Writing an IT/Developer Resume Both HR and Tech Leads Want to Call

A developer resume must work for non-technical HR and detail-minded tech leads. How to write skills, experience, projects and GitHub links that both understand.

Many developer resumes open with three lines of languages and frameworks, followed by experience that says "developed backend systems", "fixed bugs", "worked with the team". HR reads it and cannot tell how good you are. A tech lead reads it and cannot tell what you actually did. So it fails both gates.

How is an IT/developer resume different?

It has two kinds of readers. The first is HR or a recruiter screening for keywords and overall fit, who may not know the difference between React and Next.js. The second is a tech lead or engineering manager who wants to know what problems you solve, whether you understand your tools and what scale of systems you have worked on. A good resume answers both in one document.

1. Header and summary

Include your name, target role, email, phone, GitHub link and LinkedIn or portfolio if you have one. Then write a two to three line summary saying what kind of developer you are, what you are strong at and what work you want.

Example: "Backend developer with 3 years of experience in Node.js and PostgreSQL. Maintained payment APIs at an e-commerce company. Interested in systems that serve large numbers of users."

2. Make your skills easy to scan

Do not list everything you have touched. Group them and keep only what you can really use.

• Languages: TypeScript, Python, SQL
• Frameworks: NestJS, React
• Data/Infra: PostgreSQL, Redis, Docker, AWS
• Tools/Practices: Git, CI/CD, unit testing

Order them by relevance to the role and use tool names exactly as the job description does, so ATS systems and HR can find them. If you only followed a tutorial, leave it out, because a tech lead may ask in depth at interview.

3. Write experience as problem, approach and result

Each bullet should answer what problem you solved, what you used and what happened.

Before

• Developed APIs for the membership system
• Fixed slow system issues

After

• Designed and built the membership REST API in NestJS, serving the mobile app and website and shared by three teams
• Analysed the queries slowing the reporting page, added indexes and restructured queries so the page loaded noticeably faster and the sales team stopped complaining

If you have real, measured numbers, such as load time before and after or user counts, include them, but only numbers you can explain at interview. If not, describe the business or team impact instead.

4. Projects and GitHub

For new graduates and career switchers this section matters a lot. Pick your two or three best projects and for each say:

• What problem it solves and who uses it
• The tech stack and why you chose it
• Repo link and demo link if available

Before linking GitHub, check that the repo has a README with run instructions and screenshots, no leaked API keys, and a last commit that is not years old. Many tech leads really do open it.

What to avoid

• Skill bars with stars or percentages. They mean nothing to readers and ATS cannot read them.
• Graphic-heavy two-column layouts. Some screening systems read the order wrongly.
• Every project since university. Choose the ones closest to the role.
• Letting AI write everything unedited. It tends to produce generic sentences that say nothing.

A strong developer resume does not show how many tools you know. It shows what problems you solved with them.

Improve your resume today

1. Open the job description you want and underline the key tools and responsibilities.
2. Regroup your skills and remove anything you do not really use.
3. Rewrite every experience bullet with problem, approach and result.
4. Choose two or three projects and tidy up their READMEs.
5. Ask a non-technical friend to read it. If they understand what you did, HR will too.

Once you have a first version, use Resume Lab to check how well it fits the role, read how ATS reads resumes in 2026 to adjust the format, and prepare for the next round with preparing for a developer technical interview.