Engineering managers skim for three things: your stack, the scale of what you built, and the difference it made. This example is for a mid-level backend engineer, with a short skills line near the top and bullets that pair a technology with a result. Keep it to two pages and link your GitHub only if it shows finished work.
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Example software engineer CV
A fictional person, employers and figures, to show the format. Replace every detail with your own.
Backend software engineer with five years' experience building APIs and data services in Python and TypeScript on AWS. Works across design, testing and on-call, and cares about reliability and clear code reviews. Led the move of a core service to event-driven architecture. Looking for a senior engineer role in a product team.
Experience
Software Engineer II, Brightpath Payments, London (Feb 2023 - Present)
Built and run payment APIs in Python (FastAPI) handling around 3 million requests a day, with 99.95% availability over the last year.
Led the move of the ledger service to an event-driven design on AWS SQS and Lambda, cutting end-of-day processing from four hours to 40 minutes.
Added contract tests and a canary release step to the CI pipeline, reducing failed deployments.
Mentor two junior engineers and run the team's fortnightly code review session.
Software Engineer, Harbour Logistics Tech, Manchester (Sep 2021 - Jan 2023)
Built route planning features in TypeScript and Node.js used by 400 drivers.
Cut a slow PostgreSQL query from 9 seconds to under 300 ms by adding indexes and rewriting a join.
Graduate Developer, Harbour Logistics Tech, Manchester (Sep 2020 - Aug 2021)
Rotated through frontend, backend and platform teams on the graduate scheme.
Education
BSc (Hons) Computer Science, First, University of Manchester, 2017 - 2020. Final-year project: real-time bus arrival prediction.
Training and certifications
AWS Certified Developer, Associate, Amazon Web Services, 2024
Skills
Python (FastAPI, Django), TypeScript and Node.js, AWS (Lambda, SQS, ECS), PostgreSQL, Docker and Terraform, CI/CD and testing, System design
A software engineer personal statement to adapt
Backend software engineer with five years' experience building APIs and data services in Python and TypeScript on AWS. Works across design, testing and on-call, and cares about reliability and clear code reviews. Led the move of a core service to event-driven architecture. Looking for a senior engineer role in a product team.
Key skills for a software engineer CV
Languages and frameworks - Name your main stack once, near the top, and only what you can talk about in depth.
System design - APIs, data models and trade-offs you made, with scale.
Cloud and infrastructure - AWS, Azure or GCP, containers and infrastructure as code.
Testing and quality - Unit, integration and contract tests, and code review.
Delivery - CI/CD, releases and on-call, showing you ship and support code.
Performance - Latency, cost or reliability improvements with numbers.
Collaboration - Working with product, design and other teams, and mentoring.
What a UK software engineer CV needs
A short skills line - Group languages, frameworks, cloud and tools in two or three lines rather than a long list.
Scale - Users, requests, data size or team size, so the reader can judge your level.
Impact bullets - Each bullet pairs what you built with what changed: faster, cheaper, more reliable or more used.
Links - GitHub, a portfolio or a technical blog, as plain text, only if they show finished work.
Right to work - If the advert mentions sponsorship, a short line on your right to work in the UK saves a question.
Achievement bullets to adapt
The figures are invented to show the format. Use your own.
Built payment APIs handling around 3 million requests a day with 99.95% availability.
Moved a ledger service to an event-driven design, cutting processing from four hours to 40 minutes.
Cut a slow database query from 9 seconds to under 300 ms.
Added contract tests and canary releases, reducing failed deployments.
Mentored two junior engineers and ran fortnightly code reviews.
Software Engineer CV questions
Should I list every language I know on a software engineer CV?
No. List the ones you would be happy to be interviewed on, and group them. A long list of technologies you have touched once invites hard questions.
Is a GitHub link necessary?
Not always. It helps if it shows finished, readable work. Many experienced engineers' best work is private, so describe it in your bullets instead.
How long should a software engineer CV be?
One to two pages. Keep detail for your last two roles and cut older roles to a line each.