In theory, putting together an ideal Scrum master resume is simple. You just need to demonstrate a mastery of Scrum principles and show experience putting them in practice. However, as a Scrum master, you’re well familiar with all the problems that arise when theory meets practice and crafting your resume is no different.

You need your resume to show that you can effectively implement Scrim principles and use them to get great results for the product owner. This guide will take you through all of the tricks and principles you need to follow to do just that.

What this guide will teach you

• How to take inspiration from Scrum master resume examples
• What makes a Scrum master resume stand out
• How to write for ATS and recruiters alike
• The formatting rules you need to follow
• How to include education, training, and certifications for maximum impact
• The best skills to include and how to list them
• How to highlight your achievements
• Why starting with an objective or summary is ideal
• What to do if you have little or no Scrum master experience
• Why a resume builder is a critical tool for success

There’s a lot to get to, so let’s get started.

Scrum master resume examples

You might describe yourself as a kind of product manager to your grandparents but you know that being a Scrum master is really its own thing. That’s why you should start the resume creation process by taking inspiration from resumes crafted just for Scrum masters like yourself.

Before you think “I know what a resume looks like” and move on to the other sections, stop and take a look at these examples. Try listing what you like and don’t like about each, what stands out to you. Imagine yourself as a recruiter or product owner, what would you think of each of these resumes? We’re going to talk about the power of putting yourself in those shoes throughout this guide, so start here and you’ll be ready for what comes next.

[Examples]

How to write a Scrum master resume that will get you noticed

As someone applying for a Scrum master position, you’re asking for a lot of responsibility. That’s why your resume needs to inspire confidence in you and your abilities. Doing that means showing instead of telling (if that sounds strange for a written document, don’t worry it will make sense). Including examples and specifics about your approach and the results you’ve gotten will be key.

But before you begin writing, you need to understand the two primary audiences your resume needs to resonate with.

The most important thing most Scrum master applicants don’t do on their resume

Three simple letters lead to as many as 75% of otherwise qualified resumes never seeing the light of day (or the screen of a recruiter): ATS. Applicant Tracking Systems are algorithms which use artificial intelligence to scan large numbers of resumes and sort them into “review further” and “discard” piles. These systems are increasingly popular because of the time they save for HR teams, however as the 75% figure cited above indicates, they have their problems.

Although there are dozens of ATS companies out there each with a slightly different system, they all share some limitations that you as a job applicant need to be familiar with. The good news is that by following these tips you can be confident your resume won’t be part of that 75%, giving you a substantial advantage when applying at companies which use ATS (which is most of them)

1. Make sure the resume you submit is the right file type. This one is easy. ATS are generally designed to read .doc, .docx, and .pdf files. So by submitting your resume in one of these 3 file types, yours won’t be rejected out of hand like your friend who thought it would be cool to send their resume as a movie or an image file.
2. Use a resume builder to ensure the data in that file is easily readable by ATS. Although ATS are set up to read the file types we mentioned, they can still easily get confused by the way that data is structured within the file. Images, charts, columns, etc. can all potentially cause problems. The best way to ensure this doesn’t happen is to create your resume using a builder specifically designed to create ATS-friendly files.
3. Think like an ATS algorithm and use keywords cleverly. If you’re familiar with how keywords are used in SEO, then this should make sense to you. ATS algorithms scan your resume trying to understand your skills and experience similar to the way Google’s algorithms scan a website to understand its content. What you need to do is make this process easy. That requires first understanding what the ATS is looking for by studying the job ad. Then, you need to take the requirements in the job ad and get those keywords into your resume as closely as possible to how they’re originally written (and without lying, because lying on your resume is never a good idea).

By following these 3 steps, your resume will be more prepared for ATS than the vast majority of other Scrum masters out there, giving you a substantial heads up.

How to get in the head of a recruiter or product owner

Whether or not the place you’re applying to uses ATS, your resume will still need to impress a human. For larger companies, this will be a recruiter, hiring manager, or someone else in HR. For a smaller company or freelance gig, this will probably be the product owner themselves. Either way, your resume needs to be laser-focused on them and their needs.

Look back at the job ad and ask yourself what this company or team needs from a Scrum master. You’re being hired to do more than simply fulfill a role, you’ll be helping them achieve larger aims. Understanding those aims and representing them in your resume will help you stand out from the competition.

For example, if a company is looking to hire you because they want to try Scrum, you should demonstrate your knowledge of the system so you can help them through the implementation. On the other hand, if the company needs a Scrum master because their product development process is a mess, you can emphasize examples when you’ve stepped in and improved processes.

The bigger idea is that your resume should communicate that you will solve their problem(s). If you can convince a recruiter or product owner of that, they’ll be falling over themselves to hire you.

How to format a Scrum master resume

Formatting is really about information hierarchy. The way you structure the sections on your resume tells the person reading it what’s important. That’s why resume formatting is so critical, by controlling what information gets across in what order, you can make the content of your resume more effective.

For example, a recruiter might notice a gap in your work history and wonder what happened. That uncertainty will impact how they read the rest of the information. But, if you get ahead of them and explain the gap in a resume summary (more on those later), then you’ll avoid that problem.

The bigger principle is to put the most important information towards the top. This means you’ll want to put your work experience in reverse chronological order, meaning your most recent experience is listed first. But it also gets to the question of what is important and the ever popular “how long should my resume be?” The best rule of thumb in this case is to only include information or a section if you're confident it’s improving your resume. Nobody wants to hire a Scrum master who seems more focused on overwhelming the reader with pages of unnecessary information rather than providing a lean and focused resume.

Which sections should you include in your resume?

Using the principles we just mentioned to guide you, choose from these sections with an eye on including only the ones which best show you off as a Scrum master.

• Resume objective or summary
• Work experience
• Certifications
• Achievements
• Projects
• Education
• Hard skills
• Soft Skills

How to list your education, additional training, and certifications

Education is a tricky question for a Scrum master resume. You’re not going to have a BA in Scrum, so when should you include it and what should you mention? Put simply, if your education isn’t relevant then don’t include it. The space taken up by listing an irrelevant degree would be better used listing more important information.

Where you will want to spend more time and focus is on additional training and certifications related to your Scrum work.

But if you do feel the need to include your education, here are some examples to illustrate how to do that.

BA in Linguistics

University of Wisconsin Madison

1999-2005

-Member of Linguistics Honor Society

-Varsity Rugby 2000-2002

-3.9 GPA

This example makes most of the mistakes you’ll potentially run into, so let’s explain each one. The first is really including this education at all. The chances that someone hiring you as a Scrum master care that you obtained a degree 15+ years ago are slim to none. Including this information makes you look old-fashioned. Then, this example has included many irrelevant details, wasting yet more valuable resume space (and the time of the person reading it).

BA in Management

University of Pennsylvania

2012-2016

-Wrote thesis on agile management in German auto manufacturing

This education example demonstrates what should be included. First, the degree is relevant to your work as a Scrum master. Second, the degree is much more recent. And third, the only additional detail added is one directly connected to Scum (and something which could serve as a nice topic of conversation in an interview).

Scrum master certifications to consider obtaining and including

• Professional Scrum Master (PSM) I, II, & III from Scrum.org
• Certified Scrum Master (CSM) from the Scrum Alliance
• Advanced Certified ScrumMaster (A-CSM) from the Scrum Alliance
• Certified Scrum Professional ScrumMaster (CSP-SM) from the Scrum Alliance
• Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP) from the Project Management Institute
• SAFe 4 Scrum Master
• SAFe 4 Advanced Scrum Master

How to list your skills on a Scrum master resume

As someone applying for a Scrum master role, your skills can seem less important because the core skill you’re demonstrating is the ability to function as a Scrum master. While there is some truth to that, the reality is that without listing skills you’ll have little chance of making it past ATS.

The best approach for choosing which skills to list and how to include them is to begin with the job ad. Just like we mentioned in the ATS section, you should study the description carefully and list all of the skills you believe it calls for. Now your mission is to get as many of those skills on your resume as possible.

However, while that technique will do well for ATS, a simple list of skills won’t have much of an impact on a person reading your resume. Let’s face it, simply stating that you’re good at agile planning doesn’t say much. If you want your skills to have a greater impact, you need to give concrete examples. Let’s see this in action with some examples.

Meeting facilitation

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with simply listing a skill like this, you can do better.

Meeting facilitation

-Ran monthly product development unconferences in Boston from March 2018 to June 2019

Here, simply by listing some specific experience a reader can feel far more confident in this skill. Instead of reading your skills and thinking “that sounds nice but now I need to figure out a way to determine whether they actually have that skill” a reader feels they can move on without worrying more. By making their job easier in this way, you make yourself a more enticing candidate.

The best hard skills to include

• Anything more technical related to the specific projects you’ll work on
• Burndown charts
• Agile coaching
• Scrum management
• PM tools
• Gathering requirements
• Managing backlogs
• Documentation

The best soft skills to include

• Written and verbal communication
• Organization
• Time management
• Collaboration
• Empathy
• Meeting facilitation
• Team building
• Conflict resolution
• Adaptability
• Attention to detail

How to highlight your most important achievements

Whether you’re listing examples under your skills, in your work history, or in a separate achievements section, listing your achievements the right way is one of the most effective ways to improve your resume. This is where you need to show that beyond simply muddling through and doing the bare minimum, you have an impact on the projects you get involved with.

This is particularly important for Scrum masters because your role will be very active and the quality of your work will have far ranging impacts on your team and what they produce. By showing specific impacts from your achievements, you’ll be demonstrating that you’ve got attention to detail and can get results. Now let’s look at some examples to see this in action.

Project Manager

Imperia Technologies

2014-2019, Omaha, NE

-Responsible for managing software projects

-Implemented Scrum methodology

The takeaway from this example is that this person “managed some stuff and did some Scum.” Joking aside, this description hardly inspires confidence or makes the candidate sound proactive. In 5 years at this company, if all they have to mention are these two points, there’s no reason to think they’ll be an effective Scrum master.

Project Manager and Scrum Master

Imperia Technologies

2014-2019, Omaha, NE

-Managed 40+ person software development teams creating web apps and enterprise software

-Obtained a PSM certification before implementing Scrum practices

-Reduced average project length by 18% and cost by 12% after 2 years of Scrum implementation

Reworking that example to focus more on concrete achievements makes it sound like it’s describing a completely different person. It tells a story about managing large teams, seeing the need to change work practices, studying Scrum as a solution, and then successfully implementing it with great results. The reader can clearly see how this candidate went through these steps and therefore how they work as an employee.

Why your resume should begin with an objective or summary

We mentioned earlier in this guide how critical it is to control the flow of information in your resume. The best and more flexible way to do this is with an objective or summary. In one or a few sentences, you can start by giving a summary of why you’re the best candidate for a Scrum master role.

This is also a good place to get ahead of potential questions which might arise from reading your resume like “why did you change careers?” or “why is there a gap in your work history?” When you frame the information on your resume effectively, you make all of the information in it more impactful, which is why objectives and summaries are so important.

The difference between them is largely one of length. An objective should only be about one sentence and should focus on simply explaining who you are and what you aim to achieve. A summary can be a few sentences long but should still be concise. Here you have more space to convey information which doesn’t fit easily into other resume sections.

How to write a resume objective

Your goal here is to pack as much valuable information into a few easy to understand words. 

I’m an experienced and certified Scrum Master looking to use my abilities to improve development practices at your company.

There are a few mistakes to point out with this example. It’s written in the first person (your entire resume should be in the third person), it’s light on details (how experienced are you, what kind of certification do you have, how do you plan on improving practices?) and clearly shows that this resume was not written for a specific role by not mentioning the company. In other words, instead of creating a strong first impression, it leaves the person reading it with more questions than answers.

Now let’s see that same objective rewritten with those mistakes all addressed.

A-CSM Certified Scrum Master with 6 years experience looking to implement Scrum to address cost overruns and development delays at Jackson Systems.

Here you know right from the start how much experience they have, and what their main goals will be in this specific role. This creates a feeling of “I’m here to help solve your problem” instead of “hire me because I’m good at Scrum.” Ultimately, companies want to hire the former and you need to communicate that from the beginning.

How to write a resume summary

A good resume summary should follow all of the rules we just explained in the objective example. 

Despite having limited direct experience with Scrum, I believe my extensive background in project management and agile development more than makes up for that lack of experience. If you give me a chance I can prove my abilities at your company and am happy to answer any questions about my resume.

While the intention is good here, the execution leaves something to be desired. A resume summary is a great place to explain why you might be a great candidate despite having less experience, but this example is too wordy and wastes precious space giving unnecessary excuses and information.

Project manager with 4 years agile development experience currently pursuing an ACP certification from PMI looking to help implement Scrum practices at Shumen Technologies. Successfully completed 3 major projects in previous role at an average 8% under budget.

This rewritten version of the previous example is upfront about the lack of direct Scrum experience while also focusing on what the candidate is actively doing to compensate for it. Mentioning a top achievement is another smart move as it establishes what they can accomplish early on.

How to write a Scrum master resume when you have little or no experience

While Scrum has been around since the 90s, it’s only risen to prominence in recent years. So  there’s a decent chance you don’t have a ton of direct experience in Scrum when you’re trying to land a role using it. In these cases, there are three things you need to focus on doing.

1. Get a certification if possible. Ultimately this is much easier than getting hired and obtaining more direct Scrum experience, so if you can get certified you can establish some baseline of experience and show that you’re proactive.
2. Emphasize related experience. If you’ve got a history in agile development of some kind or just in general project management, you need to emphasize this because it’s the next best thing to direct Scrum experience.
3. Show you’ve got the right attitude. Employers know that teaching skills is easier than teaching an attitude or mindset. If you can show you’ve got the characteristics of a great Scrum master but just need to learn a few key skills, you can be a more appealing candidate than someone with the right skills but a bad attitude or mindset.

How to make your resume stand out

The best way to make a Scrum master resume stand out is to get all of the small details we’ve discussed in this guide right. Starting with a powerful objective or summary, including specific achievements in your experience, and listing skills based on the job ad will all make your resume compelling for a recruiter.

But the last piece to that puzzle is design. Even before they read the first word, design is the primary thing a reader will notice about your resume. A clean and modern look is particularly important for a Scrum master because you’re working in a modern field. An accountant might be able to get away with a generic Word doc for a resume, but employers will expect something better from you. Getting that design is easiest when you use a resume builder.

The importance of using a powerful resume builder

With so many small details to get right for the perfect Scrum master resume, you need all the help you can get. That’s why using a powerful resume builder is a must. It can ensure you’ve got beautiful modern design, that your resume will be ready for ATS, and make the process of creating it easier (anything to get out of fixing formatting issues in Word).

For all of these features and more, check out Resumebuild.com’s powerful resume creation tool. It makes creating and managing multiple targeted resumes easy with an intuitive builder and powerful features to give you the upper hand when applying for your next Scrum master role.

With Python’s vast popularity and a lifetime’s worth of quick guides available around the internet, you’re likely to face plenty of competition applying to be a python developer. You need a way to stand about the crowd.

To do that, your resume needs to show that your knowledge of the language goes beyond the basics and that you can create what the employer needs. Concrete results and the ability to communicate them are what make the difference. Luckily for you, we’ve got the experience to get you over the finish line to begin your next python developer job.

What you’ll learn from this guide:

• How to use resume examples to get inspired
• What you need to do in order to avoid getting blocked by ATS
• How to appeal to recruiters and hiring managers
• The best formatting rules for a python developer resume
• What you should include about your education
• How to use certifications to stand out
• What makes your skills more impactful
• How you should phrase your achievements
• The best way to start a python developer resume
• What to do if you have little or no python experience
• How to use a resume builder to make the process easier

Python developer resume template examples to get you started

Instead of starting with a blank piece of (digital) paper, your resume creation process should begin by looking to quality examples. Considering the wealth of open source python code available for you to use, this approach should be familiar. To make this process easy, we’ve hand-selected a few of the best python developer resume examples for you below.

As you look through them, take notes on what stands out. What do you like and not like? Imagine you are a recruiter, how would you evaluate these resumes? Use what you write down as the basis for your own resume, taking ideas, inspiration, and perspective on what it’s like to read someone else’s resume. Now, before you’ve even begun, you’re more prepared than almost any of your competition.

[Examples]

How to write a python developer resume that will get you noticed by hiring managers

Even just asking this question is a key to creating a great python developer resume. Too many job applicants create their resumes while only thinking about their own experience. They fail to think about the end user, who will actually be evaluating their resume. Appealing to those audiences is how you can get noticed and get hired.

Why you need to prepare for ATS

Plenty of python developers looking for a new job think about the hiring manager that will evaluate their resume, but plenty of those resumes never get that far. Why? They failed to prepare for the first hurdle your resume will likely have to overcome: an Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

ATS are AI-driven algorithms (so we can assume plenty will ironically use python) designed to sort through huge numbers of incoming resumes. They use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to understand the information on your resume and determine whether you meet the minimum criteria to be forwarded to a recruiter or hiring manager.

Most hiring professionals use ATS, and more are using it each year because of the substantial time savings. The problem, as you probably already know, is that NLP is far from perfect, so ATS often make mistakes and incorrectly reject qualified resumes. To make sure your resume isn’t among them, you need to follow these 3 simple steps.

1. Only submit your resume as a .pdf, .doc, or .docx. These are the file types most ATS are designed to read.
2. Use a resume builder to make sure the file you submit has its data structured so ATS can easily read it. Elements like columns and charts on a document can easily confuse ATS, so the best way to make sure your information is read properly is to use a tool specifically designed to produce files that can be read easily.
3. Use keywords carefully. If you want an ATS to determine that your resume meets its criteria, then it helps to know what they are. Fortunately, you’ve got all the info you need in the job description or ad. Simply list the requirements mentioned there and ensure as many as possible are on your resume. Try and phrase skills and experience as closely as you can to how they’re written to make sure there’s no confusion.

How to appeal to a recruiter

Once your resume sails past ATS (if the employer is using one) it still needs to get the approval of a recruiter. So what are they looking for in your resume? To start, they’ll likely have the same criteria the ATS did, so the work you put in optimizing your resume for ATS will also make it more effective in front of a recruiter. But there are other things to consider as well.

Imagine someone sent you a project brief that was 40 pages long with tons of irrelevant details. Each page is a wall of black and white text. It would be a chore to get through it and you would not think well of the person who sent it. So imagine how a recruiter feels when the 30th resume they’re reading today is too long, full of irrelevant information, and ugly to boot.

Your approach needs to be always considering how you can make that recruiter’s job easier. From using modern design that’s aesthetically pleasing to ensuring your resume is concise and well written, everything you do should be aimed at making it easy for a recruiter to say “yes.” By doing this, your resume will certainly stand out from the rest.

How to format a python developer resume resume

Most people creating a resume have some questions about formatting. It may seem simple, but there’s a lot to consider. Getting it right means a resume that’s easy to read and recruiters appreciate. Getting it wrong means frustrating those recruiters. So what should you do?

First, follow this primary rule: put the most important information towards the top. This way, you’re ensuring the information you most want a recruiter to know gets to them right away (we discuss how to do this with a resume objective or summary below). Following this rule also means putting your work history in reverse chronological order, I.E. with your most recent experience at the top.

Next, only add information which makes your resume better. This simple rule of thumb should be applied to everything you include because any sections or experience you include which doesn’t make your resume better is making it worse by wasting the recruiter’s time. This gets to the next main formatting question most people have.

How long should it be?

There’s no perfect rule for resume length, but as long as you’ve followed the rule of only including important information you should be fine. In general, aim for 1-2 pages depending on your experience level. Just be sure to imagine yourself as a recruiter reading your resume and consider whether including more sections will really make it better.

What should python developers put on a resume?

While including all of these sections would likely make your resume too long, these are the top sections you should consider including.

• Resume objective or summary
• Work experience and projects
• Achievements
• Education
• Certifications
• Hard skills
• Soft Skills

How to list your education in python developer’s resume

While a degree in computer science will be good to mention, few university degrees will be that directly connected to your work as a python developer. So, consider whether adding your education makes your resume better or just takes up space. You can apply the same logic to the details of your education. Let’s look at two examples to illustrate these points.

BS in Chemistry

University of Nebraska at Omaha

2001-2006

- Thesis title “Analysis of metals in airborne particulate matter in the city of Omaha”

- Captain of the university rowing team

- 3.5 GPA

This example makes many critical mistakes. The degree is not related, it’s too old to still be relevant, and it wastes further space with information about GPA and thesis title. In some cases, information like being captain of a team might be important because it demonstrates the ability to work well on a team and lead (more on using examples to back up your skills below).

BS in Computer Science

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

2014-2018

- Thesis title “Utilizing Deep Learning to Optimize Urban Parking Policy”

- Interned with the city of Urbana to help use my algorithms to advise the city council on where and how many paid or free parking spaces are optimal in the city’s downtown area.

In contrast with the first example, this is a recent and relevant degree. It only lists relevant information, focusing on using a python-based algorithm to solve a practical problem. It omits things like GPA, clubs, and other activities because to most employers, those simply aren’t relevant. If a recruiter wants to know about them, they can always ask.

How to list additional training and certifications

Considering how hard it is to find a university degree that’s up-to-date with the latest python development techniques and practices. That’s why smaller scale trainings and certifications make much more sense. These are especially important if you don’t have real job experience using python but want to demonstrate your skills.

Importantly, including a training or certification also shows that you’ve gone above and beyond to improve and demonstrate your abilities. That kind of proactiveness is extremely valuable for employers who are often tired of developers who just do the bare minimum.

Adding a training or certification is simple, just follow this template.

Applied Data Science with Python, The University of Michigan, 2019

You jst need to list the training or certification name, where you obtained it, and the year you obtained it.

The best certifications to consider obtaining and including

• Python Class from Google
• Python Course for Data Science and Machine Learning
• Python 3 Programming Certification from the University of Michigan
• Applied Data Science with Python Certification from the University of Michigan
• Python Course for Data Science from UC San Diego
• Computing in Python Certification from Georgia Tech
• Complete Python Bootcamp: Go from zero to hero in Python
• Python Certification for Data Science from IBM
• Complete Python Course
• Python for Managers from the Columbia Business School

How to make your skills more impactful

While listing the right skills to match the job description for both ATS and recruiters is important, it’s not enough. This is particularly true for soft skills because anyone can say that they work well on teams or are proactive. Making a recruiter feel that you truly possess these skills is something else entirely.

The best way to do that is by including concrete examples of times when you demonstrated those skills. This again shows you going above and beyond to make the recruiter’s job easier. Let’s look at two examples to see the power of this approach in action.

Works well on teams

An important skill for any developer, but listed by itself, it’s not worth very much.

Works well on teams

-Played team sports for 10 years and worked on 4 successful python development projects

This example gives two quick examples to show both a long history of working on teams and experience with the specific kind of teams relevant to python development work. As a result, 

Which hard skills should be mentioned on a python developer resume?

• Familiarity with open source Python code sources and communities
• SQL
• MySQL
• MongoDB
• Python
• Django
• Git
• AWS
• HTML
• Machine Learning
• Javascript
• Tornado
• Project management tools like Asana, Trello, etc.
• Flask
• Tensorflow
• Backend frameworks like Azure Functions or Capistrano
• Scrum
• Testing tools like Capybara

Which soft skills should be mentioned on a python developer resume?

• Working well on a team
• Written and verbal communication
• Attention to detail
• Presentation skills
• Proactive

How to highlight your most important achievements

The same approach that makes your skills stand out is also important for your achievements. Being vague about what you’ve achieved tells a recruiter you’ll be vague in your day-to-day work. Companies want to hire python developers with good attention to detail, not someone who answers “can we build this” with “I guess.”

Here’s an example:

Participated in debugging and troubleshooting and important program, helping to find several critical bugs which could have derailed the project.

This sounds impressive but it’s also pretty light on details. What does “participated” and “helping” mean here exactly? These terms leave this candidate’s role so vague that a recruiter could easily discount the entire achievement.

In addition, the “and” instead of “an” spelling mistake is also a bigger deal than you might think. A recruiter would see that and think “If they miss mistakes like this on their resume, what will their code look like?” That is not the kind of thought you want a recruiter to have reading your resume. Let’s look at an improved version for contrast.

Led the debugging and troubleshooting of a python based machine learning program for optimizing supply chains, leading to no bugs being detected by users during the first 6 months of its use.

With this example we can see the role this candidate had, details about the program, and the  results of their work. Including these details makes all the difference for recruiters trying to get an idea of what impact you’ll have on their team.

What are the differences between resume objective and summary? Where do I use which?

We mentioned previously that you want to put the most important information from your resume at the top. A resume objective or summary is ideal because these sections are extremely flexible in terms of what kind of information you can include. 

The idea is to use these sections to make a strong first impression. An objective should do this by including one concise sentence about who you are and what you aim to achieve with your resume. A resume summary can be a few sentences long and therefore gives you more flexibility. This section can be used to address questions which might arise elsewhere in your resume like why you’re changing careers or have a gap in your work history.

How to write a resume objective

A resume objective needs to be short and information dense. It’s one sentence to give the best reasons for them to hire you. 

Seasoned python developer looking to leverage my skill set to create outstanding programs to improve your business.

From being vague, boasting too much, writing in the first person, and clearly not being written to target a specific job, this objective misses the mark. If your objective boils down to “I’m great and I’ll do great things” then it’s not going to be taken very seriously by a recruiter. They will expect specifics.

Python developer with 6 years experience specializing in deep learning for ecommerce analysis looking to leverage experience to improve analytics and attribution at Gigastores Inc.

This example gets right down to business, focusing on the specific kind of experience they have and how they want to use that to help this specific employer. It sounds like someone who will start day 1 with a plan instead of a general desire to “improve things.” 

How to write a resume summary

The main thing to remember about a resume summary is that just because it can be longer doesn’t mean it should be. You still want the text to be concise and information dense. You’re trying to make a strong first impression and wasting a recruiter’s time with useless fluff.

After working in IT support for 4 years, I’ve decided to study python and become a python developer. While I’m still developing my technical skills, I do have what it takes to succeed at your company.

The intent here is spot on, but this example fails in its execution. A resume summary is an ideal place to mention a career change and to go into some detail about why and how you’re transitioning. But this case is too light on specifics and too informal in its tone. Now for contrast, let’s see an improved version.

New python developer transitioning from 4 years in IT support actively pursuing a Python Certification for Data Science from IBM and looking to bring my debugging skills and positive energy to enhance the development team at Orion Media.

This resume summary is upfront about the candidate’s lack of experience and job transition, but instead of bragging it focuses on showing an eagerness to learn and develop. It’s also upfront about what skills the candidate does have and how they will fit into the existing team at the company where they’re applying. Together, these elements make for a strong first impression.

How to write a python developer resume with little to no experience?

The good news for you is that the technical skills required to excel as a python developer can be taught much more easily than the soft skills needed. Focus more on emphasizing soft skills like an eagerness to learn, working well on a team, attention to detail, etc. Then, you can supplement those soft skills by obtaining certifications in the hard skills you need for the role. 

Even if you haven’t completed a course or certification by the time you’re applying, you can mention that you’re taking it in a resume objective or summary. Otherwise, just remember that most employers would rather hire someone with less experience who’s better to work with, and take advantage of that.

How to make your resume stand out?

After all the work you’ve put into your python developer resume, it’s going to stand out in many ways, but the last element you’ll want to nail is the design. A clean and modern resume design will let your resume stand out before a recruiter has read a single word. But finding and implementing a design like that without sacrificing ATS-optimization is hard. That’s why you need to use a resume builder specifically created to give you both.

Why a resume builder is an essential tool

With all of the elements you need to get right on your resume, you need all the tools possible to save time. A resume builder does this in a few ways. First, it gives you a builder which removes the need to mess around with columns and other elements in Word. Next, it ensures the file you ultimately produce is ATS-optimized. Lastly, it will make the process of creating multiple custom resumes for each job easier by enabling you to easily generate and customize versions of a core resume. Add to all this the easy access of modern and beautiful resume templates and a builder becomes a no-brainer.

Once you’re looking for the right builder, look no further than resumebuild.com. It’s got all the features you need and more, all built from the ground up with users like you in mind. So before you waste your time trying to take a resume you’ve created and get it ATS-readu or looking modern, skip the hassle and use a builder instead.

There’s arguably never been a better time to be a web developer. With an increasing number of businesses concentrating on setting up and strengthening their websites, web developers have never been in more demand. After all, without a skilled web developer on their team, a business won’t be able to reap the rewards of having a highly functional website that both performs well and looks great.

Projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) clearly reflect this demand. The BLS projects that employment of web developers will grow by 13 percent from 2018 to 2028. This is nearly 3 times faster than the average projected growth of all occupations, which stands at 5 percent. What’s more, web developers can generally expect to be handsomely rewarded for the work they do. As the BLS points out, the mean average wage for web developers and digital interface designers is $82,370.

Given this enticing combination of strong projected job growth and attractive pay on the horizon, you may be led to believe that you’ll be able to have your pick of any job at any company your heart desires.

But before you get ahead of yourself, remember that there are hundreds to thousands of other candidates all vying for the same jobs. It’s also important to reiterate that the salary quoted above is the mean average, so the actual salary of a job could be tens of thousands of dollars less or more. Needless to say, jobs with better salaries will be even more competitive than usual – especially if they come with good working conditions and perks too.

This is all to say that you can’t be complacent when it comes to applying for jobs. If you want to be hired for your dream job in 2020, you’ll need to learn how to make a resume that establishes you as a web developer that’s worth hiring (and paying a lot!). It’s relatively straightforward once you know how. Our resume writing guide will teach you precisely what you need to know including:

• Which sections are non-negotiable to feature in your resume
• What skills are valuable to emphasize
• Expert advice for how to effectively highlight your achievements
• Tips for writing your resume as an entry-level web developer
• How to make a stunning resume in one third of the usual time 

1. Multiple Template Examples

2. How Do You Write a Job-Winning Web Developer Resume?

How should you format your resume?

Whether you’re putting together a new website or making improvements to an existing one, it’s considered best practice to use the most logical and organized approach possible to get the job done. Fortunately for you, this is the very same approach you should take when formatting your resume.

If you want to guarantee getting this right, make sure to utilize a reverse-chronological resume format. By featuring your most recent job first and working backward from there, this format illuminates your career progression to recruiters in a logical and organized way.

Keeping your resume looking sharp will also require you to follow a handful of standard layout guidelines. From expert tips about fonts to header sizing, we’ve listed the most critical ones to be mindful of below:

• • Number of Pages: One only.
  • Fonts to Use: Legible fonts that command authority, such as Cambria and Lato.
  • Fonts to Avoid: Any font that looks robotic or otherwise unprofessional, such as Robotic Monkey 1 and Barrelhouse.
  • Margins: 1 inch on all sides.

• Line Spacing: 1 or 1.15.

• Header size: 14-16 point size.
• Text size: 11-12 point size.

What are the most important sections to include in your resume?

When compiling a report for your boss, it’s crucial to include all details – both small or large. Failure to do so could spell disaster for your company’s website. This is not the case when it comes to making your resume. Conversely, you’ll need to be ultra selective in the information you include because as we highlighted above, your resume should only be a total of one page. Here are the most important sections to include in your resume:

• Contact Information: Key personal details including your name, home and email addresses, phone number, and LinkedIn profile URL.

• Resume Objective or Resume Summary: A summary complete with examples that attest to the fact that you’re the ideal web developer for the job.

• Employment History: An overview of your work history that includes the title you held, the company name, and your most notable achievements for each one respectively.

• Education: A summary of your relevant educational background.

• Training and Certifications: An overview of any relevant training you undertook and certifications you hold.

• Skills: A list of your most relevant technical and interpersonal skills that you possess as a web developer.

How do you showcase your portfolio of past projects properly?

There’s no doubt that the contents of your resume needs to be solid if you want to impress recruiters. That being said, there’s only so much insight it can provide about your skills. As they say, the proof is in the pudding.

The best proof you can give recruiters that you’re a standout talent is to showcase your portfolio of past projects in your resume.

But hold up before you start copying and pasting all kinds of links and images of your past projects to your resume. Adding too many links or images to your resume is generally discouraged as doing so will make it look crowded and possibly ruin its formatting. 

It’s therefore far more effective to collate all of your past projects in a sleek online portfolio that you link to in your resume. After all, the very process of making an online portfolio gives  you the opportunity to highlight your web development skills in action. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! If you’re unsure of where to start, we suggest following these helpful tips.

So where exactly should you place a link to your portfolio in your resume? It will depend on the overall layout of your resume. In most cases, you can simply add it to your “Contact Information” section, but it’s also possible to add it to your “Resume Objective” or “Resume Summary”.

Pro tip: Registering a custom domain name such as yourname.com can cost as little as $10 a year. Hosting costs can vary, but if you do your research you can find plans that are around $5 a month. All in all, the total running costs are small investments that are sure to pay dividends.

Where do you list any additional training and certifications you have and how do you do this correctly?

Who would you rather entrust an important web development project to: a web developer with plenty of relevant training and certifications to their name, or one without any? You’d surely trust the dev with more training and certifications.

So why, then, would a recruiter think any differently? Recruiters are looking for the crème de la crème of web developers, so it makes sense that they’d place any training and certification in high regard. That is, so long as they are relevant to the given job.

In regards to where you should list any of your additional training and certifications, add them to your “Training and Certifications” section.

However, make sure to avoid going on at length about what you learned like this candidate did:

TRAINING AND CERTIFICATIONS

• In December 2019 I took a very interesting online WordPress course from WPMU DEV which helped me to further develop my WordPress skills. After studying for several months, I also finally became Oracle certified in March 2020. 

All you need to do is list the following information for each certification or training you’ve undertaken:

• The name of the training or certification
• The name of the institution that provided it
• The year you obtained it

So the above candidate’s Training and Certifications section should actually look like this:

TRAINING AND CERTIFICATIONS 

• Advanced WordPress Development, WPMU DEV, 2019
• Oracle Certified Associate (OCA), Oracle, 2020

Pro tip: There are several online courses for web developers that you can complete to make yourself a more enticing candidate. Some can even be completed in a matter of hours. If you need any more excuses to get started, there’s even a plethora of free courses available if you search for them!

What are the technical and interpersonal skills a web developer needs?

You can never have too many skills as a web developer. The question is, what skills do you need to feature on your resume that will boost your chances of getting hired?

We can’t tell you a precise answer because it ultimately depends on the criteria for each given job. In other words, there isn’t one blanket answer as every job requires a different set of skills.

Fortunately, there’s a super easy way to pinpoint which skills you’ll need for any web developer job out there. Just take a careful look at the job ad! It sounds almost too simple to be true, but the answers are all readily available there. Recruiters use job ads to specify which skills they’re after. Be sure to look for skills-focused keywords not only in the job description, but also throughout the entire job ad!

When you’re analyzing a job ad, you’ll need to keep a lookout for both technical and interpersonal skills. You can learn more about each type below. We’ve even included some examples of both that we took straight from real-life web developer job ads.

Technical skills

Technical skills are often referred to as “hard skills” as they describe any measurable abilities a candidate possesses. For web web developers, technical skills can be further divided into task-oriented skills and programming languages/scripts skills.

For example:

Task-oriented skills

• Developing new web applications
• Maintaining and enhancing existing web applications and all internal systems
• Performing complete testing of web applications
• Conducting all user acceptance testing and report results
• Databases and data management
• Responsive web design
• Ability to answer support related emails

Programming language/script skills:

• HTML
• HTML 5
• CakePHP
• XHTML
• DHTML
• CSS
• WordPress 
• Javascript
• JQuery
• PHP
• C++
• Python
• Ruby
• MySQL
• Perl

Interpersonal skills

Interpersonal skills, otherwise known as “soft skills,” are those that require social and emotional intelligence to excel in. For example:

• Detail-oriented
• Organized
• Team player
• Self motivated
• Willingness to teach and to learn
• Responsible
• Hard working
• Ability to meet deadlines
• Ability to handle multiple projects at the same time
• Communication skills

So what should you do once you have a clear understanding of the skills a recruiter is after for a given role? Determine which ones you genuinely possess. Then, you’ll be ready to add them to your resume in the following sections:

• • “Skills” section: In this section, just list the key skills you offer. Around 6 to 8 is usually enough, unless the job ad contains more that you cannot include in the following sections.

• “Employment History” section: Ideally, you should include at least one skill for every achievement.

• “Resume Objective” or “Resume Summary” section: Include 1 or 2 skills that you especially want to emphasize to the recruiter.

How to highlight your most important achievements

In order to create a resume that recruiters will rush to read, you should always keep in mind who you’re writing it for. We say this because many candidates make the mistake of featuring the achievements that they believe are important, rather than the ones a recruiter would deem to be noteworthy.

If you’ve read the section above, you’ll know that each job ad boasts a goldmine of information regarding what a recruiter is looking for from their ideal candidate. In order to make it clear to them that you’re indeed this person, you’ll need to give them exactly what they’re after.

That’s why it’s pivotal to consult a job ad to work out which achievements will be most beneficial to feature. It’s all a matter of looking for keywords that expose what a recruiter values. Keywords can include skills as well as professional experiences, job titles, and other desirable attributes an ideal candidate should possess.

As soon as you’ve identified the keywords in a job ad, it’s time to decide whether they apply to you or not. Once you know this, you can formulate each of your achievements around one or more keywords.

Keywords aren’t the only thing you’ll need to think about in order to write winning achievements. You must also make sure to quantify each one. That is, you’ll need to state the action you took in addition to the positive result that came about because of it.

For example, if you were trying to target the keywords “WordPress” and “responsive web design,” you should aim to write something as meaningful and eye-catching as this:

• Reconfigured the company’s WordPress website using responsive web design skills, leading to a 200% increase in mobile sessions and a 5x increase in time on page for mobile devices.

Pro tip: It’s crucial to try your best to keep any keywords you use in your resume exactly as they appear in the job ad. For example, don’t write “WP” if the keyword is “WordPress”. If you don’t include the keyword as-is, it may not be picked up by an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) the recruiter is using to quickly accept or reject resumes. Consequently, your resume may be rejected as the presence of keywords is one of the factors ATS uses to determine the worthiness of a resume.

How to write a resume objective or summary

Both entry-level and experienced candidates alike should open their resume with a section that succinctly explains to a recruiter why they’d make a valuable hire. If you’re an entry level candidate, a resume objective will do the trick. For experienced candidates, a resume summary is the way to go. Discover more about each one below:

Resume objective 

Entry level candidates often fumble writing their resume objective because they’re unsure of themselves. To be specific, they’re unsure of which attributes they can offer a recruiter. This lack of confidence and understanding of their own abilities transpires all too clearly in their resume objective. Consequently, it ends up looking something like this:

• Recent college graduate is looking for opportunities to work as a web developer. Although I lack professional experience in this field, I am willing to work hard to expand my knowledge and skills set if given the chance to work at Triangle Solutions.

While the candidate’s honesty about their inexperience is admirable, they put the nail in the coffin for their chances of getting hired by overly focusing on it. Your resume objective should emphasize why a recruiter should consider you despite your inexperience. If the only attribute you’re offering is your motivation to work, you won’t be considered a very enticing candidate.

Needless to say, motivation is a valuable trait in any recruiters’ eyes, but it’s not enough. They’ll be looking for someone who offers the full package, namely, the specific attractive qualities that they’ve noted in the job ad.

And if you’re thinking that it’s impossible to offer a recruiter anything of value if you don’t have any paid work experience, look at this candidate’s resume objective for inspiration:

• Recent graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from California State University is seeking to apply their HTML and React skills at Triangle Solutions. As a highly organized and detail-oriented individual, I believe I would be an asset to your team. I am motivated to continue developing my skills, as exemplified by the fact that I have helped to successfully resolve over 50 problems on Stack Overflow. 

As you can see, this candidate managed to write a stellar resume objective despite not having an ounce of paid experience. They took a far more positive approach to showcasing their abilities by highlighting their educational background (their degree) as well as their relevant technical skills (HTML and React) and interpersonal skills (organized and detail-oriented).

They also made their strong motivation to keep developing their skills known to a recruiter in a much more effective manner than the previous candidate. Instead of merely saying that they’re motivated, they provided a tangible example of their motivation in action (their contributions on Stack Overflow).

As this resume objective example shows, it’s more than possible to write a compelling resume objective as an entry-level candidate if you put your mind to it.

Pro tip: If you graduated with a GPA of 3.5 or above, include it in parentheses after your degree name.

Resume summary

By the time you’ve racked up a couple of years in the industry, it’s much easier to think of the reasons why you’re a great web developer. Even so, you may still find it challenging to summarize why you’re an unmissable hire in your resume summary. After all, you can’t just state in general why you’re a killer web developer, you need to say why you’re the perfect fit for the particular job you’re applying for.

If you’re wondering if it’s really that bad to generalize in your resume summary, take a look at this resume summary example:

• Web developer with 4 years of experience working on various projects that have been highly successful. My ability to program in a range of programming languages and my helpful soft skills would make me an excellent hire for the position at Parallel Products.

The way this candidate has written their resume summary makes it seem like they have nothing concrete to show for their 4 years of experience. This is because everything they mentioned is a generalization.

For example, they wrote that they’ve been “working on various projects” instead of stating which ones and they stated that they’ve been “highly successful” without providing an example of how or why. Moreover, they mentioned their competency in a “range of programming languages” and “helpful soft skills” when it would be exponentially more insightful to specify what they are. 

So how do you make a resume summary that ticks all the boxes a recruiter is looking for? You need to provide specific information about yourself as well as examples of the draw cards you offer as a candidate. The following resume summary example shows precisely how this should be done:

• Hard wording web developer with 4 years of experience working predominantly on developing innovative web applications in HTML and CSS for e-commerce websites. I harnessed these skills to redevelop the company’s shopping cart application which resulted in a 150% increase in sales. My ability to juggle multiple tasks and meet tight deadlines would also make me an asset to Parallel Products.  

If there’s one thing that’s for sure, this candidate would be at the top of a recruiter’s list of candidates to interview. Why? The candidate has provided them with not just one, but multiple reasons why they’re worth hiring.

For starters, they provided specific information about their professional experiences and technical skills (working predominantly on developing innovative web applications for e-commerce websites). They also clearly stated which programming languages they’ve utilized (HTML and CSS).

That’s not all, however. They remembered to emphasize their soft skills too (ability to juggle multiple tasks and meet tight deadlines). Last but not least, they provided evidence of their attributes with a tangible example a recruiter would find hard to look away from (the 150% increase in sales that their programming skills directly contributed to). This would in turn help to solidify that they aren’t just all talk.

Remember, recruiters want to be reassured that you offer the right balance of educational background, skills, professional experiences, and other attributes. So it’s vital that your resume summary makes this crystal clear to them within seconds. 

Pro tip: Neither a resume summary nor resume objective should take up too much space on your resume. 2 to 4 sentences is plenty to convey your points across.

How to write a web developer resume when you have little or no experience

There’s no need to fear writing your resume if you have little or no professional experience as a web developer. Every great developer had to get their start somewhere, so you can rest assured that you’re on a well-trodden path. To set yourself up for success, follow these 5 handy tips:

1. 1. Use a functional resume format: This format de-emphasizes your inexperience by strongly emphasizing your skills instead.

• Include relevant freelance jobs: If you’ve taken up any freelance web development projects, list them out in your “Employment History” section. Just because you didn’t work for a traditional  employer, doesn’t mean your experience is any less valuable!

• Volunteer: If you’re having trouble getting a paid freelance gig or traditional work, volunteer your skills at a non-profit organization. Many will be happy to take you up on your offer to improve their website. List any unpaid work you do in a “Volunteer Experiences” section.

• Complete online courses: Don’t wait until you get your first job to start improving your web development skills. Take up an online course to upskill yourself and simultaneously enhance your “Training and Certifications” section.

• Contribute to Stack Overflow: Building a presence on Stack Overflow can show your commitment to your future as a web developer. You can link your profile in your “Contact Information” section to show off your contributions.

How to make your resume stand out

You can significantly elevate your chances of being hired by making your resume stand out. Here are our top tips that you can put into action today:

• Don’t skip your education section: While an increasing number of employers don’t require candidates to have a typical web developer educational background (i.e. an associate’s degree in web design or a related field), many will still state this as a requirement or give strong preference to candidates who have such a background.

Recruiters want to know what formal education you bring to the table when evaluating your suitability for a position. So it’s essential to include the highest level of education you attained in your resume – even if it’s a high school diploma. List your education in a separate “Education” section. For each diploma or degree be sure to list: the name of the diploma degree; the school or college you attended; the state it’s located in; and the years you studied.

• • Shoot your shot: It sounds obvious to say, but if you only apply for mediocre jobs, you’ll only get mediocre jobs. If you want to work in a job you actually want, you’ll need to apply for them. Remember, you don’t need to tick every single box a recruiter is looking for or worked for the likes of Google in order to score your dream job. All you need to do is ensure your resume is relevant to the job so that it leaves no doubt in the recruiter’s mind why you’re worth hiring.

• Don’t exaggerate: It’s never OK to lie on your resume, and this includes exaggerating your skills or experiences. While you may initially be able to fool a recruiter into thinking they are highly proficient in X or have experience working on Y, the jig will be up as soon as they interview you.

Web developer interviews are notoriously challenging because interviewers don’t tend to hold back on testing your knowledge and skills. They may even ask you to complete a web development test before, during, or after the interview to see if you really have what it takes. If you want to keep your reputation intact, be sure to always stick to the facts.  

3. How to Simplify Making a Resume Using Resumebuild.com’s Resume Builder Tool 

You’d have a job in no time if only you could harness the same prowess you have for making flawless websites to make your resume. Unfortunately, most web developers (and job seekers in general) find it difficult to put their best foot forward in their resumes. After all, very few people have an inherent talent for making resumes!

And even with the help of our insightful resume guide above, many candidates still find it futile to make a stellar web developer resume all by themselves.

If you don’t want your resume to completely miss the mark, rest assured there is another way. Our easy-to-use resume builder tool at Resumebuild.com is the solution to all of your resume-making problems.

Instead of taking days to make your resume, it will help you make it in just minutes. Instead of trying to come up with engaging ways to describe your professional achievements, you’ll be able to pick and choose from hundreds of pre-written examples. Instead of wasting time perfecting your resume’s format and layout, you’ll be presented with dozens of HR-approved resume templates to select from.

As a web developer, you’ll also appreciate the fact that our resume builder has been designed to be as speedy and user-friendly as possible. So what are you waiting for? Start making a web developer resume that expertly showcases your talent to recruiters.