Performance statistics to highlight for web dev work on a resume

Question

I recently launched a new Wordpress website for an organization I've been working for, and I'm wanting to update my resume as a result.

I know "I made this website" isn't enough - a lot of people I've talked to in the past have recommended that I quantify my impact when describing the work I've done.

So my question is - what metrics or tidbits do people hiring for technical positions (web dev particularly) care about with regards to any significant web development work? Reduced size key assets by 50%? Improved page load times? Usability/speed (e.g. PageSpeed Insights) metrics? Measured increase in traffic?

I'm looking for the statistical, technical bullet points that will catch people's eyes on a resume.

Answer 1

Highlight:

• Tools you used to build or improve the website - both parts of the infrastructure (django, Hibernate, Spring, Angular, etc)
• Processes or communication styles - "worked as part of an open source community", "work for hire using daily status updates, and weekly meetings", "agile", "waterfall"
• Test tools used - unit test tools, regressive test tools, etc.

If you are using metrics, make sure that you can meaningfully talk about them. "It just happened to work out that way" is a pretty lame follow up answer - if you spend a month improving the performance of a website, you should be able to tell the interviewer:

• what was wrong with it, and what had to change to bring about the improvement
• how did you test it - what were the pluses and minuses to that type of test approach
• what it always true/under what circumstances did it not work
• what did it mean for the business? Did the business see a meaningful gain for your work?

If I see a metric and ask about it, I want the candidate to be able to answer these types of questions. If they can't I'll figure they were just trying to pad the resume. If they can't answer why the change was meaningful, I'll be worried that they can't focus on the most necessary work. If they can't answer how it was fixed and tested, it makes me worry that the work was only happy accident.

For some businesses, some metrics will matter more than others. I worked in the DoD where high quality testing was a huge deal, but usability was not a big deal. In eCommerce, page load times and people who can improve them is a big deal. So some of "what metric?" is also knowing the business and what a given business will care about most. When jumping between businesses, it's good to be able to explain "I did X because Y was critical to that type of business".

Answer 2

Well, if the performance of the website has noticeably been increased, it is sure worthwhile to mention it. Also, in my opinion, stating you used Wordpress to do this project could be benefitial. It adds to your experience of different development "techniques". You not only know how to make websites using HTML, and PHP, but also Wordpress. This could give you advantage over others who do not have experience with i.e. Wordpress.

For your resume, if you want to add stuff to projects that are worth mentioning, I would state using Wordpress, and i.e. an increasement of 50% with pageloading.

Project A Relaunched business website - <Special framework/API used> - 50% faster pageloading after <reason-x>

Keep it brief though: it's not a portfolio.

Answer 3

What problem did the new site address? It's not just about how a web site performs. How is the new site addressing the problems of the organization?

In terms of performance, if you did show an increase in some factor, that would imply you spent some time measuring before and after results. What benefits have you observed? Summarizing those would be the information to include. But think beyond just page load times and look at things like improved conversions, streamlined business process, increased customer engagement, etc. as long as you have data to back up the claims! Don't make up, any stats!