Tech recruiters spend an average of 6 seconds scanning a resume before deciding whether to read further. For software engineers, the bar is even higher — you need to prove you can code, collaborate, and deliver. These 7 tips come directly from conversations with FAANG and startup recruiters about what makes them stop scrolling.
1. Lead with Impact, Not Responsibilities
- •Bad: 'Worked on the checkout microservice.'
- •Good: 'Redesigned checkout microservice in Go, reducing payment latency by 340ms and cart abandonment by 12%.'
- •Bad: 'Used React for the dashboard.'
- •Good: 'Built a real-time analytics dashboard in React + D3.js that reduced customer support tickets by 24% within 2 months of launch.'
2. Your GitHub Is Part of Your Resume — Make It Count
- •Pin 3-4 of your best projects — each with a clear README (what it does, tech stack, how to run it)
- •Include unit tests — repos with tests signal professionalism
- •Clean up old, unfinished repos — or make them private
- •Link directly to live demos or deployed versions when possible
Engineers with active GitHub profiles get 48% more recruiter outreach
Source: Stack Overflow Developer Survey
3. List Your Tech Stack Precisely — and Honestly
4. Show System Design Thinking (Even for Junior Roles)
- •Mention tradeoffs: 'Chose PostgreSQL over MongoDB for ACID compliance on payment data.'
- •Show scale awareness: 'Optimized queries to handle 50K requests/second with p99 latency under 100ms.'
- •Reference patterns: 'Implemented event-driven architecture using Kafka for order processing pipeline.'
5. Don't Hide Your Soft Skills
6. Tailor Your Resume for the Role (Not Just the Company)
- •Swap your top 3 skills to match the job description's first 3 requirements
- •Adjust your professional summary to mirror the company's tech stack
- •Reorder experience bullets so the most relevant achievements come first
7. Use an ATS Scanner Before Submitting
LeadRises Pro Tip
The LeadRises AI Resume Builder includes a tech-specific ATS scanner that checks for missing technologies, frameworks, and system design keywords. It also suggests GitHub project improvements.
Should I include my GPA on my software engineering resume?
Only if you graduated within the last 2 years and your GPA is 3.5+. After 2+ years of experience, remove GPA and focus entirely on professional achievements.
How many programming languages should I list?
List the 4-6 languages you're most proficient in. Listing 15 languages makes you look like a jack of all trades, master of none. Group by proficiency if needed: 'Expert: Python, TypeScript | Proficient: Go, Rust.'