Whether you’re a programmer, a QA specialist, or a web developer, finding yourself in the software development industry can be tough. Despite the years of formal education, courses, and seminars you’ve taken over the years, you’ll still have to “sell” yourself properly to potential employers.
Writing your CV properly is essential if you want to leave a good first impression and convince someone of hiring you. Here’s what you can do to secure your next job interview by avoiding some common pitfalls developers often make when writing their CVs.
Reasons to Write a Good CV as a Developer
Many people fail to understand just how important a CV is. Even if you have years of professional experience and a dozen references under your belt, your CV will still make or break your job application. Your CV is effectively your first contact with an employer or HR recruiter looking for developers to hire.
You need to put yourself in the position of a person who doesn’t know anything about you and is now seeing your CV for the first time. Would you hire yourself based on your CV? Here’s why you should pay closer attention to how you write one:
- Effectively communicate who you are beyond your hard skills
- Make a good first impression and convince employers to interview you
- Stand out from other job candidates with similar backgrounds
- Showcase how well-organized you are as a person
- Land your next gig or a full-time job far more easily
CV Writing Mistakes to Avoid as a Developer
1. Not Adjusting your CV Based on the Job Position
Applying for a job through a job listings platform like LinkedIn or Jobs OneGlobe means that you have the opportunity to adjust your CV before applying. Creating a single CV for ten different job listings and hoping for the best isn’t a great solution.
You should instead rearrange your skills, expertise, experiences, and qualifications based on each employer’s expectations. Applying for a junior programmer’s position and a senior software developer’s job will require different skills and employers will disregard uninteresting CVs. Adjust your CV instead of generalizing it.
2. Failing to Use Developer-Related Keywords
Many of today’s HR agencies and large-scale companies use AI to screen and shortlist candidate CVs. This makes it important for you to use the right keywords and phrases related to the job opening. Again, instead of spamming job listings platforms with a singular CV, try to fit the mold more precisely.
Which soft and hard skills is the employer looking for exactly? How experienced do you need to be to be shortlisted and invited to an interview? Use the keywords you suspect the employer will search for in your CV to increase your odds of landing the interview.
3. Overblowing or Omitting Information in your CV
It is deceptively easy for employers to figure out whether your CV is legitimate or not. This is why it's never a good idea to overblow your experience, knowledge, or skillset, especially as a software developer.
The same applies to omitting important information from your CV, such as employment you’re not proud of or a seminar you deemed unhelpful. Be truthful in the statements you make in your CV and employers will appreciate your professionalism.
4. Lack of Proper Formatting
As you fill your CV with information related to development, you’ll quickly run into the problem of CV formatting. Your CV will showcase how attentive you are with details and how careful you are with the documents you handle. You must take the time to properly format your CV instead of simply listing everything and calling it a day.
List your skills, formal education, and professional experiences starting with the latest and going backward in time. Be sure to spellcheck each entry in your CV to avoid coming off as a slacker since employers don’t like to see grammar errors in the CVs of potential job candidates. The way you present your data is just as important as the data itself – format and proofread your CV.
In Conclusion
The biggest mistake you can make when writing a CV as a developer is to assume that your employer knows as much as you do about software development. You must write your CV in a way that makes it approachable and understandable by anyone who picks it up.
Don’t rely on inside references, jokes, or anecdotes about development, and treat your CV as an official job application document. Present your skills, experiences, and references competently and succinctly and let the employers and interviewers decide on whether you fit their profile. While your CV won’t fit every mold out there, the right company will recognize your value and reach out to you with internship or employment offers thanks to your well-written CV.