Resume Structure & Layout

A well-structured resume guides the reader’s eye to the most important information. This guide covers the optimal structure for software engineering resumes.

The One-Page Rule

Your resume should be one page. Period.

Exceptions are rare:

10+ years of highly relevant experience
Applying for senior/staff+ roles where breadth matters
Academic CVs (different format entirely)

If you’re struggling to fit on one page:

Cut less relevant experiences
Reduce margins (minimum 0.5 inches)
Use 10-11pt font (minimum)
Remove filler words and redundant phrases
Consolidate similar bullet points

Recommended Section Order

Include:

Full name — Large, bold, 16-18pt
Contact info — Phone, email, LinkedIn, GitHub, personal website
Location — City, State (full address is outdated)

JANE DOE
San Francisco, CA | (555) 123-4567 | jane.doe@email.com
linkedin.com/in/janedoe | github.com/janedoe | janedoe.dev

Tips:

Use a professional email (firstname.lastname@gmail.com, not xXx_gamer_xXx@hotmail.com)
Make sure your GitHub has actual projects, not empty repos
LinkedIn URL should be customized (linkedin.com/in/yourname, not a string of numbers)

2. Education

For new grads, education comes first. For experienced engineers, it can go at the bottom.

Include:

Degree, Major — B.S. Computer Science, M.S. Data Science
University name — Full official name
Graduation date — Month, Year (or expected)
GPA — Include if 3.5+ (or 3.3+ for top schools). Omit if lower.
Relevant coursework — Only if directly relevant to the role (3-5 courses max)
Honors — Dean’s list, cum laude, scholarships

B.S. COMPUTER SCIENCE | Stanford University | Expected June 2027
GPA: 3.8/4.0 | Relevant Coursework: Distributed Systems, ML, Algorithms

Tips:

Don’t include high school once you’re in college
Don’t list every course — be selective
If GPA is below threshold, leave it off (no one will ask)

3. Technical Skills

Group skills into categories. Be specific and honest.

Languages: Python, Java, C++, JavaScript, TypeScript, SQL
Frameworks: React, Node.js, Django, Spring Boot, Flask
Tools: Git, Docker, Kubernetes, AWS (S3, EC2, Lambda), PostgreSQL, Redis
Concepts: REST APIs, Microservices, CI/CD, Agile, TDD

See Technical Skills for detailed guidance.

4. Experience

List in reverse chronological order. Each entry should include:

Company name — Bold
Role — Your title
Dates — Month Year - Month Year
Location — City, State (or Remote)
3-5 bullet points — Using STAR format with quantified impact

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INTERN | Google | Mountain View, CA | May 2026 - Aug 2026
- Built a real-time data pipeline processing 2M+ events/day using Apache Kafka and Spark
- Reduced API latency by 40% by implementing Redis caching layer for frequently accessed queries
- Collaborated with 5-person team to ship 3 features across 2 sprint cycles

See Writing Bullets for detailed guidance.

5. Projects

2-4 projects that demonstrate your skills. Each should include:

Project name — With link if available
Tech stack — Key technologies used
2-3 bullet points — What you built, impact, technical challenges

REAL-TIME CHAT APPLICATION | Node.js, React, WebSocket, MongoDB
- Built a full-stack chat app supporting 500+ concurrent users with real-time messaging
- Implemented JWT authentication and rate limiting to prevent abuse
- Deployed on AWS EC2 with Docker, achieving 99.5% uptime over 3 months

See Projects for detailed guidance.

6. Additional Sections (Optional)

Only include if space allows and content is relevant:

Leadership / Activities — Club roles, teaching, mentoring
Awards / Competitions — Hackathons, coding competitions
Publications — Papers, blog posts (if technical and relevant)
Certifications — AWS, Google Cloud, etc.

Do NOT include:

References (available upon request is unnecessary)
Hobbies unless directly relevant
Photo (in US/Canada tech resumes)
Objective statements (outdated — use a summary only if you have 5+ years experience)