Software Engineer resume skills. The words recruiters search for.
The 18 skills and tools that come up in software engineer job posts, sorted by type, and how to put them in bullets a recruiter believes.
By Nazir Elmurodov, Founder, LaunchCV · Updated
/ The list
Keywords by type. Use only the ones that are true for you.
Hard skills · 11
- Python (used in James's sample resume)
- Java
- Go (used in James's sample resume)
- JavaScript
- TypeScript (used in James's sample resume)
- SQL
- Microservices
- REST APIs
- CI/CD (used in James's sample resume)
- System design
- Unit testing
Tools & software · 7
- React
- Node.js
- PostgreSQL (used in James's sample resume)
- AWS (used in James's sample resume)
- Docker
- Kubernetes (used in James's sample resume)
- Git
7 of 18 appear in James's sample resume. See where
/ How to use them
Put keywords in bullets, not just in a skills list.
A skills list tells the software you have a skill. A bullet shows a recruiter what you did with it.
Kubernetes
Weak: Skills: Kubernetes
Strong: Cut infrastructure costs by $420K a year by rightsizing Kubernetes clusters
Performance
Weak: Improved API speed
Strong: Cut p95 API latency from 900ms to 180ms by adding caching and query indexes
Reliability
Weak: Worked on uptime
Strong: Raised service uptime from 99.5% to 99.99% with retries, health checks and canary deploys
Cost
Weak: Reduced AWS costs
Strong: Saved $420K a year by rightsizing clusters and moving batch jobs to spot instances
Strong bullets come from James's sample resume and our software engineer bullet examples. Names and figures are illustrative.
/ Use them honestly
Keywords get you found. Proof gets you hired.
Mirror the job post's wording for skills you really have. If a software engineer post asks for Python and you've used it, say Python, in the post's spelling, and show where.
Mirror the job post's wording
If a software engineer post says "Java", write "Java", not a near-synonym — as long as it's accurate. Recruiters search for the post's exact term.
Only claim what you can back up
Expect to be asked about every term you list. If you couldn't spend two minutes on Python — what you did and what changed — leave it out.
Show it in a bullet
A skills list says you know Kubernetes. A bullet like the one under Senior Software Engineer in the example above shows what you did with it.
No stuffing, no hidden text
Repeating a word or hiding keywords in white text doesn't make you a better match. A person reads the resume in the end.
Which of these does your resume say?
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/ Questions
Software Engineer keywords, answered.
Something else? support@launch-cv.com
How many keywords should a software engineer resume have?
There's no magic number. James's sample resume uses 7 of the 18 terms on this page — the ones that fit that job. Cover what your post asks for that you can back up, each where it fits; repeating a keyword doesn't help.
Should I copy keywords exactly from the job post?
Use the post's wording for skills you really have. If a software engineer post says "Python", write "Python" rather than a synonym, so a recruiter searching for that term finds you. Don't add skills you don't have just because the post lists them.
Where should keywords go on my resume?
In your summary, a short skills section and, above all, the bullets under each job, where you show what you did with the skill. In James's sample, Kubernetes shows up in a bullet under Senior Software Engineer. Plain text in the body of the page is easiest for applicant tracking systems to read.
Which tools should I list on a software engineer resume?
The ones you've used and the post mentions. Common ones in software engineer posts include React, Node.js, PostgreSQL, AWS and Docker. Name the tool in the bullet where you used it, not only in the skills list.
Keywords for related roles
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