Week 12 — Final Polish, Resume, Start Applying

You’ve Built Something Real

Let’s package it and start getting interviews.

Day 1-2: Resume Writing

The Template That Works

DARSHAN ADDAR
Backend Engineer
darshan@email.com | github.com/Darshan-1820 | linkedin.com/in/darshan

─── PROJECTS ───

SplitEase — Expense Splitting API
Spring Boot | PostgreSQL | Redis | Docker | JWT Auth
[Live URL] | [GitHub]

• Built a REST API handling expense splitting with BigDecimal 
  precision for financial accuracy across groups of 2-50 users
• Implemented JWT authentication with refresh token rotation 
  and role-based access control
• Designed PostgreSQL schema with composite indexes, reducing 
  balance calculation queries from 450ms to 12ms
• Added Redis caching on frequently-read balance data, 
  cutting average response time by 78%
• Set up CI/CD pipeline (GitHub Actions) with integration 
  tests against real PostgreSQL — 95% test coverage
• Deployed via Docker on Railway with Prometheus metrics 
  and 99.9% uptime over 30 days

Domain Exposure: Payment Systems (a fintech company Global)
• Worked with payment card testing systems, APDU logs, 
  transaction processing, and card profile management
• Hands-on experience with EMV standards, AID extraction, 
  and payment terminal certification workflows

─── SKILLS ───

Languages: Java 21, SQL
Frameworks: Spring Boot, Spring Security, Spring Data JPA
Databases: PostgreSQL (indexing, transactions, query optimization)
Tools: Docker, Git, GitHub Actions, Redis, Maven
Concepts: REST API Design, System Design, ACID Transactions, 
          JWT Auth, Caching Strategies
Domain: Fintech, Payment Systems, Card Networks

─── EDUCATION ───

[Your degree] — [College] — [Year]

Resume Rules

1. Numbers, not adjectives. “Reduced query time from 450ms to 12ms” beats “improved performance.”
2. Lead with your project, not education. Your project proves skill. Your degree doesn’t.
3. “Domain Exposure” section is your secret weapon. Most freshers have zero real-world exposure.
4. One page. Always. Two pages = unread second page.
5. No skills you can’t explain in an interview. If you list Kafka, be ready for “explain how Kafka works.”

Day 3: GitHub README That Impresses

Your project README should include:

# SplitEase API

Expense splitting backend with financial-grade precision.

## Tech Stack
- Java 21 + Spring Boot 3
- PostgreSQL 16 + Redis 7
- Docker + GitHub Actions CI
- JWT Authentication

## Architecture
[Include a simple diagram showing API → Service → DB flow]

## API Endpoints
[Table of endpoints with descriptions]

## Key Design Decisions
- **BigDecimal for money:** Never float/double for financial calculations
- **Composite indexes:** Balance queries optimized from 450ms → 12ms
- **Refresh token rotation:** Short-lived access tokens + rotating refresh tokens
- **Cache invalidation:** Balance cache evicted on every expense creation

## Running Locally
docker compose up --build

## Live Demo
https://your-app.up.railway.app/swagger-ui.html

The “Key Design Decisions” section is gold. It shows you THINK about code, not just write it.

Day 4: Interview Prep — Behavioral

STAR format for every answer: Situation, Task, Action, Result.

Questions you’ll get:

“Tell me about a challenging bug you fixed.”

“While building my expense splitting API, I had a race condition where two users creating expenses simultaneously caused incorrect balance calculations. I traced it by adding request ID logging, found the issue was a non-transactional read in the balance service, fixed it with @Transactional(isolation = SERIALIZABLE) on the critical path, and added a concurrent integration test to prevent regression.”

“Why should we hire you?”

“I’m a backend engineer with hands-on fintech experience. I built a production-deployed expense API with JWT auth, Redis caching, and CI/CD. I also worked with real payment card testing systems at a fintech company Global — APDU logs, EMV standards, card profiles. I understand that financial software requires precision that other domains don’t — BigDecimal not float, ACID not eventual consistency, audit trails not just logging. I’m also fluent with AI-augmented development, which means I ship faster while understanding everything I ship.”

“Where do you see yourself in 2 years?”

“Going deeper into fintech backend systems. I want to work on the systems that actually move money — payment processing, settlement, reconciliation. The kind of systems where understanding matters more than typing speed.”

Day 5: Start Applying

Where to apply for fintech backend roles:

Application strategy:

• Apply to 5-10 companies per day
• Customize the first line of each application
• Always include your deployed project URL
• Follow up after 1 week if no response

Weekend: Final Checklist

• Resume: one page, numbers-driven, project-first
• GitHub: project README is polished with design decisions
• Project: deployed, health check passing, Swagger docs live
• DSA: finish DSA 11 — DP Intro, then take the Which Pattern? mega quiz cold — 12+/15 means your recognition is interview-ready
• DSA: 50+ problems solved, can explain each pattern out loud
• System Design: can whiteboard 4 problems from scratch
• Behavioral: 5 STAR stories prepared
• Applied to: at least 10 companies

You’re not “hoping” for a job. You’re showing up with a deployed production system, fintech domain knowledge, and the ability to discuss trade-offs. That’s more than most candidates with 2 years of “experience.”