How to Write a Tech Resume (With a Sample)
Getting a job in tech isn’t rocket science, especially if you have the skills for your dream position. However, it is not enough to have the skills; You have to convince the hiring manager that you are the best. And your tech resume is the best choice to prove your worth.
Recruiters first evaluate candidates based on their resumes before interviewing a select few. Likewise, you need a compelling resume to stand a chance of getting through to the interview and possibly onboarding. This guide has tips for writing a tech resume and a sample to get you started.
Your contact information is an essential part of your technical resume, located in the header. Even with solid skills and commendable experience, you can’t get far if recruiters can’t reach you because you missed a digit in your phone number or an alphabet in your email.
Make an effort to spell your original name (not nickname) correctly, starting with your last name, other names, and initials. Add a work email address and an active phone number. Then enter your location – state and country. You can also add your LinkedIn or GitHub URL.
2. Summarize your career goals
A summary of your career goal provides insight into your expertise over time. You want to capture recruiters’ interest at a glance, so two to three sentences describing the most interesting highlights of your career should suffice.
Start with your current employment status – self-employed, volunteer, etc. Go ahead and mention the position you are vying for and the name of the company. Review the job description to identify and address a primary pain point by detailing how your experience and skills make you the best candidate for the job.
There are various hard and soft skills that you should include on your resume. However, for your tech resume, you only need to outline the key skills relevant to the position you want to fill. Also, your list should contain at least five and no more than ten entries.
It’s great to have a variety of skills and talents, but if you’re applying for a tech position, choose those that are featured in the job posting.
4. Show career history
To show your work history, you need to explain your work history. This section helps the recruiter better understand your experience level. In reverse chronological order, provide an overview of your previous positions and responsibilities, particularly those that correspond to the position you are applying for.
Start with the most recent position, followed by positions filled in the last five years. Above all, use action words – in the past tense – and numbers to describe your impact. Don’t overdo the numbers, though, and make sure you can defend them if necessary.
5. List educational degrees and other certifications
The technology industry may be all about your skills and your abilities, but formal education is rarely neglected when hiring for technical positions. Also, the required skills, degrees, and certifications increase your chances of getting the job. So if you’ve got all of that, flaunt them!
Start with your highest degree, school name and length of study. Then add relevant technical certifications and licenses; Two or three is perfect.
6. Add relevant projects and achievements
Adding projects and accomplishments to your resume is a great way to quantify your success in the industry. They also boost your credibility and help you stand out when recruiting. However, make sure that your projects and achievements are related to the position you are applying for.
For example, saying you volunteered for a charity event isn’t necessarily relevant to your ReactJS developer application, but it’s commendable. Instead, talk about projects you completed during an internship or hackathon. It can be an individual or team project, remote or on-site.
7. Customize your resume for each role
A generic resume deters recruiters. To avoid this, take the time to understand what the role requires alongside the company goals and tailor your resume accordingly. Since most companies use the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to sort, filter, and select candidates, it’s also important to optimize your resume with keywords from the job posting from start to finish.
Make sure your career goal, key skills, work experience, and other details are in sync. This will help your resume rank high during review and show the recruiter that you know your stuff. You can also add hobbies and interests relevant to the role.
8. Ensure professional format and layout
To ensure that your resume is intuitive and easy on the eyes, you should strive to use a professional format – acceptable font, font size, colors and layout. If you choose to create your resume in Google Docs or another word processor, first set your document to portrait orientation, letter size, and adjust the margins to ½ -1 on all sides.
Use Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, or Georgia fonts. For colors, keep your text black and use a white background. You can emphasize specific headings with solid colors like dark blue, maroon, or dark gray. Additionally, the standard font size for a technical resume is 12pt for regular text and 14pt to emphasize important information like your name.
9. Be clear and concise
Recruiters spend less than a minute reviewing a resume. Anything that exceeds this duration will likely be thrown in the trash. To avoid this, keep your resume short, clear, and simple.
Whether you choose to use a one-page or two-page resume, focus on what matters, sell yourself, and avoid any form of storytelling. Above all, do not use acronyms. For clarity, spell them out if you must. Also, avoid using slang.
10. Proofread your resume
One mistake can ruin your efforts and limit your chances of employment. Therefore, before sending the CV, check it for grammar, punctuation, spelling and cohesion. Read it several times and make sure there are no mistakes.
You can also give it to a friend or relative to review without prejudice. Then use an AI-enabled platform like Grammarly to achieve 100 percent accuracy.
Example of a technical resume
You’re a resume away from your dream job
After following these tips to the end, it’s time to create that compelling tech resume to land your dream job. You can use the example above for inspiration, but don’t copy it verbatim.
Also, don’t attach a photo; Add your date of birth or marital status to your resume. These details can impact your screening process, as recruiters can be biased even before they give you a chance to prove yourself. On the other hand, you can look for legitimate websites to post your resume online to speed up your job search.