Let's dive in!
How to prepare when writing a Computer Programmer resume?
Research
Research for a Computer programmer is divided into following sections where you try to first understand the job market, and what are the possibilities that are available. The networking that you conduct will help in having a broader picture of what the job market is like. Followed by it is how to know what the job description is based on the market research you do. The description for a computer programmer will be vast, and will depend on the skillsets you possess, along with the programming languages that you know and how well you know them. Then you start creating your resume by knowing what sort of job you want to apply to the basis of the market, your skillset. Once your resume has been created you then focus on proofreading and then rolling out your resume where you apply.
Job Market
The job market for a computer programmer is huge. It will depend on your skillset as mentioned before. It will depend on the languages of coding you know, and what sort of project you have done in the past. The market you will then search upon is what you want, and then even if you do look outside your purview of what skillsets you have then you will get to know what all you need to cover on. To know what the job market is you will hop on to websites such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Monster.com, and Indeed, and many more such professional social media websites.
For a computer programmer there are so many avenues for understanding what the job market really entails. The world's solutions work on computers now, and they need computer programmers, so you can reach out to people who you have worked with in the past, or their colleagues, or cold call and get an understanding of what the job market is all about.
Job Description
While you are researching the job markets on the websites and professional social media platforms you will come across various job descriptions for computer programmers as well. The job description research is a crucial part of the resume creation. As previously explained, the job descriptions for a computer programmer will be endless, as it depends on the skills sets. So you need to be thorough in what you need to look for. Based on that you can search for specific roles and job descriptions so that you know exactly what you are looking for.
The job description will be a way to build your resume as you pick on the way they have drafted their sentences and then you can put in with the work you have done in the past to create the best recipe for a resume. The job descriptions will naturally be the same throughout the industry, however, there will be certain companies that will have more than that and you need to look out for those companies and see if your goals align with the kind of work and pay they are offering and make a decision accordingly.
Company Information
The research for the company resume is crucial to creating the resume because you will know what sort of value the company displays, their mission and vision statement, their goals and objectives. Company information of which you will be applying to comes handy when you are drafting your resume. IN the further section we will explain to you why that is important.
Company information is not just available on their website but on other platforms as well such as their LinkedIn profile, you can also see what kind of employees have worked and see their experience and talk to them, then you can access Glassdoor, Monster.com, Indeed etc. to know more about these companies you might be applying to.
Resume Guidelines
Once you have all the information you need to develop the resume in general, we understand the next thing you need to focus on is how to create the resume.
And those are the guidelines you need. So you shall focus on finding how to structure your resume, what font size you need to use, what sort of headers should you use, and what sort of pattern shall you follow.
Well we do provide you with enough information and tools and our website has formats that are ready to be used for a computer programmer as yourself.
Customization
Customization is how you use the words you read on the internet from the job description from the company's page, and about the company and how you inculcate its language into yours. You need to customize your resume so that you can clear the ATS which is the applicant tracking system.
Only when you have words that resonate with the hiring managers systems. Will you be able to get an interview with them? There are many stages to get the job for you as a computer programmer, and one of them is to clear the ATS which is just the initial screening through AI software.
So for the companies that you apply to read up about them thoroughly and use their words and phrases in your experiences, use their own job description to beat their own system.
Proofreading
Once you have created the resume you need to check it thoroughly for any mistake that you might have made and missed it.
So you need to research about the ways you can cross examine your resume. There are several ways of doing it, one of them is putting it through grammar check, there are professional free tools out there to do so, then correct those mistakes and see whether the sentences and points make the same sense.
The other way includes showing your resume to various people and getting opinions on how to improve it. The third eye can literally make all the difference as you will gain new insights which you might have missed during the research or a point that should have come up but you did not frame it correctly.
Choosing the right format
- Functional resume format:
The functional format is the one used by people who are getting into the workforce, or when you are shifting from a job where the skills are not transferable to a great extent.
As a computer programmer with experience you might not need to use this resume, however, if you are shifting into a new field where the coding language you have just learnt is not based on your experience then this will be good for you or if you are a recent graduate then the resume format will be good for you.
The format focuses heavily on your existing skill set rather than the experience. You should ideally put your skills section first and then your past experience.
As the nature of this resume is where the experience is not the main focus, does not mean that you should keep it empty. Fill it with the experience you have, any internships, any projects that you might have done, every freelance gig that you might have been a part of.
All of this can go inside your experience. The order inside your work experience can also be shuffled upon as priority for relevancy to the company you are applying to.
- Reverse chronological order resume format:
The reverse chronological order resume format is where your experience is all categorized in the reverse order. The experience is the main focus of this format of resume as you want to highlight what you did as your last job. The skills will come parallelly, or beneath it along with your achievements.
- Combination resume format:
The combination format is when you blend in the features of the reverse chronological where the experiences are in the reverse chronological order but the skills can come above it. Where the resume summary is put in and prioritized so that the hiring managers can get a sense of your achievements before they deep dive into what you have actually done.
The combination type format is also known as the hybrid format.
What does a Computer Programmer resume sample outline look like?
Contact info
Full Name: The name should be as per your government ID/s, and as you may provide in your contract when you sign it
Mobile Number: The phone number that you provide here should be working and with you at all times
Email Address: The email ID should be professional, ideally with your full name. You should keep your personal email ID separate from professional
Permanent Address: You do not need to provide your complete address, the area and area code are more than enough for this part
LinkedIn Profile: Your LinkedIn profile should be completely updated
Compelling summary/ resume summary
Resume summary is also known as the resume objective. The resume summary should be between 2-4 sentences long and a maximum of 4 lines long.
Now the format in which you present your resume summary also matters, however, the crux is that you should be able to put across your points on the work experience and your achievements
In the resume summary, you need to get straight to the point. The key experience which you had which added value to the organization and your career is to be highlighted and where you were most adept with the skills you gained and applied.
Followed by an achievement that has helped you stand out in the organization for your contribution.
The achievement is an important part of your summary, since you can stand out of the crowd if by showcasing the hiring manager your greatest achievement without them having to dive deep into your resume and searching for it.
Your achievement ideally should be in the field of your profession, however, if you have space you can add a personal achievement as well which can add a different kind of value to your resume.
Professional experience/ work history
Job title and Company:
Please mention the designation as per your contract or agreement and put in the name of your company as well
Dates of Employment:
The dates of employment should be in the format of 'month-year' or just 'year' represented in 'from-to' format
Job Description:
The job description can be picked up from the job description you received from that particular job or from your contract, or you can use the internet to research the job descriptions and use all of them together to put the respective description in place.
Be precise in how you frame your sentences, and use bullet points along with the right keywords
Key Achievements:
Any achievements or awards that you may have received in your professional career can be put here for the relevant job that you worked in.
One way you can catch the attention of the hiring managers are by quantifying your achievements, which means you should label them using numbers, percentages etc. to showcase your growth
Education section
All your educational qualifications, all the way from your high school diploma, to degrees, or professional certifications will come over here in reverse chronological order
Degree Name:
The name of the degree that will be put here should be as you received it on your certificate from you institution
Institution Name:
The name of the institution should also be as per what the certificate state, or as per what their official website states
Location and Date:
The location can just be the area and the area code, or the country name. The date shall always be represented in two ways: 'month-year' or 'year' in 'from-to' format
GPA (Optional):
You can choose not to mention your grades. Generally people with experience in the market need no put it as their experience counts more, however if you're a recent graduate then you must put it and if you've performed uniquely well over the academic years then you should put it to flaunt your prowess
Skills section
The skills section is pertinent for you as the tech world demands the kind of skills you possess in the market as it is very competitive.
The skills we have provided here will also help you with the Applicant tracking system, and can also be used as your guide to key words which when put on your resume help catch the eye of the hiring managers.
The list contains sets of soft and hard skills. For a computer programmer as yourself you will need more hard skills than soft, therefore please find those below and put on your resume.
📌List of relevant skills for your computer programmer resume:
- programming languages
- soft skills
- technical skills
- web development
- database management tools
- programming skills
- programming language
- programming projects
- specific programming languages
- database management
- computer programming
- software engineering
- coding languages
- operating systems
- process accuracy
- agile methodologies
- customer satisfaction
- scalable code
- hard skills
- code reviews
- Java programmer skills
- UX design
- programming
Bonus Tips
Keywords
Key words and action verbs are very essential to all resumes. They help clear the applicant tracking system if they are not the regular key words every one uses which will be neglected and can harm your application all together.
Sometimes the difference between the resumes making it to the final stages of the application process are the keywords that catch the attention of the hiring manager, that themselves are either senior programmers or managers with experience of programming.
📌List of relevant keywords for your computer programmer resume:
- create
- expertise
- programming
- projects
- programmer
- skills
- skills section
- Java programmer
- related skills
- relevant courses
- hard skills
- experienced programmer
- business analysts
- key qualifications
- resume summary
- objective statement
- present develop
- all the jobs
- professional experience
- job title
- job description
- senior programmer
- just a few seconds
- programming projects
- programming job
- programming skills
- programmer job description
- entry level programmers
- hiring managers
- entry level programmer
- soft skills
- programming languages
Cover letter
A cover letter is a great expansion to your resume summary. While in the summary you iron out the very specific work experience and achievement, you have the cover letter to detail them out and give more than just a hint of your personality.
A cover letter is a great way to showcase yourself outside the professional realm as well. If you have interesting achievements or a hobby which adds value to your professional world in some manner, then do not hesitate to do so.
Please follow the below guideline as a way to complete your cover letter. You need not necessarily put these headers inside, as I'm sure you know. Now let's get down to it!
Header
The header of your cover letter is similar to your resume header or your contact information section of the resume. You put your personal details such as your full Name, your contact number, your professional email id, your LinkedIn Profile.
You need not spend your energy in creating a format and align it with, please organize it simply enough to cover the content that is about to follow.
Salutation
The salutation is how you address the hiring managers you are sending the resume and cover letters out to. For example, 'Respected Hiring Manager' , 'Dear hiring manager'.
Introduction
The introduction of the cover letter should cover how enthusiastic you are about this opportunity. The way you can show that is by expressing where and how you found the job opportunity and that you are looking forward to being part of the job application process. Hiring managers are supposed to understand the
Main Body
The main body of the cover letter is where you will need to grasp the attention of the hiring manager. They will need the most convincing here. In your main body you need to focus on how you have added value to your previous organizations.
This starts the conversation in a positive manner as it shows that you are a candidate that does not just gain from employment, but also adds value. You need not mention any achievements yet just your willingness and contribution as a positive employee.
The key experiences you mention, try to quantify them as much as possible i.e., worked for 50+ hours a week, and covered 10 stores in a span of 5 months to attain the position of manager and managing over 10 employees. Quantifying your experiences adds hundred times the value then not as you are representing your addition to the organization in a logical manner.
Then you proceed by mentioning your key experiences that you have been a part of over the years. You don't have to mention all the companies you have worked from but only those where you learned the most, where your skills were the best utilized, where your project contributed significantly to a great project or anything of that sort.
Since you are a programmer you can also put in experiences where you did freelance, or any project of value that added value to your portfolio, and contributed to expanding or strengthening your preexisting skills.
The next part is where you need to highlight your key achievements. Your achievements will have a great impact on whether you get selected as the value you get from achieving something will always trump candidates who couldn't match that level.
Therefore, if there are significant achievements, either as a programmer or as an employee of your previous organizations then you shall mention it over here in a narrative which explains how you added extra value and how you win over what was asked.
Conclusion
The conclusion is where you try to seal in your enthusiasm by concluding on how your work experience and achievements have contributed to your personality development as well. Here is when you mention how grateful you are for the opportunity to be able to be a part of the application journey, and how you can add value if you do get shortlisted for the further process that is to follow.
Closing
The closing section is where you signing your name with respect i.e., 'Warm Regards', or 'Best wishes' or 'Yours Truly'
References
References are also key to your resume. Usually you would want the hiring managers to talk to your managers, your seniors and management when they call your references, as they can-clearly explain to the hiring manager how you have added value to their organization, and how you improved, and also the skills you developed over time.
This will give the hiring manager a chance to know you from a third person perspective. They are looking for how you added value to the organization and not what you gained from them, since working for the role you are applying to the hiring manager will always want to know whether you can give more than you can take.
There should ideally be not more than 3 references, it is not a fixed number, however, the hiring manager will not contact more than 3 people to know about you. They might even stop at one, however, that one does not pick up then you should have other references too.
Conclusion
To conclude, we would suggest that you check out our resume examples and resume template collection where we have included resume writing guides and more for all the professions and roles and more. You can also use our resume builder option which will help you write your resume in a matter of minutes. With the help of AI prompts and suggestions like ChatGPT, you will be able enhance the language as well as the presentation of your skills, experience and other details of your profile, on your resume.
That's all you need to know about writing a professional resume, we are sure after reading this guide, you will ace your resume! Good luck with the job search!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do I need a cover letter with my computer programmer resume?
A cover letter can make a big difference for you and help you impress the hiring managers who will be inclined to at the very least call you up for an interview and give you a chance to pitch your candidacy. To learn more read the article above.
How can I choose the best computer programmer resume example?
When choosing the example you should consider:
- Your profile
- Your future goal for next job
- Your industry and professional experience
- Your professional experience level
- Your goal of the impression you want to create
How many references should I include on my computer programmer resume?
Ideally a professional resume has 3 references in the reference section, you should add them with appropriate contact details and names etc. (only) after taking their permission/consent.
