When thinking about Junior Software Engineer Resumes, we first need to define what a junior software engineer is.

This may be controversial, or maybe not, but my definition is any engineer with less than four years experience.

Now, bear with me here because it does get a little tricky when we start to talk about “experience”.

A Software Engineer who has done the same thing every year for twenty years could be considered to have one year of experience twenty times over.

However someone with 4 years of experience who has had two completely different roles in different environments and different sectors could be considered to have a wider variety of experience.

For the sake of having to come up with a generalised number of years, I say less than four years is a junior software engineer.

Great. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s look at what the role of a Junior software engineer actually is.

Understanding the Junior Software Engineer Role

I find that one of the most important things you can do with any employee is define what their role should be.

Without this common understanding, it’s difficult for both leader and employee to measure if someone is doing well.

As always, a generic job title will differ from company to company, but in my experience, these are the common roles that make up a Junior Software Engineer role.

Technical skills

A Junior software engineer will develop, test and implement software solutions usually under the guidance of asenior software engineer.

This means writing code that may or may not have been designed by the junior software engineer.

The extent and complexity of the tasks given to the junior will depend on the company and competency of the junior software engineer.

Programming languages will vary depending on the company, but in general if you are a junior the company will more than likely not require previous experience in that programming language.

Other areas such as database management, web development or system performance may or may not be a factor depending on the role for which you are applying and the level of experience you already have.

I would suggest if you are applying for a role that is focused on something like system performance, that you have a solid understanding of the fundamentals even if you don’t have first hand experience.

You will want to be able to debug existing software as well as write new, green field software and have some basic understanding of user interfaces (even if you are applying for a back end role, it doesn’t hurt)

Methodologies

Being a Software Engineer isn’t just writing thousands of lines of code with your headphones on and some techno blazing. Despite what the movies show us, coding skills aren’t the only thing you need to be a great software engineer.

As a Junior software engineer, you won’t need to have experience with project management methodologies, but having a basic understanding of a difference between agile methodologies and Waterfall will impress hiring managers.

Problem solving skills

All useful software solutions solve problems. They meet customers needs and make the clients life easier.

As a junior software engineer, you may or may not have real world experience in solving the clients problems, but you should have a solid set of problem solving skills.

One of the differences between average engineers and great engineers is the ability to truly understand the problem that the client is having and using your skills to solve their problems.

As Henry Ford once said:

If I’d have asked customers what they wanted they’d have said “faster horses”

The great engineers understand the problem and create a solution. Average engineers just do what the client asks.

Soft Skills

No large companies succeed based on individual people working in silo’s, especially those who are trying to solve clients needs.

For a junior software engineer to grow effectively, they will need to have good communication skills and general soft skills to enable them to ask the right questions, get the right feedback and build a community of people around them that can help them develop as a software engineer.

When hiring managers are interviewing, they are interviewing for fit as much as technical skills.

If someone isn’t a team player or won’t fit in to a team, they will likely not get the job.

There’s nothing more costly than a bad hire and nothing more toxic to a good team than a bad fit.

Crafting a Winning Resume

Resume Structure and Layout

Here’s where the fun starts.

How do you get someone who does not know you, to notice you? How do you differentiate yourself from the rest?

Summary / Introduction

Before we talk about the context of the CV/Resume, let’s talk about personalisation.

You should always (ALWAYS for those who couldn’t hear me at the back) personalise your CV for the job to which you are applying.

I’m not saying that you should change it to lie and make yourself seem more suited, I’m saying that you should emphasise experiences and skills that you do have that are more relevant to the role in question.

Cover letters are a matter for another discussion.

Start with a quick elevator pitch of yourself. This should grab attention and let them know why they should continue to read your CV. Going back to what I said above about personalising the CV to suit the role. Do that here. Make them understand in the first one or two sentences why you are a good fit for the role.

After the summary section comes the skills.

Skills

Highlight any skills that are relevant to that role at the top of the skills section (again, personalise the CV) to grab the attention of the interviewer. If the role requires database knowledge, list the databases on which you have worked at the top. If the role requires that you ride a horse. Horse riding should be the very top skill in the section. You get the point.

“Technical Skills” is a broad term. You can include (but are not limited to):

• Programming Languages
• IDEs
• Project management software
• Problem solving skills
• Version control systems
• Software development methodologies

Work Experience

Now, in reverse chronological order, list any relevant software engineering work experience.

These should be fairly brief as your whole CV should be no more than 2 pages of A4, but with enough information to convey what you worked on.

You want to emphasise deep knowledge of what you worked on here. The customer problem it solved, the deliverables and your involvement.

I learn nothing when I read “Converted 10 python services to python3.9”.

I want to know the reason behind it, the impetuous, the benefits, the technical challenges. Bring me in to the story.

Showcasing Your Experience and Skills

Junior software engineers may not have a large backlog of work achievements from which to draw.

You may however, have contributions to open source software, personal projects, your own Blog, GitHub repo etc.

Highlighting these may set you apart from the pack. In my view, these are not the same as commercial work experience, but certainly do show an extra level of dedication and willing to learn.

You may also have interned somewhere or done a placement. These are hugely important to include at the start of your career.

Highlighting Your Education and Certifications

The end of the CV is where you add your qualifications. These again are generally in reverse chronological order.

List all of your relevant (or not relevant) degrees such as computer science, maths etc, with their start and completion dates as well as the university from which you graduated.

Highlight any specific modules or courses you may have done that relate to the role to which you are applying.

Add any extra qualifications or relevant technical skills that you believe can be transferred to the role of software engineering.

Essential Skills for Junior Software Engineers

Programming languages

You should known at least one programming language to start your path in to software engineering.

Whether that be from a formal education from a computer science university, or a personal project that you are able to display to the hiring managers.

If you’re not sure where to start, google “top programming languages in demand”. Or just choose Python (Python appeared in 27% of job adverts in the UK last year)

Software Development Tools

Tooling sucks a Git, Jenkins, Docker. All of these are considered fairly essential in the day to day life of a software developer. I would say that these are less relevant in a hiring situation of a junior software engineer though as they can be easily taught.

Problem Solving abilities

Most of software engineering boils down to solving problems. If you have the right mindset and have a brain that allows you to logically step through breaking down a problem, you’ll go far in software engineering.

Software Development Patterns

If you want to set yourself apart from the crowd, learn some design patterns and methodologies. Tell the hiring managers where you have applied them and why. Show that not only can you solve a problem, but you can solve it with good design in mind.

Again, as a junior software engineer, you may not require this. But it will be a differentiator.

Software Testing

Again, you don’t need to have deep knowledge of this as a junior software engineer, but you need to have an understanding of software testing and how that leads to high quality software solutions.

Tips for a Winning Job Search

I mention this once of twice above, but tailor your CV to the job to which you are applying.

This really is key.

You should ensure that the skills and experience you have that match the role for which you are applying are in the opening summary and top of the skills lists.

Look at the job advert and look for keywords that they use. See if you can build these keywords in to your CV. When hiring managers are skimming through CVs, their eyes will be drawn to the words and phrases that they themselves wrote in the advert.

Get your professional summary at the top as good as it can be. Really really focus on this. As the saying goes, “you don’t get a second chance at a first impression”. This may be the make or break for you. Write it once, sleep on it, read it and re-write it. Repeat this until you are really happy with it.

Order your technical skills section based on the needs of the role to which you are applying. The most important skills for that particular job at the top. The programming languages that you know that are applicable to the role, highlight them. No really. Make them bold. Make it easy for the person reviewing your CV. If you make their life easier, you are more likely to get an interview.

Write enough detail that shows the reader that you have a good understanding of the projects on which you worked, but being brief enough that they don’t get bored. I can guarantee you that they won’t be reading three full A4 pages of a CV. Make it snappy, make it engaging.

Highlight the qualifications that you have that contain relevant skills to the job. Computer Science degree – include this front and centre. Recognised certificate in some form of web development – include this. Certificate in 100m backstroke – probably leave this off.

There are two approaches to choosing where to send your CV:

1) Shotgun the CV – send it to as many people as you can. Regardless of if the job is perfect. As long as they use the phrase “junior software engineer“ or “Software development”, send send send. The sheer volume should get you some responses.

2) Tailor your job search to the job descriptions that specifically meet your needs. The programming languages that you know. The software development methodologies that you have already used. The technical skills that you already have. This will allow you to truly tailor the CV and have a better chance of rising to the top of the pile of applicants.

Junior Software Engineer Resume Examples and Templates

If you would like me to send you some pre-written templates, sign up to my Newsletter and reply to the welcome email with the word “Template”

Getting Feedback and Improving Your Resume

Getting feedback on your CV/Resume is crucial. Sometimes you can just be a little to close to it to see the wood for the trees.

Ideally you would ask someone in the software engineering field to look over it and give tips and feedback, but if you don’t have that option then at least get someone to read through it and give you feedback on the grammar, phrasing and detail.

When people write about projects on which they have worked, they can sometimes miss details that they think are obvious. Having an extra set of eyes who could critique the write up of your professional experience section and tell you where you may have missed some well needed information is crucial.

Keep your CV up to date and fresh.

As you develop your skills, update your CV to reflect the new experiences and achievements.

Conclusion

The job market is tough. More people than ever are entering the field of software engineering.

A well-crafted junior software engineer resume is essential for a winning job search.

By highlighting relevant skills, experience, and education, you can increase your chances of getting through to the interview stage.

Remember to tailor your resume to the job description, use keywords, and focus on strategies specific to junior software engineering roles.

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