How to Make An Excellent Resume if You’re a Web Developer
The last thing you want is to be rejected for a job because of an awful resume. There are some important rules for creating one that will help you get hired.
Use this guide as your roadmap to writing an effective resume.
You want to make it easy for the hiring manager or recruiter to understand why you’re the perfect fit for the job. It should be obvious after a quick glance that you’re an ideal candidate and reinforce your strengths.
To help you accomplish that, we’ve put together some tips while using examples of web developer resumes from real developers who landed their dream jobs.
What Do Companies Look for in Web Developers?
If you’re looking to get into web development, it pays to have a resume that stands out. After all, when there are so many candidates applying for developer roles, recruitment teams need to be able to quickly identify the ones worth shortlisting and interviewing.
Key Skills and Experience to Include on Your Resume
If you want to get hired as a web developer, it’s important that your resume contains examples of the kind of development work you’ve done previously. You can also include industry keywords and acronyms to show off your experience.
The quality of your references is also a key consideration for recruitment teams.
Here are some examples of the types of skills and experiences you should include on your resume:
– Web development languages, including HTML, CSS, and Javascript
– Front end web development experience
– Server-side web development experience
– Tools and technologies you’ve used, especially those related to the role
– Your availability and whether you work full time or part-time
– Any third party references who can vouch for your professional experience
What Else Can You Include on Your Resume?
When it comes to summarizing your web development experience, you should also consider including:
– The platforms you’ve developed for (e.g. websites, apps, games). Remember to list any relevant examples here
– Whether you specialize in front end or back end development – include details about your level of experience and whether you’ve worked on projects that span both areas
– Any projects you’ve led or managed – the experience you’ve gained from leading and managing teams can show that you’re capable of supervising junior members of staff
– Any public speaking or presentation skills – if you’ve given talks at local meetups about web development practices, or even delivered presentations at work
– Whether you’ve been involved with project documentation and any examples of documentation you’ve written
– Whether you’ve been involved in many projects with an open-source element
– Any other relevant contributions to your industry, for example writing a regular blog post on a subject related to web development
What Kind of Web Developer Do Employers Look For?
Although there are many options available for web developers today, most employers focus on three areas: front end, back end, and full-stack experience. Although they don’t expect to find a candidate with all three skills, having at least two of them on your resume will give you a strong start.
Front-end developers are responsible for the design and user interface of a website or application. Employers typically want candidates who have worked on projects that have involved designing and building websites or web applications from the ground up, including building custom Javascript components.
What Employers Look for in Back-End Developers
A back-end developer is responsible for building and maintaining an application’s backend infrastructure. They’re usually the ones who write the programming logic behind a website, app, or game. Employers will typically prefer candidates who have experience developing functional web applications with a strong focus on backend logic.
Full-Stack Developers
A full-stack developer is someone who possesses some or all of the skills needed to build an application from the ground up, including its front end and back end elements. These developers are often expected to work on a project from the initial planning stages to the day-to-day maintenance since they’re fully familiar with every element of the web development process.
When Should You Apply for Web Developer Jobs?
The answer to this question depends on you and your personal circumstances. If you’re working as an agency developer and have availability all year round, you may want to consider focusing on front-end or back-end development roles since they’re more in-demand at the moment.
However, if you have a commutable location and are available for work right now, applying for full stack developer jobs could be a strong strategy. You can also consider submitting your resume to a job-hunting site like Monster, which will distribute your resume to other employers that are advertising web developer roles.
How Can You Show Employers That You’re the Right Person for the Job?
There are certain strategies you can use on your resume to make it stand out from the crowd and make an employer take notice. One of these is including relevant keywords throughout your resume. For example, including the word ‘Javascript’ next to a programming language you’ve used will signify that you have experience working with this language and will present you as a stronger candidate for front-end developer roles.
Another strategy is to include any academic qualifications on your resume – an employer may be impressed by a degree in computer science and regard you as a stronger candidate for back-end developer roles.
A third tactic is to include any project experience related to web development, even if it’s unrelated to your current job. For example, if you’re an accountant by profession but have created websites using WordPress in your free time, make sure this information appears on your resume. Any experience related to web development, including WordPress and HTML5, will make you a stronger candidate for front-end developer roles.
SAMPLE 1
WORK EXPERIENCE
Company A – Web Developer Intern
- Actively engaged in web creative design and development.
- Assisted in product development and enhancements of the current suite to boost engagement by 15%.
- Provided technical support for 10+ existing online products.
- Provided professional customer service, managing 20+ phone and email requests a day.
- Created and deployed mobile-first applications while learning new languages and frameworks.
- Developed innovative techniques to allow clients to use headless CMSs with technology like Contentful and Google sheets to manage all marketing material.
EDUCATION
ABC University – Certified Web Developer
2023 – 2023
SKILLS
HTML; CSS; JavaScript; Python; REST APIs; Node.js; Bootstrap; React.js
SAMPLE 2
WORK EXPERIENCE
Company A – Front-End Developer
- Monitored social media and Google SEO analytics to adjust post time, location, and various media to grow target platform by 20,000+ followers in less than a year.
- Created a Mobile Responsive User Experience with CSS Flexbox that allowed cross-platform accessibility to the website on any device with primary use on mobile.
- Built API following RESTful standards to allow users to submit information by storing data in MongoDB.
- Partnered with data science to develop the front end for a product recommendation engine that increased user time on page by 4 minutes.
- Curated over 50 website changes to increase the user flow and understanding of all platform capabilities and features.
Company B – Full Stack Software Engineer Intern
- Developed applications using React while managing the State through Redux and Redux-Forms saving 5+ hours of users’ time.
- Designed an integrated database using MongoDB that leveraged the React architecture to yield on-demand, detailed feedback.
- Simplified reporting to deliver actionable information to servers, resulting in multiple servers achieving financial stability by coming in under budget by 2% or more.
EDUCATION
ABC University – Bachelor of Science Computer Science
2014 – 2018
SKILLS
JavaScript
HTML
CSS
React Angular Flutter Vue.js BootStrap Enzyme MongoDB
SAMPLE 3
WORK EXPERIENCE
Company A – Web Developer
- Monitored, created, and populated QA sheets with the designer and project manager.
- Engaged in 100+ hours of WordPress training and PHP crash course with the lead designer.
- Collaborated with designers and performance team on designing updates to sites and blogs, improving user experience by 41%.
- Briefed development team on website research, and made suggestions for website builds/products.
- Participated in stand-ups 2 times a month, where team leaders would review, assign, and coach team members.
Company B – Creator, Designer, Developer
- Incorporated API calls to several government census organizations to determine the number of Jewish households across the U.S.
- Built responsive, accessible, and dynamic web pages to enable users to easily navigate the site.
- Used MaterialUI to create visually aesthetic graphs and charts to display consensus data results.
EDUCATION
ABC University – B.S. in Computer Science
September 2015 – June 2019
SKILLS
JavaScript HTML
CSS PHP
Python React.js MaterialUI jQuery MongoDB SQL
SAMPLE 4
WORK EXPERIENCE
Company A – Senior Web Developer
- Led and managed a team of 12 developers and designers to create efficient, effective, and visually aesthetic websites for 60,000+ clients.
- Oversaw concept mock-up and wireframe design to further client satisfaction by 35%.
- Developed customer-specific design framework, reducing site production time by 4 days.
- Collaborated with VP of sales to create digital marketing designs that led to an average of 20,000+ additional clients per month.
Company B – Web Designer
- Created and assisted with the development of 3 official university-sponsored websites.
- Created and assisted with the design, development, and support of new and existing secure websites and web applications.
- Conceptualized, created, and managed dynamic web pages for data display and entry using appropriate technologies (HTML, PHP, and Web CMS).
- Worked as part of a 4-person team, and communicated in a professional and collegial way.
- Provided training for continuous updating of websites.
Company C – Front-End Developer Intern
- Translated designs and wireframes into high-quality code using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
- Worked closely with developers, designers, copywriters, and other cross-functional teams (CRO, Video, Marketing, etc..) to drive innovation and maximize conversions by 40%.
- Provided input to leaders 3 times a year about the future development of new features.
- Ensured the technical feasibility of UI/UX designs.
EDUCATION
University of ABC – B.S., Computer Science
September 2011 – June 2015
SKILLS
Python; JavaScript; HTML; CSS; Java; PHP React.js; jQuery; Selenium
Angular.js; Laravel
MongoDB; Jest; Enymze; Mocha/Chai
SAMPLE 5
WORK EXPERIENCE
Company A – Web Developer
- Coached 4 junior designers in ARIA and A11y accessibility standards.
- Created and oversaw wireframe designs from client requests.
- The spearheaded transition from firebase to AWS saved the company $3,700+ monthly and increased load speeds by an average of 38%.
- Developed documentation to teach new team members company standards and best practices in React.js and Node.js.
- Addressed complex issues with real-time lead prioritization using Websocket connectivity.
Company B – Web Designer
- Built mock designs and wireframes for landing pages for 5 new product concepts.
- Created accessible, responsive, and functional user interfaces to allow visitors on any device to have the same perfect user experience.
- Created the user experience that fetched, parsed, and formatted analytic data, and relayed it into React components.
- Collaborated on Complexity Score tool, which removed process bottlenecks by assigning scores to cost, time, and compliance issues, increasing efficiency by 72%.
Company C – Web Development Intern
- Developed user interfaces with modern JavaScript frameworks, HTML5, and CSS3, which improved user satisfaction by 31%.
- Developed object-oriented code in Node.js with 100% accordance to industry and company standards.
- Learned multiple threading, concurrency, design patterns, and their impacts on application concurrency.
- Designed and developed web applications using JavaScript frameworks React.js and Angular.js to increase target audience engagement by 12%.
EDUCATION
University of ABC – B.S., Computer Science
September 2012 – June 2016
SKILLS
JavaScript, HTML, CSS, React.js, Node.js, Angular.js, MongoD, B AWS, Java