CV Writing Tips for Software Developers / Software Engineers

How to compile (write) the Perfect CV/Curriculum Vitae/Resume for Software Developers / Software Engineers.

Written by Daniel Aamer, CEO/Founder, 1st December 2019

CV writing tips are everywhere on Google, infact when googling ‘how to write a CV for a software engineer’ we get ‘About 226,000,000’ results. Geordie Recruitment Group looks to condense all this information down in order for all software professionals reading this can create a great resume for their next career opportunity (hopefully with Geordie Recruitment Group :P).

Obvious things include:

• If including a photo, keep it professional.
• Do NOT swear or use bad language.
• Do NOT lie.
• Keep text style, font, size and arrangement consistent throughout.
• Ensure you spell check completely.
• Get someone to proof read you CV/Resume.
• Give your telephone number and email address.

What Geordie recommends:

PROFILE

Certainly think of one. These do get read, not constantly, yet as a general rule. It ought to be put directly at the top under your contact details. Make it about you, not about the particulars of the job you are applying for. Give an outline of what your identity is, the thing that you’ve done, and the things you appreciate most in your vocation. You want to catch the Hiring Manager with a short, punchy opening couple of lines to really grab their attention and make them read on.

Geordie Importance Rating 8 / 10 

PORTFOLIO

This is an unquestionable requirement to have. You’d be shocked what number of individuals leave this stuff off. As a developer, managers love to see portfolios on Stack Overflow and/or Github to really get a feel of your technical ability to code. Other links to previous / personal projects, if open source, can also be another exceptional way to showcase your talent. Even blogs / wordpress / pinterest sites show character so I’d most definitely add links to your CV for this. Regardless of what the project was about, this is increasingly important as Hiring Managers in software love individuality. Along with individual projects, comes individual coding and managers love to see the way you implement your code and your coding style.

Giving solid instances of your past work makes you stand out from the rest and exhibits a certified enthusiasm for what you do.

Geordie Importance Rating 9 / 10

TIMELINES & GAPS

Job Timelines are imperative not only by year but months also. Make sure to cross-reference with linkedin and github to ensure dates are matching your CV. Employers want to see the from and too date for each organisation, see how often you moved around and too see if you fit the timelines for the organisation. Make no mistake, mentioning if it your role was Permanent or Contract/Freelance could also be a contributing factor given freelance/contract roles are usually shorter assignments.

Furthermore, gaps between work are fine and employers do not punish you for this or disregard your profile for this. The problem lies where candidates don’t account for the gaps in their career and leave them blank in-turn leaving the prospective employer guessing, which you definitely don’t want!

The amount of clients that ask me questions on these points is unbelievable! So be fully transparent if there is gaps in your CV – feel free to elaborate on why you took time out.

Geordie Importance Rating 10 / 10

ENTRY LEVEL POSITIONS / UNIVERSITY PROJECTS / INTERN AND/OR VOLUTARY WORK

Regardless of whether it’s totally disconnected to tech or bang on related to the tech space, put it on there! This is when I come back to the individuality point, hiring managers love to see what else you like to do in your spare time! Remember, most of them either used to be developers and/or had university projects in their spare time and/or came from a completely different employment background. Passion is always a good thing to see for prospective employers and could potentially make you stand out from the rest.

Geordie Importance Rating 7 / 10

TECH STACK / ROLE DETAILS

As a person who has read thousands upon thousands of software engineer/developer CVs, it’s amazing how many people miss out such significant parts of their role/tech stack on their CV as supposed to chatting to them over the phone/email. In a world where tech is always evolving, as is the stack being used by various organisations.

We want to see every part of your tech stack; if it’s a long term role, we want to see the tech stack progression, the project you worked on, your achievements along the way, the scale of the project, your role in the project / team. But make sure it’s not too wordy; short, sharp, easy to read and straight to the point!

All are paramount for hiring managers when compiling a number of CVs for their open position(s) and are exciting to read about!

Geordie Importance Rating 10 / 10

INTERESTS

Once again, I’m going to revert to the aforementioned points of passion and individuality. Tech employers across Europe love to see these traits as it makes you more personable. Be completely honest about your outside of work interest; even if they aren’t related to tech. I mean, if they’re related to tech, great! But trust me on this one, hiring managers want to identify with you and this is another chance for you to stand out from the crowd. I must stress, this should be a brief line or two so we ensure the reader to is fully engaged with your CV.

Geordie Importance Rating 7 / 10

What Geordie doesn’t recommend:

CV LENGTH OVER 2 – 3 PAGES LONG

Another controversial topic is whether your CV should be 1 or 5 pages. Of course, 10 pages is way too long and no prospective employer wants or will read this. From one perspective, we have the ‘Elon Musk’ 1 page resume/CV theory, where as the general consensus for CV length is around 2-3 pages. Everyone wants a CV with detail but not so much it’s on par with a novel. I would say 4 pages is an absolute maximum.

Geordie Importance Rating 5 / 10

INTRODUCTORY/ COVER LETTER

Quite a controversial point and most agencies would recommend never doing a cover/introductory letter. I would say it does not hurt to include one if you really want too. However, I would see no point unless asked to complete one. It’s luck of the draw if it is read or not by the employer, and on the other side of the coin it may increase your chances of landing the role. If you insist in doing one, make it short, sharp and punchy with relevance to the applied job.

Geordie Importance Rating 4 / 10 (If required by job application 10 / 10)

EXTRAVAGENT FONTS, FANCY COLOURS & INCONSISTENT LAYOUT/SPACING/SIZING

From experience, the majority of CVs are in size 11 or 12 font; usually Arial or Calibri. A number of CVs also use other fonts, but as long as it’s readable and not too extravagant, you’ll be just fine.

Furthermore, make sure your colour scheme for your CV is professional, managers don’t want to see a CV resembling a rainbow.

Lastly, the amount of CVs I see with a crazy, inconsistent layout and spacing is unbelievable. Make sure that the whole document is consistent throughout and easy to read. Keep it simple guys and girls!

Geordie Importance Rating 1 / 10

ANALYTICS (GRAPHS, PIE CHARTS, TABLES)

Absolutely not needed on your CV. Potentially a table would suit but really not needed. Save everything on the analytics side for your portfolio and hyperlink this to your CV.

Geordie Importance Rating 1 / 10

HIGHLIGHTING OF ‘BUZZWORDS’

Quite frankly, this has absolutely no place when building your CV. All managers and recruiters have no problem reading Java/Javascript/Python etc. without the need to make it BOLD.

Geordie Importance Rating 1 / 10

FINAL POINTS

To conclude, please remember CONTENT is key when it comes to your CV/Resume. Make sure you portray your personality, hobbies and write the CV how you want to write it. Your personality combined with the CONTENT of your CV what will make your CV really shine through therefore in-turn you will be one step closer to achieving your dream job.

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