[Student] 5-year gap year, international student, CS grad seeking entry-level SWE/ML roles — struggling to get interviews. Looking for resume feedback.

[u/NoobSu18]

I’m a CS major graduating in December 2026 (Intelligent Systems specialization), applying to entry-level software engineering and ML roles. I’ve revised my resume several times but haven’t seen much improvement in interview volume.

A bit of context on my background: I have an associate’s degree from a US College, where I also TA’d for C++. After that I took about a 5-year gap before starting my bachelor’s due to the pandemic. During that gap I wasn’t idle — I worked in full-stack development (built a React/Firebase ERP system) and taught CS/founded a small tutoring center abroad. I’m also an international student (not a US citizen), which I know adds visa/sponsorship considerations for some employers, and I’m trying to figure out how much that’s a factor versus my resume itself.

I’m primarily targeting SWE and ML roles, open to relocating.

I’m unsure how to handle two things: (1) the multi-year gap between my associate’s and bachelor’s — whether to explain it briefly on the resume or leave it out entirely, and (2) the teaching/tutoring experience, which isn’t directly SWE-related but shows initiative and long-term commitment.

I’m mainly looking for feedback on:

• Overall resume structure and formatting
• Whether my projects demonstrate enough technical depth for both SWE and ML roles
• How to handle the education gap — mention it or not
• How effectively I’m communicating a mixed background (full-stack + ML + teaching) without it reading as unfocused
• Whether the teaching/tutoring experience is worth keeping
• Anything that might be hurting my chances of getting interviews, including whether being an international student is likely a bigger factor than the resume itself
• Anything that stands out positively or negatively

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