You’re working on updating your resume and have come across numerous LinkedIn posts, TikToks, and YouTube videos that all offer different advice on crafting a stand-out resume. We’re here to help. Our network of recruiters, writers, and women in tech has pulled together everything they know about resume writing.

Below, you’ll find exactly what you need to know about building a tech resume, one that not only looks good but helps you land your next full-time job or internship. 

Tech Resume Must-Haves

Let’s talk through the basics. Like a cake, you need a certain combination of everything to make it just right. For a resume, skills, education, and experience are key to making the resume work. You can add different ingredients to make it pop more, like projects and leadership experience, but at its core, you need to have skills, education and experience. Make sure you put your most recent experiences first, too!  

If you’re in the UK, at the top of your resume/CV, you should have an Objective Section. This essentially tells the recruiter, in just a few sentences, what your professional goals are and why you are qualified for the organization. While this is preferred in the UK, this is not recommended for US resumes. 

Education

Even if you haven’t completed your University degree, including the following is a necessary part of your resume: 

• University Name
• Degree and Major
• Expected Graduation Date
• GPA (only if it’s 3.0 or above)
• Relevant Courses (if they relate to a specific skill for the job)
• Certifications

Experience

Make sure to list any previous internships or jobs that are relevant in this section! A good goal is three bullet points listing what you accomplished, which is key. Depending on the role, you could end up with more or fewer than three. 

Within this section, you also want to make sure to emphasize your impact. Begin each sentence with a strong action verb, include your technical skills, and integrate data and metrics to amplify your impact.

But what does that mean in practice? 

📌 Resume formula: [Action verb] + [What you did] + [Tech used] + [Measurable result]

Say your original resume says, “worked on a team project to build an internal tool.” Sure, that says what you did, but it doesn’t show your impact. You’re missing key descriptors that could make the difference between getting the job and being overlooked. 

A stronger version of that same statement would be: “Designed and implemented an internal dashboard using React and Node.js, which reduced manual reporting time by over 50% for the operations team.”

Skills

In this section, you should be listing the languages you can code in, the software and platforms you understand and can use, and other related skills. Note: While your soft skills are essential, this is not the section where you list these.

This section also shouldn’t be very long. Keep everything concise and bulleted. 

Leadership

The recruiters on our team believe a leadership section is vital. This is a great place to let your soft skills shine—just make sure you show them through action. For example, instead of writing “great communicator,” explain how you organized a workshop, led a team, or mentored peers.

This section should also include volunteer and extracurricular activities. List how long you’ve been involved, projects or programs you’ve organized, or participated in, and any special positions held within the organization. 

Wondering where to list your membership in RTC? This is it!  Always include RTC membership on your resume. It signals to companies that you are invested in professional development, community, and networking beyond the walls of your university. These are attributes many companies find valuable. In addition, you never know when you’ll run into a fellow RTC member in the wild – it could even be during your interview, so make sure you list your associations.

Tailor Your Resume

Pro Tip from our very own Data Analyst II, Swadha Rai: “I’m a big believer in having a jumbo resume doc and using that to replace different parts of your resume when needed. I have many resume versions (full-stack software engineering [SWE], backend SWE, frontend SWE, data analyst, data scientist, etc.). I think this is helpful for students/ECs who might rack up a lot of interdisciplinary experience and find themselves targeting more than one job role.”

What Swadha says rings true with our former recruiters on staff, too. Tailor your resume for each job application. 

If you’re including classes, make sure they’re directly relevant to the role you’re applying for. Similarly, with skills – highlight the skills that are relevant to the role (and are mentioned in the job description!). In your experience section, make sure the experience you’re highlighting matches the job you’re applying for. 

What if You Don’t Have Experience? 

If you’re applying for internships, you might not have much experience yet. Or, you may want to switch roles or fields, so your experience may not be as relevant as to your new career goal

Don’t worry! For those still growing in experience, a “Projects” section is a perfect solution! 

This section could include relevant projects you’ve built yourself, projects you’ve worked on with friends, or even things you’ve built for school. Tools like GitHub, Replit, or your personal website can also help showcase your work, the impact it has had, and even, if you can, some stats to back up what you’ve done. Not every project needs stats, but if you can quantify your work, that’s a great bonus.

Avoid the Resume Graveyard: What Not to Do

We’ve already talked about a few things that you should avoid regarding your resume, but here’s a comprehensive list:

• Avoid making your resume generic – you want your resume to showcase your unique strengths! Make sure it is tailored to you. 
• Don’t just copy and paste from ChatGPT without personalizing the content! 
• Keep your resume to one page, two if you’ve got a few years of professional experience under your belt. A recruiter’s resume review averages about 30 seconds so make it count!
• Don’t over-design your resume just to stand out – many recruiters rely on ATS (Applicant Tracking System) tools, but complex or overly designed resumes often can’t be accurately read by AI or their software.
• Don’t list every single tool or language you’ve ever touched – only highlight the important ones you feel comfortable with for the specific job you’re applying for.
• Don’t use passive language. Using passive language on your resume can make your contributions sound vague or forgettable.
  

When building your tech resume, it’s important to keep in mind that recruiters are looking over so many resumes that you want to make it easy for them: highlight your impact, skills, and anything relevant to the job.

Your Resume is Your Launchpad.

Make it focused. Tailor it. And make it reflect who you are, not just what you’ve done. Whether you’re applying for internships, full-time roles, or switching careers, a strong resume will help you tell your story with confidence.

Take a look at our resume templates if you need a little extra help:

If you’re an RTC member and need more help with your resume, sign up to meet with one of our industry mentors!  We have a lot of professionals willing to help you with your resume. Also, join us this summer for our Recruiting Ramp Up series, including our always-popular Resume Review Days, to help you build a strong resume! 

Not part of RTC yet? Join our global community of 35,000+ women in tech who are building their futures together.