk a little bit a bit about how you can go about this in a more effective manner

[00:00:59] in your career but i want to focus in uh not just on the importance of your resume which we we’ve

[00:01:07] talked about this uh the fact that you know resumes they are one part of the of the process

[00:01:14] of getting a new offer uh you know looking for a job of course you know it’s it’s almost equally

[00:01:21] or perhaps more important that you develop your resume in a more effective manner and that’s

[00:01:23] all of the relationships necessary to get referrals and so resumes are not the only way in

[00:01:28] but they tend to be the first way that you get filtered out all right so uh we focus on the

[00:01:37] resume not because the resume itself is so critical but rather because the outcomes you require

[00:01:45] in order to have a good resume will build your career so what does that mean it means

[00:01:53] that in order for you to build a good resume without having to do a bunch of gymnastics

[00:02:00] and uh you know kind of taking credit for things that ultimately probably you shouldn’t take credit

[00:02:07] for instead to build a good resume you actually need to have impact you actually need to uh do

[00:02:16] things in your current role or do things in your side projects and your hustles or whatever it is

[00:02:23] building your resume from that show real impact all right so we’ve talked a little bit about this

[00:02:33] before in the past about how do you show impact on a resume broadly speaking this is proof this

[00:02:42] is proof you want to be able to explain what did you do what did i impact right and and and show the

[00:02:53] results of what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do what did you do

[00:02:56] that the thing that you’re saying you did happened and and the proof is of course you know people

[00:03:05] can’t really easily go and validate these numbers but if they ask you about it you pressure test

[00:03:11] the assertions that you’ve made it’s likely that they can uncover if you’re lying

[00:03:15] but in order to have proof on the table you need to actually accomplish these things now

[00:03:23] one of the problems that i’ve seen as a manager and also as an engineer is that very often our

[00:03:30] work doesn’t really line up super well with the proof why is that most of the time this is the

[00:03:39] result of not setting clear goals all right so this this whole picture that we’re trying to paint

[00:03:46] here is when you focus on improving your resume

[00:03:53] focusing on showing how you met important goals if you do nothing else if you take nothing else

[00:04:00] away from this episode take this away that when you improve your resume you do so by focusing on

[00:04:08] big important goals that are measurable you want to be able to show that you met the goal so

[00:04:15] how do you get there this is a fundamental kind of practice

[00:04:23] okay with your manager and your next one-on-one or maybe the next one or the next one as soon as

[00:04:31] your manager has time to talk about this and can clear their schedule long enough to discuss this

[00:04:37] with you talk about the measurable goals that you are tracking towards now most of you are probably

[00:04:47] going to have this discussion and the goal that your manager is going to give you initially

[00:04:51] is to deliver the goals that you are tracking towards and the goal that you are going to give

[00:04:53] to your manager is to deliver the goals that you are tracking towards and the goal that you are tracking towards

[00:04:56] that is in almost every role i’ve ever held as an engineer or as a manager that was the way that

[00:05:04] the company kind of sets goals deliver some project scope by some project date and there’s

[00:05:11] nothing necessarily wrong with that goal but imagine putting that on a resume what does that

[00:05:18] communicate to an out to an outsider to an onlooker

[00:05:23] all right so in three to six months the same thing would be true for an internal manager

[00:05:33] this is why it’s so important to get more specific about the measurability and impact of your goals

[00:05:39] the impact is not that you delivered something if that was true then we could deliver whatever

[00:05:44] we wanted to why is it that you’re doing what you are doing what is the characteristic of that

[00:05:51] project that makes it important

[00:05:53] what business impact is it going to have tell me the metrics that you can use to determine

[00:06:01] what impact this has had now if you’re listening closely you’ll recognize that there’s a little bit

[00:06:08] of risk in this for you there’s a little bit of risk because what if the project fails

[00:06:14] what if we go through all this work and even though we delivered excellently the project fails

[00:06:21] there is risk there

[00:06:23] right the business impact that you would otherwise want to outline on your resume

[00:06:28] is not there there are other metrics that you can focus on although business impact is top line it’s

[00:06:34] going to be the most impactful thing you can put on your resume it’s going to be the most impactful

[00:06:38] thing you can talk about to your future managers when you’re having career conversations what else

[00:06:43] can you put on there well if you needed to cut scope if you have to find a clever solution a

[00:06:50] technical solution if you uh you know

[00:06:53] if you need to reduce if you’re a manager and you want to focus on reducing cycle time

[00:06:58] for your teams if you want to focus on you know internal culture these are all things that you can

[00:07:05] derive goals around so this connection here is it’s kind of a the total system that we’re talking

[00:07:15] about here is in order to have a thriving career which we’re proxying to a good resume but

[00:07:23] really this is really about having a thriving career in order to walk into the room and put

[00:07:29] something on the table that says here is the value i’m capable of generating in this role

[00:07:35] right in a role uh in order to have that it’s critical it’s necessary to be able to measure

[00:07:43] your impact the work that you’re doing the most likely way you can measure impact on the work

[00:07:50] that you’re doing is to set goals and then track towards them

[00:07:53] the most likely way you’re going to set goals and track towards them is by having a critical

[00:07:58] conversation with your manager as soon as possible about those goals if your manager is not able to

[00:08:05] set those goals if they can only tell you that the only goal they have is to deliver the project

[00:08:11] track that goal but also propose your own there’s nothing to stop you from doing that in fact

[00:08:18] most managers myself include if a report comes to me and they say

[00:08:23] i have a goal for myself i have a goal that i think is important that i think is going to

[00:08:30] advance my career this is going to uh probably it would probably impress your manager to begin with

[00:08:37] but it’s also going to kick start that conversation uh where the manager may not

[00:08:42] have all of the domain knowledge even that you have as an ic on a project right if you have

[00:08:49] that knowledge you bring it to the table you say here’s the goal that i’m tracking towards

[00:08:53] your manager very well may just adopt that goal and hold you accountable to it right so

[00:08:59] the important kind of a total feedback loop here is your manager if they’re like me if they’re like

[00:09:09] most managers they want you to succeed they want you to grow they want you to get a promotion they

[00:09:13] want you know they want good things for you if my uh uh you know ics are succeeding that reflects

[00:09:21] well on me as a manager

[00:09:23] right so there’s there’s kind of mutual benefit when you succeed so your manager is

[00:09:28] interested in your success right how do you succeed you build your career off of these

[00:09:35] measurable impact right off the measurable impact that you would otherwise put on a resume

[00:09:42] that’s why we say resume driven development it’s a completely valid way of thinking about

[00:09:48] setting goals for yourself because most of the time those goals are

[00:09:53] going to be beneficial to the company beneficial to your manager and ultimately and most importantly

[00:09:58] for this conversation beneficial to you in your current role and in future roles so have that

[00:10:06] conversation as soon as you can with your manager explain that you want to set goals to ensure that

[00:10:13] you are successful in your current role that you want to be able to measure those goals that you

[00:10:18] want to show the impact of your work and you want to show it on their behalf this conversation

[00:10:23] could totally change the way that your manager looks at your relationship but also it can change

[00:10:29] the course of your career if you genuinely put effort into this specific thing of measuring goals

[00:10:36] tracking towards them and actually accomplishing them putting something down uh you know keeping

[00:10:42] track of this is a critical part if you have some major impact but you don’t even remember what it

[00:10:47] was and that becomes kind of useless for you in conversations about what you’re capable of

[00:10:53] right you could say well i worked on some project well what did you do i just kind of i submitted

[00:10:59] code right i was it was a critical part of the conversation well everybody on a project may be

[00:11:04] a critical part of it what did you do specifically what what value did you bring to the table

[00:11:09] your job your future jobs are dependent on you being able to tell that story how do you tell

[00:11:17] that story the best way is by showing proof showing proof having those

[00:11:23] measurable goals so you can put them on the table thank you so much for listening to today’s episode

[00:11:27] of developer t hopefully this was uh a challenging subject for you if you haven’t done this it’s

[00:11:33] it can be very easy to go many years without setting any goals at all most of the time we’re

[00:11:39] just kind of waiting on somebody to tell us that we’re doing okay uh we’re waiting on someone to

[00:11:44] give us a positive performance review we’re waiting on feedback rather than proactively

[00:11:48] going out and saying i’m going to track this goal for myself i’m going to take

[00:11:53] control of my career that is my charge for you today if you’re not in control of your career

[00:11:58] no one else will be you’re going to get taken advantage of people will uh ultimately they may

[00:12:04] want to work with you because you’re an enjoyable person to work with you may be good at your job

[00:12:09] they may recognize that but ultimately your career progress your career success is mostly

[00:12:16] dependent on your action or inaction thank you so much for listening and until next time enjoy your tea

[00:12:23] you

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