Software Engineer resume
In the first pass, a software engineer resume gets read for two things. Does your stack overlap with the posting, and have you owned something end to end? Being assigned tickets on a project is a very different thing from having built it.
- 01Language and framework overlap with the posting, stated in the posting's own words.
- 02Evidence of ownership: you designed, built and shipped the thing yourself.
- 03Scale numbers: requests handled, data volume, users, services, team size.
- 04A GitHub link where the repositories actually have readable code and a README.
Languages
- Java
- Python
- JavaScript
- TypeScript
- Go
- C++
Backend and data
- Spring Boot
- Node.js
- REST APIs
- PostgreSQL
- MySQL
- Redis
- Kafka
Delivery
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- CI/CD
- AWS
- Git
- unit testing
Put down only what is true and what you can be interviewed on. A term you cannot defend will win you the screening and then lose you the interview.
Worked on backend services for the client's order management system.
Built and shipped the order-reservation service handling 40k requests/day, cutting p99 checkout latency from 1.8s to 340ms.
- A self-rated skills matrix with proficiency bars. It carries no information and parses badly.
- Listing every technology you have ever touched. You will be interviewed on whatever is on the page.
- Describing the project instead of your part in it. "The team built" tells a screener nothing about you specifically.
Check yours against a real posting
Paste your resume and a software engineer job description into the free ATS score checker or browse live software engineer openings.
Check My ATS Score FreeHow many projects should be on a software engineer resume?
Two or three, described properly. A list of eight shallow projects reads as none of them going deep.
Should I include a GitHub link?
Yes, if the repositories are presentable. A link to an empty or abandoned profile is worse than no link.
One page or two?
One page under three years of experience. Two pages is the ceiling after that.