Resume template for Software Engineer
A software engineer's CV is read by two audiences at once: tech recruiters scanning for keywords, and engineering leads looking for genuine craft. You need both. International tech employers expect a clean reverse-chronological layout, an explicit skills section with real technologies (not 'beginner-to-expert' bars), and a short profile paragraph that pins down your specialization in two or three sentences rather than listing every framework you have ever touched. Quantify outcomes wherever possible — latency, deploy frequency, cost saved — and link your GitHub or portfolio in the header.
For international tech companies and startups, a minimal single-column layout without a photo is the standard. It is ATS-friendly and parses cleanly when imported into LinkedIn or applicant tracking systems.
Profile example
„Senior Backend Engineer with 6 years of experience designing scalable microservice architectures (Java, Spring Boot, Kubernetes). Focus areas: event-driven systems, AWS cloud infrastructure, technical mentorship. Looking for a role where I can own critical systems end-to-end and grow junior engineers.“
Example bullets for work experience
- •Migrated a monolithic e-commerce platform into 12 microservices — cut response time of critical APIs by 60%
- •Built a CI/CD pipeline with GitHub Actions, Docker, and Kubernetes — raised deploy frequency from weekly to daily
- •Designed and shipped an event-streaming system on Kafka processing 5M events per day
- •Tech lead for a 4-person backend team, including code reviews, architecture decisions, and 1:1s
- •Reduced AWS infrastructure costs by 35% through right-sizing and spot instances
Tips specific to Software Engineer
- 1.Quantify at least 50% of your bullet points — numbers, percentages, orders of magnitude
- 2.Skills section with years of use (4 yrs, 6 yrs) instead of made-up proficiency bars
- 3.Link your GitHub profile in the header — don't list it as a 'skill'
- 4.Keep it to two pages maximum, even at senior level
- 5.Tech terms can stay in English even on a localized CV (Microservices, Cloud, CI/CD)
Frequently asked questions
Should I include a photo on my CV?
For US, UK, and most international tech companies: no. A photo is unusual and can introduce bias. For traditional European employers, follow local norms.
How many skills belong in the skills section?
10 to 15 maximum, grouped by category: languages, frameworks, cloud, tools. More becomes noise and dilutes your strongest signals.
Should I list side projects?
Only if they are relevant to the role OR have impressive reach (open source with stars, a production system with users). Skip hobby projects with no measurable impact.