Software developer CVs have a tendency to emerge as a list of technical skills with little insight into the person behind them.

Sure it’s important to get all those platforms and techniques down but a streamlined and targeted CV with a good mix of skills, experience and character is easy to achieve and a hell of a lot more effective. These are a few tips to advance your CV.

Tailor the introduction

This advice goes for any CV but you shouldn’t just assume a comprehensive list of technical skills is going to get your CV even into the ‘maybe’ pile.

Remember that often the person doing the initial long-listing of applications will have a list of skills to tick off and after that it’s instinct. The additional skills you have may not even register as useful.

The introductory paragraph is where you demonstrate how your unique skill set is perfect for the role in question. Address the requirement and use the keywords used in the advert as soon as possible.

Include key words and terminology

Some recruiters and some hirers will use technology to weed out CVs that don’t include the keywords referring to the specific software developer job description.

It may seem obvious that you will have a knowledge of say, CSS if you have stated you can build and style an HTML site from scratch but if it’s asked for in the job description, state it explicitly.

Unfortunately, not all the recruiters or HR departments will understand your skillset entirely so you must make it easy for them! Use the formal terminology, avoid jargon or fashionable abbreviations.

Add a Projects section

Depending on your career history it is probably sensible as a software developer to add a projects section to your CV.

Employment history alone won’t necessarily demonstrate the relevance of your experience. This is a great way of directing the hirer to your transferable skills and a nice way of including those self-driven or non-commercial projects that may be the most interesting so far.

Sign-post the type of project it is immediately i.e. Localised Weather app with Android Interface. Then bullet point the technology you used and any key information. Obviously links to a live site or app store make a really impressive direct impact.

Details of an intriguing project are often asked about at interviews, so make sure you can confidently go into further details if required.

There are some great tips out there for crafting the perfect software developer CV. We recommend this article from FreeCodeCamp