Software developer CV example
A software developer's CV has two readers: an applicant tracking system (ATS), which scans for technology names, and a tech lead who wants to see within 30 seconds what exactly you have built. A good CV works for both: the technologies are named precisely, and your experience is described through results rather than a list of duties.
Below you will find a shortened example in English, what to put in each section and the mistakes that most often get a CV rejected by IT companies, including the international product companies and tech centres in Vilnius and Kaunas that hire in English.
CV example
Backend developer with 6 years' experience building fintech and e-commerce systems. Cut order processing time by 40% and led a team of 3 that moved the system to a microservices architecture. Looking for a senior role in a product team.
- Designed a payments API (Node.js, PostgreSQL) handling 120,000 transactions a day with no downtime.
- Cut order processing time by 40% by rebuilding the job queue on Redis.
- Set up CI/CD (GitHub Actions), taking deployments from 2 to 15 a week.
- Built online shop integrations with Paysera payments and Omniva parcel lockers (PHP, Laravel).
- Wrote automated tests for the core modules, cutting bugs in production by a third.
Vilnius University, Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics: BSc,Software Engineering, 2020
What to put in a software developer CV
An ATS looks for the keywords in the job ad: “React”, “Kubernetes”, “PostgreSQL”. List the technologies you have used in real projects in a separate section on the first page, spelt the way the ad spells them. Leave out the ones you have only tried: the technical interview will show it.
“Worked on the backend” says nothing. “Designed an API handling 120,000 requests a day” says it all. Give each role 2–3 bullet points with a number: speed, scale, time saved, fewer bugs.
A GitHub link only helps when there is something to show: a README, readable code and at least one finished project. An empty or abandoned profile does more harm than no link at all.
Two pages at most at senior level. Condense older or unrelated jobs into a single line. The reader is looking for your last 3–5 years.
Most common mistakes
- A “tech soup”: 40 keywords with no context, half of which you have only seen on a course.
- Responsibilities (“maintained the system”) instead of results (“cut response time from 800 ms to 200 ms”).
- A complex two-column layout with icons can stop some applicant tracking systems from reading the CV correctly.
- No link to LinkedIn or GitHub, or links that lead to empty profiles.
Frequently asked questions
Should a software developer's CV have a photo?
In Lithuania a photo is still common, but in IT it is optional. International companies, including their offices in Lithuania, usually do not expect one, and US and UK employers generally prefer a CV without it. If you do add a photo, use a professional one on a neutral background.
If the job ad is in English, does my CV have to be in English too?
Yes: write the CV in the language of the ad. International teams and product companies almost always expect English. If you also apply to companies that work in Lithuanian, keep a Lithuanian version up to date as well: the same dates and results in both, and your job titles and qualifications translated the same way every time.
What should I write if I have no commercial experience yet?
Describe study and personal projects the same way as a job: the technologies, what you built and what came of it (users, GitHub stars, a working demo). Add courses and certificates with dates.