Software Developer Resume Template: Writing Guide & Examples

Being a software developer, you're just a few steps away from landing that dream job in Silicon Valley. You just need to write a killer application to send to your perfect software company.

Imagine this: you put all of your programming knowledge, tech skills, and job experience on your software developer resume, but a hiring manager still encounters error 404 while going through it.

What went wrong?

They simply couldn’t find the information they were looking for.

To avoid such errors in the future, take a look at this handy guide and debug your application asap.

This guide will show you: 

• A software developer resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write a software developer resume that will land you more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a software developer resume.
• How to describe your experience on a resume for a software developer to get any job you want.

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Sample resume made with our builder—See more resume examples here.

Software Developer Resume Sample

Here’s a step-by-step guide for a top-notch software developer resume:

1. Make Your Software Developer Resume Template Look Great

According to the Evans Data Corporation report from 2019, there are over 20 million software developers in the world today. India will become the largest developer population centre in the year 2024.

On the one hand, that’s great—this is a growing industry and there will always be many jobs available.

On the other hand, this means that competition is massive, and the best jobs will go to the top candidates. Having the most up-to-date knowledge and qualifications might not be enough to get noticed among thousands of others.

You need a cutting-edge resume. One that looks great, just like the UI of an award-winning app. It must catch the attention of the hiring manager and make them want to hire you.

But don’t reinvent the wheel! Go for foolproof formulas that can ensure a great reading experience for the hiring manager.

Software Developer Resume Layout

• Format: Reverse-chronological format is best for showing off your newest accomplishments
• Fonts: There’s no need to be overly creative - just use popular styles like Calibri, Times New Roman, Georgia, and Verdana.
• Line spacing: Go for 1 to 1.15
• Margins: 1 inch on all sides
• Photo: Add it at the top of the page, next to your name and contact information.
• Font size: 11 or 12 points works best. For headings, use 13–14 points.
• White space: There’s no need to fill the whole surface of the page. Use white space around sections.
• File type: Save your resume in a PDF format, unless the job advertisement mentions other preferred file types.

So we’ve covered the visual part—now it’s time for the back-end stuff. After all, you can’t just throw your info in a random order, right?

Software Developer Resume Sections

• Header: Include your full name, date of birth, marital status, and contact information. Insert a recent, professional photo with a bright background on the left or right side of the page.
• Summary statement or career objective: Highlight your achievements and career goals
• Work experience: Describe your accomplishments at previous jobs.
• Education: Show off your degree and qualifications
• Skills: Make a list of your strengths
• Additional sections: Mention your Spanish proficiency or participation in coding boot camps.
• Links: You can add links to your LinkedIn or GitHub profiles. Do you have an online portfolio with coding projects? Add it, too!

Not sure how to format your new resume? Check these free resume templates that you can edit easily.

2. Learn How To Write Work Experience Section In Resume For Software Developer

Just like a “Hello World” message is essential to any code, the work experience section simply must appear in your application. This is the spot where you describe your past roles and responsibilities as a software developer. 

Remember, this is not your life story—don’t start at the beginning! List your newest position at the top. Reverse-chronological order helps to showcase your biggest achievements. What you need to do is:

• For each job, list your title, the name of the company, and dates of employment (no need for specific days—months and years are enough)
• Use up to 6 bullet points to show off your accomplishments or mention your responsibilities
• Be specific—use numbers, percentages, and other types of data to highlight your achievements
• Use the PAR (Problem-Action-Result) formula to show how you helped your company solve a complex problem
• Be selective—your resume must be tailored to the job posting you're applying for, so mention only the most relevant information

Take a look at these software developer resume examples: 

Resume for Experienced Software Developer: Work History 

This sample from someone working in software development clearly shows their biggest achievements, with factual data helping to validate each claim.

This sample could describe the exact same person as the previous one. However, there is a big difference between the way they described themselves. Working on an app is not the same as completing it successfully.

The above samples come from an experienced software developer. If you’re a newbie in this industry, you might feel discouraged—you don’t have too many professional accomplishments to brag about. But don’t worry! Writing a resume for freshers is not that difficult. Simply showcase your academic achievements, internships, part-time jobs, or freelance projects.

Resume for Software Developer Fresher: Work History

See, you don’t need decades of experience to prove yourself! The above example shows your knowledge, skills, and stellar success. 

Designing an app is one thing. Coding it in Android and releasing it on Play Store is a completely different story! Remember, always make it clear why you consider something an achievement.

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.

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When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

3. Show Your Background In The Education Section

If you call yourself a software developer, it’s highly likely that you have a degree to prove it. Be it in computer science or software engineering, it doesn’t matter, as long as it matches what the hiring manager is searching for.

Experienced software developers can simply put their highest degree on their resume, as their work experience stands out for their achievements.

Experienced Software Developer Resume

A fresher software developer can also list other information such as academic achievements and extracurricular accomplishments to catch the attention of recruiters. 

Junior Software Developer Resume Sample

Even if you don’t yet have a formal degree in computer science or software engineering, you can still apply for tech jobs. According to HackerRank’s 2020 Developer Skills Report, over 30% of developers at small companies don’t have a bachelor’s degree. And even giants like Google stopped requiring formal degrees from candidates!

Pro tip: Coding boot camps are great opportunities to expand your knowledge and build new skills—and they can also be mentioned in your resume!

4. Add The Most Relevant Skills To Your Software Developer Resume

Now it’s time to brag about yourself!

Select skills that reflect your strengths and match the job you’re applying for. Think of these as a list of the most important features of a program you’ve designed.

Generally, your strengths as a software developer are related to various computer skills, so mention those first.

Popular Software Developer Skills

• Python
• JavaScript
• PHP
• SQL
• C++
• HTML/CSS
• XML
• Angular
• Ruby
• Debugging
• Object-oriented programming
• Machine learning
• Communication
• Time management
• Agile project management
• Teamwork
• Flexibility
• Critical thinking
• Creativity
• Multi-tasking

But wait, there’s more to putting your skills on a resume than just copying this list!

Remember—hiring managers look for specific information. When you apply for a specific job, make sure that your skills match the ones listed in the job description. Here’s what you should do:

1. Read the job description carefully and select keywords that are the most important for this position.
2. Think of your knowledge and work experience—which of the keywords match your profile?
3. List the must-have software developer skills first
4. Add relevant soft skills to the list
5. Don’t continue ad infinitum! The list shouldn’t be longer than 5–10 bullets.

This is what a sample software developer skill list should look like:

Sample Software Developer Skills for Resume

5. Mention Additional Information In Your Software Developer Resume

Can you communicate fluently in French? Do you run coding workshops for local kids? Or review mobile games on YouTube? This is the section where you can mention such facts.

The most common types of additional information in a resume are:

1. Courses, Certifications, and Licences

There are a bunch of certifications that can boost your candidature. They don’t have to be strictly related to software development! Some popular ones are:

• Microsoft Azure
• Amazon Web Services
• Certified Software Engineer
• CompTIA Security+
• Cloudera
• Certified ScrumMaster

In this section, you can also mention boot camps and online programming courses that helped you expand your knowledge about software development.

2. Volunteer Work

Doing volunteer work can be a great way to get some professional experience if you’re a junior developer. Maybe you helped to build a website of a charity organization? Or helped high school students to prepare for programming competitions? Such facts can easily make you stand out from the crowd.

3. Languages

As companies from all over the world search for talented software developers, it’s worth learning a few words in other languages. Remember to mention your proficiency level whenever listing a language—there’s a big difference between saying “hello” in Arabic and discussing software specifications.

4. Memberships

If you belong to a software developer association, you may also mention it in your resume. Some popular associations for experienced software developers include:

• International Game Developers Association
• Developers Alliance
• Animation & Game Developer Association

5. Conferences

Conferences are not only a great way to meet people in the software community. They also provide a chance to show off your expertise. Being a guest speaker at a TED event can spark the interest of a hiring manager.

6. Interests

Show that you’re a true computer geek. Do you run a YouTube channel for beginner programmers? Maybe you review video games on your blog? Brag about it here instead of boring your girlfriend with it. 

Remember that anything you want to mention should be relevant to the job. Don’t just throw in random info about yourself—be selective!

Here’s how a software developer can mention extra info on their resume:

Software Developer Resume Additional Info

6. Pitch Yourself With A Career Summary Or Resume Objective For A Software Developer

Though you should put this part at the top of the resume, we mention it last. Why? Because you will use the information already listed in your resume to write this introduction.

You might be wondering why do you even need to write “about me” in a resume for a software developer. After all, you’ve got the valuable experience and hard skills to prove you’re a great candidate, right?

Well, would you download an app with a long list of features but no description explaining its purpose?

Exactly.

Before you start typing on the keyboard, you need to consider these points:

Decide if you are an experienced software developer or a fresher. Candidates with no work experience should write a career objective and explain what they can do for the potential employer. Experienced candidates should write a resume summary to show off their greatest achievements and mention how they can support the new workplace.

• Use the information from your resume. Pick 2–3 accomplishments and skills that are relevant to the position.
• Don’t use first-person pronouns such as “I” and “my”. Use third-person narration, as if someone else was describing you.
• Create your summary or objective using this foolproof formula: Adjective + Job Title + Years of Experience + Achievements + Skills + What You Want to Do for the Employer

Now have a look at resume summary examples:

Resume Summary for Software Developer

Though this summary mentions some of the candidate’s experience, it doesn’t show how the new employer can benefit from hiring this person.

When it comes to junior candidates, it’s better to stick to resume objectives. Have a look at a sample resume objective for a fresher software developer:

Resume Objective for Software Developer Fresher

Though this candidate might be passionate about coding, they don’t sound very professional or knowledgeable. Also, using first-person pronouns is not a good idea.

7. Write Your Software Developer Cover Letter

I’m sorry to break that to you, but your resume is not enough to land that dream position. You must write a cover letter.

Why?

Because many hiring managers will simply ignore applications without it.

You already put a lot of work into your resume. Do you want this work to be fruitless? Probably not. Believe me, attaching a cover letter increases your chances of getting that desired position, just like rubber ducking your code increases the chance of finding that annoying bug.

Think of your cover letter as a sales pitch for an app you’ve designed. You want people to download the app and give it a try—the same way as you want the hiring manager to consider your candidature and invite you to an interview.

Here’s how to write a software developer cover letter that lands jobs:

1. Use the correct format for a cover letter.
2. Address the hiring manager with their name. Using “Dear Sir/Madam” is just lazy.
3. Charm the reader with the opening sentence of your cover letter. Make it memorable!
4. Present your accomplishments and experience in the second paragraph.
5. Prove how skilled you are when it comes to software development.
6. Hook their interest with a tempting promise at the end of your cover letter.

Last but not least, make sure your cover letter template matches your resume template. Don’t make it look like a boring user’s manual.

If you want in-depth knowledge about writing cover letters, read our cover letter writing guide.

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:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Key Takeaways

This was a bit long. Need a tl;dr version?

Here’s how to write a software developer resume step by step:

1. Use a neat software developer resume layout for the best user experience
2. Show off the most relevant work experience and brag about your accomplishments
3. Mention your educational background with a touch of academic achievements
4. List your skills just like the most important features of any software
5. Put appropriate extra sections to present additional info
6. Write a memorable resume summary or objective to grab the attention of the hiring manager
7. Attach a matching cover letter
   
   

Now you know how to write a resume for a software developer. Feel free to throw your three cents in! I’d love to hear from you:

• What are the biggest challenges of writing a software developer resume? 

• What part do you struggle with the most? 

Let me know. Let’s get the discussion started!

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