What recruiters look for
- Stack match: the languages, frameworks and cloud tools named in the posting, in the same wording.
- Scope: what you owned, such as a service, a feature, a migration or a team.
- Impact: latency, uptime, cost, revenue, users or developer time saved.
- Engineering practice: testing, code review, CI/CD, observability and on-call.
Summary example
Five to six sentences, no "I". Mirror the title and stack in the posting.
Backend software engineer focused on scalable APIs and distributed systems in Python and Go. Builds and runs services on AWS with Kubernetes, Terraform and PostgreSQL. Improves reliability and performance through profiling, caching and clear observability. Works closely with product and data teams to ship features in small, tested increments. Known for clean code reviews, practical documentation and calm incident response. Ready to help a growing platform team scale its core services.
Bullet points that prove impact
- Redesigned the order service's caching layer in Go and Redis, cutting p95 API latency from 800 ms to 200 ms.
- Led the migration of 12 services from VMs to Kubernetes on AWS, reducing infrastructure costs by 25%.
- Built a CI/CD pipeline with GitHub Actions and automated tests, shortening release time from weekly to daily.
- Added tracing and alerting with OpenTelemetry and Grafana, halving mean time to resolve incidents.
- Mentored 3 junior engineers through code reviews and pairing on the payments codebase.
No exact figure? Use honest ranges or check old reviews and reports. ProofFit leaves a placeholder such as [result %] where a real figure belongs, instead of inventing one.
How to list your tech stack
Group skills by type and list only what you can discuss in an interview:
- Languages: Python, Go, TypeScript, Java
- Frameworks: React, Node.js, Django, Spring Boot
- Cloud and DevOps: AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, GitHub Actions
- Data: PostgreSQL, Redis, Kafka, BigQuery
Add a GitHub or portfolio link if it shows recent, readable work.
Mistakes that cost interviews
- Long skill lists with no bullets that prove those skills.
- Bullets that describe tickets ("worked on the API") instead of outcomes.
- Two-column templates and skill bars that applicant tracking systems misread.
- Sending one resume to frontend, backend and data roles: each needs a different emphasis.
Check your own resume now
Paste a job posting, upload your resume and see your estimated score, the requirements you do not show yet, and a tailored version that never invents experience. The check is free; your first tailored application is free after sign-in.
Check my resume, freeQuestions
How long should a software engineer resume be?
One page for juniors and most mid-level engineers, two pages for senior and staff engineers with broad scope.
Should I include personal projects?
Yes, when they use the stack in the posting or show something your job does not. Describe them with results, like your work bullets.
Should I list every technology I have used?
No. List what the posting asks for and what you can discuss in depth. Old or trivial tools add noise.
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