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October 5, 2021

Software Engineer: Resume Template And Guide

As a software engineer, you’re constantly building the future with every role and project you take on. Yet, writing a resume still leaves you feeling overwhelmed. This guide to writing a software engineer resume is a breakdown of what you can expect to include in your resume to help bring the hiring manager’s attention your way.

Resume Sample

Structuring Your Resume 

Keep all of the information on one page for a well-received resume. If your career spans further than a decade, you can get away with a two-page resume. Keep in mind that resumes should be concise and targeted.
This is the flow of a resume you should follow: 

  1. Contact information 
  2. Summary 
  3. Work history 
  4. Relevant skills 
  5. Educational background 
  6. Certifications and awards 
  7. Languages 

As for formatting, these are the basics you need to know: 

  • Margins – One-inch margins on every side
  • Font – Arial, Cambria, Calibri, Didot, Garamond, Times New Roman, Helvetica
  • Font Size – Use a font size of 11-12pt for normal text and 14-16pt for headers
  • Line Spacing – Use 1.0 or 1.15 line spacing

How To Write A Summary 

An overview of your professional background, qualifications and drive behind growing your career in this specific industry. Provide a glimpse into why you love what you do, or why you want to grow and develop skills further. 

Example: 6 years of experience in mainframe developing and maintaining in the Technology industry. Spearheaded projects throughout all phases of the software development process with a focus on programming (C++ and Javascript). 

How To Highlight Experiences 

When writing your work experience portion of your resume, there are two things to keep in mind: bullet points and specific experience.

#1 Bullet Points

  • List no more than 3 to 4 bullet points per role. 
  • Each point should give a single easy to understand sentence. 

#2 Specific Experience 

  • Tailor the experiences you list according to each role you’re applying for. Do this by making sure you’re highlighting accomplishments that reflect the role specifications or requirements in the job description.  

1) The Job Description: Analyse requirements, design and develop functionalities based on the product requirements.
2) Your Experience: Implemented design and develop functionalities according to product requirements and analysis. 

  • These experiences should not be your day-to-day task, but instead where you accomplished something. 

What If You Don’t Have Experience? 

Even without any work experiences you can still craft a great resume as someone starting their career journey, after all everyone has to start from somewhere. Here’s what you can include instead of full-time work experiences. 

  • Internships 
  • Volunteer work related to the industry
  • Freelance jobs 
  • Contract projects 
  • A portfolio of mock ups

Action Words

Hiring managers are viewing dozens if not hundreds of resumes a day, if you want to stand out and grab their attention you’ll need to use action words. These are simply adjectives that are used to describe your achievements and experiences. Words like these are great action words to consider when writing your resume: 

  • Empowered
  • Enabled
  • Endorsed
  • Enforced
  • Implemented
  • Integrated
  • Leveraged
  • Orchestrated
  • Optimized
  • Restructured
  • Revitalized
  • Shaped

What Should You Include And Not Include

Since a resume is meant to be short and to the point, these three tips will help you avoid any possible mistakes. 

  • Your highest academic achievement and GPA are important, but the year you graduated is irrelevant and can work against you if stated. 
  • Interests and hobbies aren't mandatory on a resume and should be added only if space allows.
  • You should never include a language in which you only know a few words and expressions. It’s important to be honest when listing any and all information, even languages. 

In a separate piece of paper you’ll want to include the following to boost your chances at being selected for an interview. If you have a website with the following showcased, feel free to include your site under the contact information section of your resume.

  • Portfolio
  • Projects

Top Skills Of A Software Engineer 

Hard Skills: 
  • Product Knowledge
  • Business Communication
  • Client Engagement
  • Sales Presentations 
  • Social Selling 
Soft Skills: 
  • Collaboration
  • Critical Thinking
  • Problem Solving
  • Excellent sales and negotiation skills
  • Good business sense
  • The ability to motivate and lead a team
  • Drive and enthusiasm
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Good planning and organisational skills
  • The ability to work calmly under pressure

Certification And Awards 

If you’ve been meaning to up your value as a web developer, there are a handful of certificates you should look into regardless if you’re starting out or a veteran looking to sharpen your skills. Many are offered solely online with great time flexibility to work with your schedule and learning pace. Here are some certificates worth considering: 

  • Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional
  • Certified Software Development Professional
  • Certified Software Engineer
  • CIW Web Development Professional
  • Microsoft
  • Amazon Web Services

Awards are a great reminder of the achievements you’ve accomplished for your company or with your industry. 

Cover Letter 

A cover letter is a terrific complement to any resume because it allows you to go into greater detail about why you're the best fit for the job. Instead of sending out generic resumes to each potential employer with an open position, a cover letter demonstrates your want to work for the company you're applying to. The structure of your cover letter matters as much as the content itself. 

  • Contact details 
  • The hiring manager’s details
  • Opening paragraph 
  • The body 
  • Closing 
  • Formal sign off 

Ensure that the font size and spacing are both readable and easy on the eye. Use action words to emphasise your relevant skills to the position you wish to be hired for while explaining your achievements and experiences.

Need a few more details? Check out our in depth guides on writing a resume, CV and cover letter. All guides are suitable for any profession with tips for careers across the board. 


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