The most common mistake in a software developer CV is listing duties instead of results. Employers want to see how well you did the job, not just that you were assigned it. This guide shows how to write the profile summary, work-experience bullets and skills section for a software developer role, with examples you can copy and adapt.
Order and length
Put your name, title and contact details at the top, a short profile summary beneath, then work experience, education and skills. With little experience (recent graduate, internship) move education and projects ahead of work history. One page is enough for most applications; a second page is acceptable beyond roughly ten years of experience.
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) read plain, single-column CVs with standard headings (Summary, Experience, Education, Skills) best. Pick a more designed template for the version you hand to a recruiter.
Profile summary examples for a software developer
Keep it to two to four sentences: years of experience, strengths and goal. Take one draft below and replace each [X] with your own information:
- Software developer who values clean, testable code and has built web applications end to end while collaborating closely with teams.
- [X] years building scalable back-end services and user-friendly interfaces.
Work-experience bullets for a software developer
Start each bullet with an action and, where you can, include a number: how many people, items, what percentage, how fast. Wherever you see [X] below, insert your own real figure; if you don't know it, leave that bullet out.
- Shipped an application built with [technology] to [X] users
- Reduced page load time by [X]%
- Raised test coverage to [X]% with unit and integration tests
- Set up CI/CD and cut deployment time to [X] minutes
- Reviewed code and improved team code quality
- Designed and documented REST APIs
Only write what you actually did. If you couldn't explain a bullet in an interview, it shouldn't be on your CV.
Skills section for a software developer
Mirror the job ad's wording: if it says "Excel", write "Excel" rather than "office software". These are commonly requested for this role; select only what you genuinely know:
- JavaScript / TypeScript
- React
- Node.js
- SQL
- Git
- REST APIs
- Docker
- Testing
Checklist before you send it
- Fill in the numbers: No [X] placeholder should remain anywhere.
- Check the dates: No overlaps or unexplained gaps; the Analysis tab in CV Maker calculates this for you.
- Tailor to the ad: Where true, use the ad's keywords; the job-ad matcher shows which are missing.
- Export a PDF: Send a PDF with selectable text; add a photo only if the ad or local custom expects one.