Software Engineer Resume Template Example

What Software Engineer Resume Template Should You Use?

Computer science is a field that values clarity and precision, and your resume should reflect that. The template for your software engineer resume must be simple, clean, and easy to read. Look for a well-structured template with a modern design and plenty of room to highlight your key skills and accomplishments. A minimalistic style that prioritizes content over visual appeal is best.

Remember that your template should enhance your writing, not overshadow it. Subtle design elements and simple colors that align with the tech industry will give your resume a professional touch.

What to Include in a Software Engineer Resume

Your software engineer resume should tell hiring managers everything they need to know about who you are, what you’ve accomplished, and how you can contribute to their company. Below, we’ll explore exactly what you should include in your resume.

  • Contact Information. At the top of your resume, type your name big and bold, and follow it up with all the essentials. List your phone number, email address, and city of residence. You can also include links to your LinkedIn or GitHub profile pages to show off your connections and open-source collaborations.
  • Profile. Craft a resume profile that highlights the most compelling aspects of your software engineering career. State your job title and mention your years of experience before giving a few examples of qualifications that align with the job description. Discuss your commitment to delivering an exceptional user experience or your ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams.
  • Work Experience. Demonstrate the value you can bring to employers with a professional experience section focusing on your career achievements. List your most recent and relevant jobs that show your ability to succeed as a software engineer. Then, give up to eight bullet points to illustrate your accomplishments in each role.
  • Education. Display your four-year degree in your education section and include any relevant certifications you’ve earned. Database design specialists would benefit from including a CIW Web Development Professional credential, while a cloud expert could stand out with an Oracle certification.
  • Key Skills. Your skills list should indicate a handful of abilities that align with the position you’re interested in. Include programming language proficiencies, specialized knowledge, and essential interpersonal skills that hiring managers seek.

How To Write a Software Engineer Resume

Your resume needs to show employers that you can use programming languages and technical skills to create and maintain functional software applications and systems. Hiring managers should be confident that you can continually test and update software products to meet their business needs. Below, we’ll explore expert strategies to help you write your best software engineer resume.

Quantify your experience

Use the professional experience section of your resume to highlight career achievements rather than roles and responsibilities. Companies are interested in results. So, instead of listing all your daily duties, focus on your accomplishments and use metrics and data to describe your work’s impact on past employers.

Do
  • “Automated routine tasks such as configuration management and log monitoring, saving an estimated 10 hours per week for the team and reducing manual errors.”
Don’t
  • “I’m responsible for automating configuration and log monitoring tasks to save time and reduce manual errors.”

Tailor your resume for each application

Although a resume is an overview of your unique work history, it must speak to the needs of the employer you want to work for. You can incorporate target keywords from the job description into your software engineer resume to stand out from other applicants.

For example, if a company is looking for someone with experience in database systems, your resume should demonstrate an ability to write and optimize complex SQL queries.

Highlight hard and soft skills

A key skills list is a great place to incorporate your target keywords. This section is where you can put your unique abilities on display. Explore the list below to get familiar with the skills hiring managers are looking for in a software engineer resume:

Common Hard and Soft Skills for Software Engineers

Hard Skills Soft Skills
Programming languages (Java, Python, C++, JavaScript) Communication
Web development frameworks (React, Angular, Django) Innovative solutions
Database management Collaborative teamwork
Version control systems Time management
Agile/Scrum methodologies Adaptability

Use common action verbs

If you want to level up your writing, use action verbs in your resume, especially in the professional experience section. These powerful words emphasize the active role you had in past positions. You can easily turn a daily task into an accomplishment with the help of action verbs. Consider using the words below on your software engineer resume:

Action Verbs
Automated Collaborated
Debugged Designed
Developed Implemented
Managed Optimized

What if you don’t have experience?

Even if you haven’t put in any official hours as a paid software engineer, you can still prove your ability to create and maintain software products. Rearrange or refocus your resume to accommodate any lack of experience by:

  • Highlighting your academic achievements, coursework, and awards
  • Leveraging personal and open-source projects
  • Including relevant internships and part-time jobs
  • Emphasizing technical skills, programming languages, and certifications

Software Engineer Resume Template Text Example

James Miller
(123) 456-7890
[email protected]
LinkedIn | Portfolio
City, State Abbreviation Zipcode

Profile

Experienced Software Engineer with a six-year background in cloud computing and DevOps practices. Proven track record of automating deployment processes, enhancing system reliability, and collaborating effectively in cross-functional teams. Seeking a senior-level role to contribute technical expertise and leadership in cloud-based environments.

Key Skills

  • Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Containerization tools (Docker, Kubernetes)
  • CI/CD pipelines
  • Collaboration and teamwork
  • Leadership

Professional Experience

DevOps Engineer, CloudTech Solutions Inc., Seattle, WA
February 2020 – Present

  • Implement CI/CD pipelines, resulting in a 40% reduction in deployment time and faster issue resolution
  • Develop scripts for automatic scaling of cloud resources based on traffic patterns in AWS and Azure environments
  • Support a team of 15 developers to achieve a 99.9% system uptime over the past year, ensuring minimal disruption and maintaining a reputation for reliability
  • Identify and resolve performance bottlenecks in containerized applications to improve responsiveness and resource utilization

Software Engineer, Innovative Software Solutions, San Francisco, CA
July 2017 – January 2020

  • Created and managed complex multi-container applications using Docker Compose to streamline development and testing workflows
  • Collaborated with infrastructure teams to implement IaC practices using Terraform, reducing provisioning time from an average of two weeks to less than two hours
  • Conducted post-incident analysis and root cause investigations to correct and improve initiatives around disaster recovery strategies

Education

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Computer Science, September 2013 – June 2017
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Certifications

  • AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, Amazon Web Services (AWS), 2022
  • Certified Software Engineer (CSE), Institute for Certification of Computing Professionals (ICCP), 2020
Andrew Stoner

Executive Resume Writer and Career Coach

A resume should be a forward-looking value proposition that showcases your most relevant accomplishments for a target role — not a rear view summary of your previous roles and responsibilities.

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