CV keywords
Software developer CV keywords: what to include and where
Software developer postings are dense with technology names, and a filter treats each one as a separate term. "JavaScript" and "TypeScript" are different words, and so are "React" and "React.js". Match the spelling the posting uses.
Keywords for a Software developer CV
Use a word only if it is true for you. If the posting uses a different spelling, use the posting's.
Technical
- REST APIs
- object-oriented programming
- unit testing
- code review
- CI/CD
- microservices
- database design
- version control
- debugging
- system design
Tools
- JavaScript
- TypeScript
- React
- Node.js
- Python
- Java
- PostgreSQL
- Docker
- Git
- AWS
Skills
- Agile
- pair programming
- technical documentation
- problem solving
- collaboration with product and design
What is specific to this role
Here the danger is listing everything you have ever touched. A long list of tools you used once reads as a weak signal to a person, and it is not true to the posting either. Keep the tools from the posting that you can discuss in an interview, and show each one in a project or a job.
Five example bullets
Replace everything in [brackets] with your real facts. If you do not have the number, leave it out instead of guessing.
- Built and maintained [number] REST endpoints in Node.js and PostgreSQL for [product], with unit tests for the main flows.
- Moved the deploy of [service] to a CI/CD pipeline in [GitHub Actions or other], so releases no longer needed manual steps.
- Reviewed pull requests for a team of [number] developers and wrote the guide for [practice] used in the repository.
- Fixed [type of bug] in a React and TypeScript app by adding [test or check], and documented the cause.
- Worked with the designer and product owner to ship [feature] in [number] sprints.
Where to put them
- Summary: name your main language, your type of work (backend, frontend, full stack) and years only if they are real.
- Skills: group by languages, frameworks, databases and cloud. Use the posting's spelling for each name.
- Experience: each tool should appear in a bullet with something you built or fixed.
- Projects and links: add a GitHub or portfolio link only if the code is something you are happy to be asked about.
Only the true ones
A keyword you cannot back up will not survive the interview, and the changes CVora proposes only use facts from your own CV. Take the words from this list that describe your work, and leave the rest.
Keywords for other roles
See which keywords your CV is missing
Paste your CV and the job posting. In seconds you see the keywords you cover, the ones you miss and three quick fixes. It is free, with no sign-up, and nothing is saved.
The checker does not store your CV or the posting.