Senior Software Engineer Resume Example

Leet Resumes Writes Great Professional Resumes For Free

Tips Appreciated

Please Write My Resume

How to write an awesome Senior Software Engineer resume

You’ve worked hard to get where you are now. Becoming a Senior Software Engineer is a long journey, but your mastery of technology has paid off. Whether you’ve always strove to stay at the bleeding-edge or prefer to leverage your expertise with more established tech, you’re a valuable asset for anyone lucky enough to hire you.

From writing new code to debugging to overseeing a team of engineers, you know how to solve problems on the fly and work through even the thorniest of error messages. You feel at home on the command line, you know where to find the information you need, and you’re ready for a challenge.

You didn’t get where you are now by refusing to learn new skills—technology has changed a lot since you started this job. Now you’re about to take on yet another skill: writing a top notch resume!

If you don’t know where to get started, then you’ve come to the right place. Leet Resumes will give you the tools you need to succeed.

Since your resume is the first thing that a hiring manager sees, it needs to be brief yet forceful. Use an economy of words to display your in-demand skills. Be clear about what you can offer them, and be sure to emphasize how you’ve brought value at previous positions.

Want to get started? The best way is following our step-by-step resume template and studying our resume example.

Just don’t forget that you always have the option to ask Leet Resumes to write your resume on your behalf. We’ve done thousands of resumes for technical professionals like you, so our experts know how to highlight your achievements! Click here now to begin.

Tips and advice to keep in mind

There’s nothing worse than using too many lines of code to accomplish the same goal that less could. This principle is equally true in resume writing.

That’s why you want to avoid paragraphs at all costs. A recruiter or hiring manager should be able to scan your resume to get the gist of who you are, and they certainly don’t want to slog through an essay. We all know how competitive today’s job market is, so to stand out you need two key features: concision and uniqueness. Basically, the goal is to say why you’re the best candidate in as few words as possible.

Also, steer clear of unusual fonts. Classics like Times New Roman or Arial are perfect. You also don’t want to include any pictures, colors, additional columns, or text boxes.

Not only do these cosmetic additions distract your human readers, but they can also confuse the software that employers use to screen resumes. These application tracking systems (ATS) expect data in a particular format, and if they can’t read it, then they might put your email address as your Professional Headline, and that could very well cost you the interview.

Only put a link to your LinkedIn if and only if you check it everyday. You don’t want to miss a time-sensitive message from a recruiter.

Can I outsource my resume to a professional?

We get it. You’ve got a lot going on, and your schedule is packed. While writing a great Senior Software Engineer resume is certainly an achievable goal, you always have another option.

Leet Resumes can write a personalized resume for you at zero cost. Tips are appreciated! Click here to learn more.

Formatting your Senior Software Engineer resume

Want to keep going on your own? Good idea! Nobody knows your professional accomplishments and career goals like you.

Follow our resume template and you can’t go wrong. Just keep in mind that quality is always going to be more important than quantity.

For a Senior Software Engineer, finding a method that works and implementing it throughout your code is a great feeling. Our resume template is how you do that for your career. This is the format:

• Name + Contact
• Professional Headline
• Professional Summary
• Work Experience
• Education
• Keyword

Okay, now that we have the outline, let’s dive into the specifics.

Name + Contact

We’re willing to bet that you’ve written some bash scripts in your day. They all start the same way:

#!/bin/bash

It’s obvious once you’ve done it a few times and while it may seem even more obvious, writing your name at the top of your resume is just as important. Put it in a font that’s a bit bigger than the rest. Underneath that, put the best phone number to reach you at and a professional-sounding email address.

Professional Headline

The Professional Headline is a brief tagline of three to five words. Think about it like the quick reference section of an API’s documentation. It tells you what you need to know and gives you the option to keep reading and find what you’re looking for. So, figure out how to best sum up your software engineering career in just a few words.

Don’t just write your job title. Instead, you might go for something like “Highly productive Senior Software Engineer.”

This will grab their attention and lead them into the next section.

Professional Summary

This section is an extension of the previous one. It gets readers quickly up to speed on the job you want, the experience you have, and any notable milestones. This is the format for this part of the resume template:

• Three or four job titles that you would accept
• Senior Software Engineer skills
• Senior Software Engineer accomplishments and achievements (optional)
• Awards and/or promotions (optional)

Since you’re applying for a senior position, you want to highlight how you got to where you are now, though you don’t have to currently be a senior engineer to apply for the job. Of course you want to explain what you want in a new job and why you’re qualified, and any recognition that you’ve received for doing a great job.

Work Experience

Now we’ll showcase specific career achievements that are unique to you. This is crucial for getting Senior Software Engineer job interviews. Recruiters are constantly looking through resumes that only list basic employment histories. They start to feel like an unbreakable loop, as they state the same duties and responsibilities over and over.

What does that actually say about how well you can do your job?

A better option is to focus on your software engineering success stories and accomplishments. Highlight tangible results that only applicant’s may not be able to provide. Then include data to reinforce your claims.

Your resume needs numbers

At the most basic level, numbers are the only thing that a computer understands. Recruiters and hiring managers may not be as reliant on them, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t aid their understanding as well.

If you improved the performance of a software program, say by how much. If you’ve directed a team, write down how many people. If you supported users across an enterprise, cite how many.

This cold, hard data will show them what you’ve accomplished and give them a great idea of what you can do for them.

Begin bullets with success verbs

Your bullet points should always lead with strong action verbs, like developed, designed, or led. Not only does this increase the speed at which recruiters can go through your resume, but it also shows your driven and motivated personality.

Be honest with dates

Don’t think that you should lie or not include gaps in your employment history. It’s always best to be honest. These kinds of gaps are more common than you think, and they’re not nearly as much of a deal breaker as losing a hiring manager’s trust because they think that you’re hiding something from them.

Education

In the education section, simply list where you went to school and what degree(s) you earned. IT is also full of certifications, so if you have certs from CompTIA, Cisco, AWS, or any others, don’t forget to include them here.

One note to keep in mind is that you shouldn’t list degrees that you didn’t finish unless you’re still in attendance.

Keywords

This final section of the Senior Software Engineer resume template is your last chance to impress your reader. Show off both hard and soft skills. These are some that we recommend:

• Leadership and review
• Backend / frontend development
• Cloud native
• Systems architecture
• Distributed computing

That’s all you need to get started on an awesome Senior Software Engineer resume! Or get in touch with Leet Resumes now to learn how we can help you on your career journey!