

Crafting a software developer resume can be as easy as writing a “Hello world!” program. Just follow our 7-step algorithm to generate a software engineer resume that wins jobs.
Doing what you love while making hundreds of thousands per year. Working in an office straight out of a sci-fi movie… or at home, wearing your coziest pajamas. Developing software that changes people’s lives for the better.
Being a software engineer is pretty awesome, provided that you get that job.
But how do you stand out in a crowd of approximately 267.6392 software devs competing for one job opening?
Your first step in the job-hunting algorithm is writing a resume. No matter how awesome your GitHub profile is, you still have to impress the non-tech HR people who will judge your worth by your resume.
Fortunately, there’s a tried-and-tested, bug-free method for writing a software developer resume (or a software engineer resume, depending on what job you’re applying to).
This guide will show you:
Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.
Sample resume made with our builder—See more resume examples here.
Larita B. Chappell
larita.b.chappell@eeemail.ca
604-942-7730
linkedin.com/in/larita-chappell-dev/
github.com/larita-chappell/
Summary
Passionate Android software developer with 4 years of experience. Developed and wrote 80% of the code of InHabit, a habit tracker with a 4.5-star rating on Google Play. Eager to join the team at Powergy and contribute to the rich functionality of the Powergy Fitness app.
Work Experience
Software Engineer
InHabit, Vancouver, BC
July 2019–March 2022
Junior Software Developer
KittehKibbles, Toronto, ON
July 2017–July 2019
Education
Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON
Skills
Hobbies
Your software developer resume can be just as good. Here’s how to write it:
Software developers research and design apps and other software. Sometimes they also oversee the work of other developers. The purpose of your software development resume is to prove that you have the right skills to develop the software your employer wants to see.
But the first thing that your resume has to achieve is… grab the recruiter’s attention and get them to read it. Otherwise, they’ll look at it for 6 seconds or so, and then they’ll move on to the next candidate and forget you existed.
So let’s get started with a resume layout that’s actually easy to read. Here’s how to format your resume:
Once you’ve got the basic layout figured out, let’s start filling out the sections.
The recruiter who’ll be reading your resume is just a human with a tiny attention span and a short-term memory that can only hold a few chunks of information.
So you need to grab their attention with a short, catchy paragraph that explains why you’re the right person for this job and makes them want to read on.
If you’ve got 2+ years of experience in software development, your first paragraph will be a so-called resume summary.
If you’re writing a junior software developer resume, go for a resume objective instead. In it, you show how your skills and personal qualities will help the employer achieve their business goals.
Both resume summaries and resume objectives are around 3–4 sentences long and follow this basic script:
Adjective + Years of experience + Achievements + Skills + What you’re going to do for the employer
Just fill these variables with your own values, and you’re set.
Now’s the time for your work experience section. This is where you present the story of your professional growth, starting with your most recent accomplishments and ending with your first successes in the field of software development.
Here’s how to write your work experience section:
But… what if you have no experience yet?
Consider contributing to open source projects or taking part in hackathons before you apply. If you don’t have any measurable, tangible software-related achievements on your resume, recruiters will just move on to the next candidate.
Does the education section of your resume matter, especially given the fact that many skilled software engineers don’t have degrees in computer science?
It definitely does, especially if you’re a junior developer.
First: describing your educational background helps recruiters set you apart from wannabe developers who watch a bunch of coding tutorials on YouTube and then start applying for jobs.
Second: your education section is a great place to include academic achievements and other proof that you’re ready for the job. So, if you’re writing an entry-level software engineer resume, feel free to pepper your education section with bullet points describing your awesome problem-solving skills and academic excellence.
If you’re a senior software developer and your work experience section speaks for itself, keep your education section short and just mention your latest (relevant) degree, the name of the school, and the graduation date.
When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.
When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.
If you’d make a list of all of your skills, you’d probably come up with 5 pages of bullet points.
But you don’t need to do this. In fact, the skills list on your resume should have somewhere around 8–10 items.
Here’s how to decide which skills you should include:
That wasn’t a difficult decision, was it?
If you need some more inspiration, check out this handy bucket list of skills for your software engineer resume.
This list can go on and on because we can’t possibly list every programming language and framework, but you get the idea.
By the way, you can break down the skills list on your resume into several lists: Hard Skills, Soft Skills, and Technical Skills. It depends on how many skills you want to include.
Congratulations, you’ve written the core sections of your resume!
Now’s the time for some extras.
Won a hackathon? Spoke at a conference? Got extra certificates? Eager to share your hobbies and passions? Share this in the extra sections of your resume!
These sections highlight your “additional” achievements and add a personal touch to your resume. Just don’t include anything that’s painfully irrelevant or straight-out weird.
Can’t wait to stop writing text and start writing code?
Yeah, we get you. But the writing isn’t over yet.
Many employers automatically reject job applications that don’t have a cover letter attached to them. So just go for the extra effort and write a few hundred words.
Here’s how to write an effective cover letter for a software developer position:
You can find more eye-opening strategies in our cover letter writing guide.
And if you’re concerned that your cover letter might be too short or too long, check out our guide on optimal cover letter length (spoiler alert: 3–4 paragraphs will do it).
Now, after you’ve finished your cover letter, grab a well-deserved coffee and take a break.
A great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:
See more cover letter templates and start writing.
Congratulations! Your resume and cover letter are debugged and ready for release.
Do you have tips or thoughts about making an awesome software developer resume? Give us a shout in the comments section!
Have trouble picking the best resume layout for you? With our guide, the head vs. heart fight comes to an end. We hand you the best solution of both worlds.