Section for project in progress in my resume

Question

Some context

I am getting my MS in CS from a non-cs background and had one internship experience and a Bootcamp experience. I have a couple of major projects and a few relatively small projects in my gitHub.

Questions Is it advisable to have a section in my resume for the project in progress that I will be working on while searching for a full-time job as a software engineer? Let me be more specific;

Project is still in the conceptual stage. How should this be added to my resume?
Since its a conceptual project some of the technologies might change, how do you explain the difference in what I have in the resume to the actual project during an interview?

I found this (1, 2, 3, 4) but my question is more about a project that is still in the conceptual stage and I am not sure how things will turn out yet.

Does this answer your question? How should incomplete freelance projects be presented in a CV? — gnat, Jun 09 '22 at 08:38
I wouldn't add a "conceptual" project to your resume. You really haven't done it yet. You can chat about it when you interview but the resume should lists facts and accomplishments, not things that might happen in the future. — DaveG, Jun 13 '22 at 02:55
It makes sense @DaveG. If I started working on it a week before applying to jobs would that still consider conceptual? I mean how much work should have been done before it can be added to my resume? — spock's-neurons, Jun 13 '22 at 05:44
@spock's-neurons As an interviewer, I want to see concrete examples of work. Everyone can have ideas about things they want to do. And once work is done, or mostly done, it is interesting to talk about design choices. But if you've just starting thinking about a project, you don't have anything to show. And really, if you started working on something for only a week, or even a few weeks, just how much are you losing by leaving it off your resume? — DaveG, Jun 13 '22 at 12:24

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 09 '22 at 09:38

Questions Is it advisable to have a section in my resume for the project in progress that I will be working on while searching for a full-time job as a software engineer?

Generally yes - assuming that is you either need to explain a current employment gap or the project gives you a "selling point" about yourself.

Let me be more specific;

Project is still in the conceptual stage. How should this be added to my resume?

Since its a conceptual project some of the technologies might change, how do you explain the difference in what I have in the resume to the actual project during an interview?

Unless you actually have something significant to talk about I'd leave it off personally - "conceptual stage" sounds like you haven't really got a great deal of substance for talking about it.

So I am currently getting to talk to a client about my first freelancing project and the client is a friend of mine. How would you qualify "significant" in this context? — spock's-neurons, Jun 09 '22 at 23:53

JW at Flavia · Answer 2 · 2022-06-13T06:53:26.047

1

"Planning-phase of a xyz-project; exploring and evaluating usability of technology A, B and C."

Side-note: Not everyone here is a native speaker, it would be good to avoid abbreviations like "MS in CS from a non-cs background".

edited Jun 13 '22 at 06:53

answered Jun 09 '22 at 08:08

JW at Flavia

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Section for project in progress in my resume

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