Software engineer CV example

Riley Adeyemi is not a real person. The companies, the project link and the performance story are fictional. This follows UK CV practice: no photo, no date of birth, and the document is called a CV.

A software CV is read by someone who may not open your repository. The page has to say what you built, what you tested, and what changed because of it.

Full example CV

Fictional person and employers. example.com is not a real portfolio.

Riley Adeyemi

Leeds · 07700 900246 · riley.adeyemi@example.com

Eligible to work in the UK · example.com/riley-adeyemi (sample link, not a real site)

Personal statement

Software engineer who ships small, tested changes to customer-facing systems. Comfortable in TypeScript and SQL, and used to saying what I decided not to build. Looking for a product team where code review is normal and a production bug has an owner.

Experience

Software engineer

Paperkite (fictional product company) · March 2023 – present

  • Built the order-history page in TypeScript and React. A fictional before-and-after: the page was doing one database call per row; one indexed query brought a slow render down to something a customer would wait for.
  • Added a regression test after a refund could be applied twice. The test failed on the old code and passed once the second write was rejected.
  • Wrote the short design note for a feature we dropped: it would have saved a click and cost a new failure mode in payments.
  • Take a weekly support rotation, and turn repeat tickets into a bug with steps, not a Slack thread.

Junior developer

Holt & Grey (fictional studio) · July 2021 – February 2023

  • Implemented REST endpoints in Python for a client roster, with tests around the empty-list and duplicate-email cases.
  • Acted on review comments instead of defending the first draft. One comment stopped us storing a date as a string.
  • Paired with a designer to name the error states a user actually sees when a save fails.

Project

Shift roster (sample project)

A small web app that warns when two people are on leave on the same day. The link on this page is example.com and does not resolve to a real repository.

  • Modelled swaps as a request, not a silent edit, so there is a record of who agreed.
  • Documented how to run the tests in the README. If a stranger cannot run it, it does not belong on the CV.

Education

  • BSc (Hons) Computer Science, 2021. The university is left off this sample on purpose. On your CV, name it.

Skills

  • TypeScript, JavaScript and Python
  • SQL and PostgreSQL
  • React
  • Automated tests and code review
  • REST APIs and debugging production errors
  • Git and a simple continuous-integration check

A tech stack, written properly

Group the tools. Languages in one line, data in another, and the way you work (tests, review, release) in a third. Put the skills named in the advert first.

Do not list a technology you only met in a tutorial. “Expert” on a skill with no bullet is noise. Show the level by describing the work: a query you rewrote, a test you added, a failure you sat with.

If the advert says Java and you write Python, say Python. Do not add Java to get through a filter.

Project and impact bullets

Action, the technology that mattered, and a result you can explain. The figures below are models for the shape of a bullet, not measurements from a real system.

  • Replaced a per-row database call with one indexed query on the order-history page, and described the before-and-after in the pull request.
  • Added a test that failed when a refund was posted twice, then rejected the second write.
  • Logged production errors with the request id, so the next person could find the failing call without guessing.
  • Cut a proposed feature after writing down the new failure mode it would add to payments.
  • Documented how to run the project locally in the README, including the empty-database case.
  • Paired on a bug and left the notes in the ticket: what we tried, what was red herring, what shipped.

Portfolio and code links

One working link is better than five dead ones. The README should say what the project does, what you built, and how to run the tests. A private repository the reader cannot open does not count as proof.

This sample uses example.com on purpose. On your CV, use a link you control. If the work was for an employer and you cannot share the code, describe the problem and your part without pasting proprietary screenshots.

Junior and senior CVs

A junior CV shows the feature, the bug, the test, and a review comment you acted on. It is a strength to show that you asked a precise question, not that you already knew the whole system.

A senior CV shows the constraint, the choice, and what you decided not to build. It names how other people shipped: a design note, a rotation, a review habit. It does not read as a list of every framework since university.

Mid-level, like the sample, sits between them: you own a slice of the product, you test it, and you can say why a change was small on purpose.

Common mistakes

  • A cloud of twenty tools and no bullet that uses any of them.
  • “Passionate about technology” as the personal statement.
  • A team launch written as a solo build.
  • Missing dates, or a project with no statement of your part.
  • A photo, a date of birth, or an American document title. Call it a CV.
  • A link that 404s, or a repository with no README.
  • The word “software engineer” repeated on every line to chase a filter.
  • Claims about latency, uptime or revenue you cannot walk through.

ATS keywords

Match the advert. Leave out a language you would not use next week without a tutorial open.

  • software engineer
  • software developer
  • TypeScript
  • JavaScript
  • Python
  • SQL
  • PostgreSQL
  • React
  • REST
  • automated testing
  • code review
  • continuous integration
  • debugging
  • Git

Use it on your own CV

FAQ

Should a UK software engineer CV include a photo?

No. Leave off a photo and your date of birth. City, email, phone and a link to code you can share are enough.

Should I list every language I have touched?

List languages and tools you could use next week without a tutorial open. A long list makes the real skills harder to see.

How is a junior CV different from a senior one?

A junior CV shows what you built, how you tested it, and what you changed after review. A senior CV shows the trade-off, the outcome, and how other people shipped because of a decision you wrote down.

What belongs in a projects section?

One or two projects, with the problem, your part, the stack and a result. Link it only if a stranger can tell how to run it. A dead link is worse than no link.

Free job-ready CV checklist

A one-page checklist for any role, plus a weekly jobs email. No name, and no account.