Software developer and programmer CV: example and tips

Keywords that come up in developer job ads

Job ads for developers are full of technology names: languages, frameworks, cloud platforms and tools. Many employers and recruitment agencies use applicant tracking systems that look for exactly these words, and the first person to read your CV is often not a developer. Write the technologies with the same names as the ad. If the ad says “TypeScript” and “React”, writing “frontend” does not help much. Our guide to an ATS-friendly CV explains how these systems read your CV.

The words vary with the role, but these come up often in Norwegian ads for software developers and programmers. Many ads are in Norwegian, so it helps to know terms such as systemutvikler (software developer), smidig (agile) and universell utforming (accessibility):

• Languages: Java, Kotlin, C#, .NET, Python, JavaScript and TypeScript.
• Frontend: React, Angular, Vue, HTML, CSS and accessibility.
• Backend and data: REST APIs, microservices, integrations, SQL and PostgreSQL.
• Cloud and operations: Azure, AWS or Google Cloud, Docker, Kubernetes and CI/CD.
• Ways of working: agile development, Scrum, Kanban, code review and test automation.
• Quality and security: automated tests, secure coding and data protection.
• Qualities: solution oriented, curious and good at working with designers and domain experts.

Formal requirements: education, trade certificate and security clearance

utdanning.no lists no formal requirements for working as a software developer. Common routes are informatics, computer engineering or information technology at a university or university college, and vocational college (fagskole) programmes in IT, development and programming. There is also a trade certificate: IT-utviklerfaget, which takes two years at school and two years in a company. Write your education with the full title, institution and year, for example “Bachelor in Informatics, University of Bergen, 2023”. Many ads ask for “relevant education or equivalent experience”, so experience and projects can make up for a degree you do not have.

Some roles, particularly in defence, emergency preparedness and parts of the public sector, require security clearance. Under section 8-2 of the Norwegian Security Act (sikkerhetsloven), people must be security cleared if they are to have access to information classified KONFIDENSIELT (confidential) or higher. If you hold a valid clearance, mention it briefly. If the ad requires clearance and you do not have it, you can say that you are willing to be cleared.

Certifications from Microsoft, AWS or Google Cloud, for example, are not required, but they show that you know the platform. Give the name of the certification and the year you earned it.

Example of a summary for a software developer CV

The summary is the three to five sentences at the top of your CV. For a developer it should say what kind of developer you are, which technologies you are strongest in and what you have delivered. Here is a made up example you can use as a pattern:

Example: “Full stack developer with five years of experience in fintech and the public sector, strongest in Kotlin, TypeScript and React. Built payment solutions that process more than 40,000 transactions a day, and led the move from an ageing monolith to microservices in Azure. Enjoys working closely with users and designers, and writing code that is easy to test and maintain. Looking for a role with responsibility for architecture and more time to mentor junior developers.”

Replace the numbers and technologies with your own, and only write what you can explain in a technical interview. You will find more examples in our guide to writing a CV summary.

Bullet points with results: weak versus strong

The most common problem in a developer CV is bullet points that only list technologies or describe tasks. The reader wants to know what you built, why, and what improved. Start with a strong verb in the past tense, say what you used and finish with a number: time, performance, users, errors, cost or how often you shipped. If you do not have figures, show scope instead, such as how many people used the solution or how large the team was.

• Weak: “Worked on the frontend in React.” Strong: “Built a new search page in React and TypeScript for an online shop with 200,000 users a month, cutting load time from four seconds to under one.”
• Weak: “Responsible for APIs.” Strong: “Developed REST APIs in Kotlin and Spring Boot for five internal systems, with automated tests covering 85 percent of the code.”
• Weak: “Worked with DevOps.” Strong: “Set up CI/CD in GitHub Actions and Azure, taking the team from one production release a month to several a week.”
• Weak: “Fixed bugs.” Strong: “Found and fixed a memory leak in the order system, reducing outages from six to one per quarter.”
• Weak: “Cloud migration.” Strong: “Moved three services from on-premises servers to Azure, cutting running costs by around 30 percent in the first year.”
• Weak: “Mentored juniors.” Strong: “Mentored four graduate developers through code review and pair programming, and all of them shipped code to production within their first month.”

Skills, projects and GitHub

The skills list is where the recruiter checks the technologies first. Group it, and only include what you could use in the job from day one. A long list of everything you have tried once weakens the skills you are actually good at.

If you have little work experience, side projects, hackathons and open source contributions belong in a section of their own. Say what the project solves, which technology you used and whether anyone uses it. These are worth including:

• Languages and frameworks, ordered by what you are strongest in, for example “Kotlin, Java, Spring Boot”.
• Frontend: React, TypeScript, Next.js and accessibility according to WCAG.
• Data: SQL, PostgreSQL, Kafka and Redis.
• Cloud and tools: Azure, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform and Git.
• Certifications with name and year, for example an Azure or AWS certification.
• A link to GitHub, a portfolio or apps you have published, if the code shows something you are proud of.

Recent graduate, or many years as a developer

If you have just graduated or completed a programming course, your projects show what you can do. Add a section with two to four projects right below the summary: your bachelor thesis, a summer project, an app you have built or something you have contributed to in open source. Say which technology you used, what you did yourself and what the result was. Include summer and part time jobs outside IT briefly, because they show that you are reliable and can work with others. Our guide to a CV for recent graduates has more advice, and the guide to finding relevant work experience as a student shows how to get it.

If you have many years behind you, the risk is that your CV turns into a long list of projects and technologies. Choose the projects most similar to the job, and write more about responsibility: architecture, technical leadership, mentoring, technology choices and working with clients. Older technology that is no longer in use can go on a single line. If you are aiming for tech lead or architect, say which decisions you made and what they led to. Consultants can keep a short project list with client, role, period and technology for each assignment. Keep the CV to one or two pages, see how long a CV should be.

Common mistakes in a software developer CV

Most mistakes in a developer CV come down to technology overshadowing results. Look out for these before you send it:

• Long lists of technologies with no sign of what you used them for.
• Skill levels as percentages or stars. They say little, and applicant tracking systems often cannot read them.
• Projects without results. What became better, faster or cheaper?
• A link to GitHub with empty or unfinished projects.
• The same CV for a React role and a Java role, with the technologies in the wrong order.
• Client names or details about systems you are not allowed to share.
• Tables, icons and two columns that the applicant tracking system cannot read.

Create your developer CV in under a minute with Selja

Two developer jobs can ask for completely different things. One wants React and accessibility, the other Java, Kafka and integrations. Rewriting your CV for every ad takes time, and it is easy to miss a word the system is looking for. With Selja you paste in the job ad and upload the CV you already have. In under a minute you get a professional, ATS-friendly CV and cover letter tailored to the job, with the technologies from the ad where they match what you have done. If the ad is in English, you get your CV and cover letter in English.

Selja never adds technologies or experience you do not have. If the ad asks for Kubernetes, for example, and your CV does not show it, Selja asks you first and only uses what you confirm. It is free to start: take a free ATS check to see which words from the ad are missing, or check your CV for free. Get started when you want to create your first application.

The application, the interview and pay

Many IT employers ask for a short cover letter, and some only ask for a CV and a link to GitHub. Even so, write a few sentences about why you want to work there in particular, and link it to their product or technology. See our example of a job application for a template, and our guide to a CV and cover letter in English if the job is advertised in English.

The interview often consists of a conversation and a technical part: a coding task, a walkthrough of something you have built, or questions about system design. Practise with the interview questions for the role, and be ready to explain the choices in your projects. Before you negotiate, check the figures in the pay check, which uses data from Statistics Norway (SSB).