> Resumes don’t have an explicit section for building rockets or Minecraft servers, and even if you stick it somewhere in “personal projects”, that’s not where

> Resumes don’t have an explicit section for building rockets or Minecraft servers, and even if you stick it somewhere in “personal projects”, that’s not where the reader’s eye will go. That's true, but a good cover letter can go a long way toward helping with this. Most cover letters are generic, bland, and obviously copy-pasted from a template. (Or more often from a previous application, sometimes with info about the previous company left in!) A cover letter that talks about something exciting you've done recently, and ideally how it might be related to the job, or even just how it demonstrates skills you'll use in the job (and describes exactly how), is awesome in comparison. A letter like that would absolutely get you an interview with me, almost regardless of experience. One of our current co-op students actually had almost no programming experience on paper; he had actually switched out of a theatre degree iirc. But his cover letter was awesome (the theatre degree probably not being coincidental). Got him the interview, which got him the job, and I haven't regretted it. Just a co-op of course, but the point stands. The cover letter is probably the most important part of your application. Take the time to write a good one.