Resume guide

How to write a resume for your first tech role

Your resume doesn’t need to be perfect — it just needs to get you an interview. Here’s what tech hiring managers actually look for.

Resume structure

Six sections every tech resume needs, in order.

Contact info

Name, email address, LinkedIn URL, and GitHub (if relevant to your target role — useful for QA, Data Analyst, or any technical track). City and state is fine; skip the full street address.

Professional summary

2–3 sentences: who you are, what role you're targeting, and why your background is relevant. Write this last. It should match the specific role you're applying to — generic summaries get ignored.

Skills

Split into hard skills (SQL, Figma, Jira, Excel, Tableau, Postman) and soft skills (stakeholder management, cross-functional communication, data analysis). List tools you can actually use, not aspirational ones.

Experience

Your past jobs, rewritten through a tech lens. Focus on impact, metrics, and transferable skills. Use action verbs: Led, Built, Reduced, Managed, Launched. Every bullet should answer 'so what?'

Education & certifications

Degree first, then relevant certs: Google Data Analytics, PMP, Scrum Master, Google UX Design, ISTQB. If you're currently enrolled, add 'In progress, expected [Month Year]'. Bootcamps go here too.

Projects

Side projects, bootcamp capstones, freelance work, or SkilsMVP learning path completions. Even small projects signal initiative. Include: what you built, tools used, and measurable outcome if possible.

Reframing your experience

You have more relevant experience than you think. The trick is translating it into tech-readable language. Here’s how to rewrite common non-tech bullets:

Before

Managed a team of 8

After

Led cross-functional team of 8 direct reports; defined sprint priorities and delivery timelines for 3 concurrent projects

Before

Answered customer questions

After

Resolved 50+ customer issues daily via phone and email; identified top 3 recurring pain points and authored process change proposal adopted company-wide

Before

Used Excel daily

After

Built and maintained Excel dashboards tracking KPIs for 3 departments; automated monthly reporting, cutting prep time from 4 hours to 45 minutes

Before

Was responsible for onboarding new employees

After

Designed and ran onboarding program for 20+ new hires per quarter; reduced time-to-productivity from 6 weeks to 4 weeks

Before

Helped with marketing campaigns

After

Contributed to 5 email marketing campaigns reaching 30k subscribers; tracked open and click rates in Mailchimp and reported results to stakeholders

Role-specific skills to list

Include the skills below that you genuinely have or are actively building. Hiring managers verify these in interviews.

Product Manager

Product roadmappingStakeholder managementJira / LinearA/B testingUser researchPRD writingData analysisAgile / ScrumCompetitive analysisGo-to-market planning

Data Analyst

SQLExcel / Google SheetsTableau / Power BIPython basicsStatisticsData storytellingETL pipelinesDashboard designA/B testingBusiness intelligence

UX Designer

FigmaUser researchWireframingUsability testingPrototypingAccessibility (WCAG)Information architectureDesign systemsJourney mappingStakeholder presentation

QA Engineer

Test planningBug reportingJiraPostmanAPI testingRegression testingTest case writingAgile QASelenium basicsAcceptance criteria

One page or two?

The honest answer: one page almost always wins for career changers.

One page — use this if

✓You have fewer than 10 years of experience
✓You're making a career change into tech
✓You're applying for entry or mid-level roles
✓Your content can fit without shrinking below 10pt

Two pages — only if

→You have 10+ years of directly relevant experience
→You've held senior or leadership roles that need context
→You're applying for a senior or staff-level position
→Cutting content would remove genuinely relevant material

The real rule:fill as many pages as you need, but not one line more. A resume that awkwardly spills onto a second page half-full is worse than a tight one-pager. If you’re on 1.3 pages, cut to one. If you’re at 1.8 pages, fill to two.

ATS optimization tips

Most large companies route applications through Applicant Tracking Systems before a human ever reads them. These five things help you get past the filter.

1
Mirror the job description's language
If the posting says 'cross-functional collaboration,' use that exact phrase — not 'working across teams.' ATS systems do keyword matching, not synonym matching.
2
Use a clean, single-column layout
Tables, text boxes, headers/footers, and columns confuse most ATS parsers. Plain text in a single column is parsed most reliably. Save fancy design for a PDF you hand to a recruiter.
3
Spell out abbreviations at least once
Write 'Product Requirements Document (PRD)' before using 'PRD.' ATS systems may not match abbreviations to their full forms.
4
Include a dedicated Skills section
Many ATS systems specifically scan a Skills section. Burying 'SQL' in a bullet under Experience may not be picked up — list it explicitly in a dedicated section.
5
Save as .docx for uploads, PDF for email
Most ATS platforms parse Word documents more reliably than PDFs. When emailing a recruiter directly, send a PDF to preserve formatting.

Next steps

Put the guide into action

Download the full resume checklist to review your draft section by section, or start building the skills that go on it.

Download resume checklist Start building your skills