Software Developers: How To Write A Killer Resume

Software developers are in high demand. Businesses all over the world are marketing software for almost every purpose that can be imagined, and when you include the millions of “apps” that are sold for mobile devices, the number is expanded exponentially. Such businesses need to have trained personnel to help create such programs, and therefore, anyone who has a background in software development is likely to be in high demand. It's not enough, however, to simply to have a background in the field—you must also have a resume that outlines your training and experiences therein. You should realize, too, that whenever and wherever you apply for a job, there will be countless others who are seeking the same position.

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Software Developers: How To Write A Killer Resume

Your challenge will be to persuade your prospective employer to hire you over all those other people. By the time you finish reading this article, you should be able to write a killer resume that will make you stand out from the crowd—and end up with the job that you have always dreamed of getting.

Developing Your Resume Objective

Before you begin to write your history, it's important that you have a clearly-stated resume objective in mind. By resume objective, we mean what you want your prospective employer to know about you—specifically, about your qualifications for this job. This objective should be explicitly stated, either in the resume itself or in the cover letter that you will have included with it. Wherever you choose to place it, you will have to see to it that your resume objective is stated as clearly and as specifically as possible. Do not use vague terms like computer job; instead use specific ones like software developer. Your goal here is to make your interviewer look on you as somebody who has both a firm knowledge of the job area and a definite idea of what he is after. A good example of such an objective would be “Software development position at a medium-sized corporate entity.”

What To Include In The Resume

Any high school, undergraduate, and graduate courses you took that provided you with the necessary knowledge can be included. So, can any previous work experience you have had and any degrees, certificates, or licenses you have received. Here are some passages from a sample software development resume:

• Introduction to Computers I and II at South Newton High School (2001-2002)
• Fundamentals of Computing at Gettysburg College (2003)
• Basic Software Engineering I and II at same (2004-2005)
• Intermediate Software Engineering (2006)
• Advanced Software Engineering (2007)
• Certified Software Development Professional (received 2008)

Using Resume Templates

Resume templates are available on many websites and you can use them to save a great deal of typing. The headings are given—all that you have to do is fill in the information as it applies to your history. Microsoft Word itself has resume templates built into it, or you can create your own document, personalizing the headings to suit your own form of expression, and save it as a template. You can also find a great variety of free CV examples online.

Pitfalls You Might Encounter

There is a right and a wrong way to submit your resume, and how you go about it will make a big difference in determining whether you get the job. First impressions are everything. Always check and double-check your spelling and grammar before you turn in your resume—a misspelled word or a grammatical error will make you look careless and uneducated and is likely to turn anyone off before he even gets the chance to read about your superb programming skills. If you got your words wrong, you will create the impression of somebody who pays little attention to detail. Remember—you only get one chance to make a good first impression. The length of your resume is also important—it should cover only a few pages, certainly no more than five. It may be impressive that you did enough work to fill ten or more pages, but few recruiters are going to have the time to look at and digest all that information. Try to condense the information as much as possible and avoid including extraneous details like what you thought of your teachers. And if you're personalizing your template, as described above, don't make it look too fancy—colors and designs are distracting!

Time To Be Hired

Once you have taken the time to write a killer resume, you will have an excellent chance of being noticed and hired for your dream job. Photo Credit: Shutterstock