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Software engineer resume example, with what recruiters and ATS look for

By the CheckMyCV team · Updated

Engineering recruiters skim a resume in seconds, and the applicant tracking system reads it before any human does. A strong software engineer resume shows what you built, with which stack, and what changed because of it. Below: a complete example, the keywords to use, and the mistakes that get a resume skipped.

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Daniel Rivera
Austin, TX | (512) 555-0147 | daniel.rivera@example.com | github.com/danielrivera-example | linkedin.com/in/danielrivera-example

Summary
Backend software engineer with 6 years of experience building APIs and data pipelines in Python and Go on AWS. Led the migration of a billing service to Kubernetes and cut p95 latency by 40%.

Work Experience
Software Engineer, Northwind Payments, Austin, TX
March 2022 - Present
- Rebuilt the checkout API in Go and PostgreSQL, cutting p95 response time from 900 ms to 540 ms at peak traffic.
- Led the migration of the billing service to Kubernetes, reducing infrastructure cost by 22% and eliminating manual scaling.
- Automated releases with GitHub Actions and Docker, moving from weekly manual deploys to 15 automated deploys per week.
- Mentored 3 junior engineers and ran weekly code reviews, which lowered production hotfixes on the payments service.

Software Developer, Bluebird Logistics, Dallas, TX
June 2019 - February 2022
- Built 12 REST endpoints in Python and Flask used by 40 warehouse scanners, with 99.9% uptime over 18 months.
- Designed a nightly ETL pipeline that processed 2 million shipment records and cut report preparation from 4 hours to 20 minutes.
- Wrote unit and integration tests that raised coverage from 35% to 78%.

Skills
Languages: Python, Go, TypeScript, SQL
Backend: Flask, gRPC, REST APIs, PostgreSQL, Redis
Cloud and tools: AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, GitHub Actions, Datadog

Education
B.S. in Computer Science, University of Texas at Austin, 2019
Fictional example90/100 on our check
Mid-level backend engineer. Person, employers and numbers are invented for illustration: use your own.

What recruiters check first

  1. Your stack, matched to the posting. Languages, frameworks and cloud tools written exactly as the job post spells them (for example TypeScript, PostgreSQL, AWS).
  2. Scope and ownership. What you shipped, how big it was, and whether you owned it or contributed to it.
  3. Measurable impact. Latency, cost, reliability, adoption, deploy frequency: a number or a clear before and after.
  4. A resume that reads cleanly. One page for under ten years of experience, standard section names, no columns or graphics that break the parser.

Keywords to include

Applicant tracking systems compare your resume to the words in the job posting. These come up most often for this role: keep the ones you can back up in an interview, spelled exactly as in the posting.

Hard skills

Soft skills

Summary example

Avoid

Passionate software engineer looking for a challenging position in a dynamic company where I can grow my skills.

Better

Backend software engineer with 6 years of experience building APIs and data pipelines in Python and Go on AWS. Led the migration of a billing service to Kubernetes and cut p95 latency by 40%. Looking for a senior backend role.

Written for illustration: replace every detail with your own.

Work experience bullets: before and after

A task describes the job. A result describes you. For each role, keep three to five bullets that say what you did, at what scale, and what it changed.

Avoid

Responsible for the backend of the company website.

Better

Rebuilt the checkout API in Go and PostgreSQL, cutting p95 response time from 900 ms to 540 ms during peak traffic.

Avoid

Worked on improving deployments.

Better

Automated releases with GitHub Actions and Docker, moving deploys from weekly manual runs to 15 automated deploys per week.

Avoid

Helped the team with code quality.

Better

Introduced pull request templates and a 70% test coverage gate, which reduced production hotfixes on the payments service.

Fictional examples: the numbers show the expected shape. Use yours, and never invent any.

How to structure it

  1. Header: name, city and state, phone, email, GitHub and LinkedIn. No photo, no full street address.
  2. Summary: two or three lines with your specialty, years of experience and one result.
  3. Skills: languages, frameworks, cloud and tools, grouped, using the posting's wording.
  4. Work Experience: reverse chronological, three to five bullets per role, each starting with an action verb and ending with a result.
  5. Projects (optional): only if they back up the target role, with a link.
  6. Education and certifications: degree, school, year. Add certifications that match the job (for example AWS Certified Developer).

Mistakes that get a resume skipped

Frequently asked questions

How long should a software engineer resume be?

One page if you have under ten years of experience. Two pages is acceptable for senior or staff roles, as long as every line earns its place.

Should I list every programming language I know?

No. List the ones you can use in an interview and that match the posting. A focused skills section reads better than a long list.

Do I need to put side projects on my resume?

Only if they show skills the target job needs, or if you have little professional experience. Keep them to two or three, each with one line of impact and a link.

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