Had a look at your resume: https://resume.kurtisknodel.com/. I'm struggling to figure out what you're good at; is it C#, is it PHP, is it React, or is it something else. I'm suspicious of the 7-years programming exp as well; the freelancing gigs with little specifics seem to do the heavy lifting for that statement.
Are you going for junior dev roles? If you're not getting them, maybe consider applying to tech adjacent roles (IT, customer support at tech companies, etc)?
mmarian is right. OP I'd honestly dispense with some of the numbers - they're weirdly specific and probably have the opposite of the intended effect, like:
> Networked with clients to expand potential clientele to over 7+ people
... so 8?
Your résumé shows that your first tech job started in January 2022. If you’ve been unemployed for 1.5 years as of January 2026, then your max amount of professional experience (which is most employers really care about) can really only be ~2.5 years.
Technical skills:
> Git
> Software Development
Listing Git is like listing VS Code - it’s too basic to be worth mentioning. Use that space to highlight more valuable skills. The same goes for listing “software development” as a skill; it’s assumed if you’re applying in the IT industry.
The "7+" clients thing is actually "more than 7 but I keep getting new clients and don't want to update my resume every time", but I get how that comes across.
For the max professional exp: does freelancing not count? I was making bank in high school, so I figured if I'm doing contract work for employers and making money, then it's professional, no? (naturally freelance isn't going so well now, otherwise I wouldn't be looking for a job)
Otherwise that all makes sense, thanks for the feedback! :)
> I'm struggling to figure out what you're good at
Can it not be all of them? :p
That's one of my big challenges with resumes. People assume I can only be good at one thing and/or assume that I'm lying about my work experience.
I can get _really good_ references from all of my previous employers (because I am legitimately good at everything on my resume), but I never seem to get to that point.
Historically, if I get a technical interview, I get the job every time. The challenge is getting the technical interview.
If anyone told me that they are good at everything, it would show a lack of self awareness if they have only been working for three three or four years and would be an immediate red flag.
But your real issue is that you have a generic experience that really doesn’t stand out and the software development field is saturated. Yes I know everyone has to start somewhere. The market just really sucks right now and there really isn’t any reason for companies to hire junior developers when they can find their perfect match.
The more broad and general the claim of value the heavier burden there is on trust.
It's the same for products. Products with very narrow niche value props are immediately attractive to the few people with those specific needs. When you sound like everything to everyone, people are naturally less likely to believe you and the only way around that is a strong recommendation/referral. (Not a name you list on resume, but someone the hiring person trusts saying "you should really consider hiring this person, they are exceptional").
The more specifically relevant you can be to their needs, the more you will stand out.
This is as true for products as it is for resumes, especially when considering that people "hire" products.
I agree with the other respondent. I’d go as far as to say your resume is bad. All I got from it is that you went to university and have some backend experience and also game development experience. I would have passed on your resume if it had been submitted to a job I was hiring for. There is not even a GitHub link.
A person should be able to look at your resume and visualise what you have done and what you could do for them. What game(s) did you work on? What PHP frameworks did you work with? What were the internal tools you built?
“We need someone to do x, is this the resume of someone who can do x?”
The job market is tough and fixing your resume might not be a silver bullet but it is at least something actionable :)
Make multiple versions of your resume, each of which emphasizes a different aspect of your skillset, and use the one that most closely matches the job description when you apply. When I am really interested in a job, I usually make a new version of my resume just for that one job application. It's not as much work as it sounds, because I just include or exclude different bullet points depending on the main skills required in the job description, so that when the person reviewing my resume reads it, they will say "I'm looking for an experienced C# developer... and this is an experienced C# developer! It's a match!". If I include too much info about my other skills, then they wonder if I'm much of a C# developer at all. It's about reducing what the hiring manager would see as "noise" so that they clearly receive the "signal" that they are looking for.
Also, leverage recruiters - give your resume to as many professional recruiters as you can. They're often better than applying directly now. Also apply at staffing companies, that's a good way in.
I briefly looked into something similar; I wanted to solve a problem I faced when designing my bathroom. But I realised it's very unlikely I would've paid for this, even if it existed. Think this is something where you need a lot of runway, like a VC startup.
Still on my AI extension for LibreOffice Writer. Growing ok, 1,700+ downloads since launch 3 weeks ago. Still no clue how to benefit from it, but I'm glad I've finally built something that's actually got traction https://extensions.libreoffice.org/en/extensions/show/99471
Figure out who your target customer is. Imagine yourself in their shoes - how/where do you spend your time, what do you like learning about, under what circumstances would you consider a rando small software company in Michigan.
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