How to Build a Standout Tech Resume

Here's what happens when you apply to a tech job: your resume gets uploaded to an Applicant Tracking System. The ATS scans it for keywords matching the job description. If you don't hit enough keywords — or if your formatting confuses the parser — your resume gets filtered out before a human ever sees it. Some estimates put this rejection rate at 75%.

For the 25% that make it through, a recruiter spends an average of six to seven seconds on the initial scan. Not minutes. Seconds. They're looking for three things: do you have relevant experience, do you have the right skills, and is there a quantified accomplishment that catches their eye.

The resumes that fail share common mistakes:

• Listing responsibilities ("managed a team") instead of achievements ("led a team of six that delivered a payment system handling $2M in daily transactions, two weeks ahead of schedule")
• Using creative templates with columns, graphics, and icons that ATS systems can't parse
• Writing a generic resume for every application instead of tailoring keywords to each job posting
• Burying the most impressive accomplishments on page two

The good news: fixing these problems isn't complicated. It's methodical.

Fancy resume templates from Canva or Etsy look great as PDFs but often turn into garbled nonsense when an ATS tries to parse them. Use a simple, single-column layout with standard fonts.

The structure that works:

1. Header — Full name, email, phone number, LinkedIn URL, GitHub/portfolio link. Skip your physical address — it's irrelevant for remote roles and introduces location bias.
2. Professional Summary — Two to three lines. Not an objective statement. A summary of who you are and what you bring. "Full-stack engineer with 5 years of experience building scalable React and Node.js applications. Led frontend architecture for a fintech product serving 500K+ users."
3. Technical Skills — Grouped by category. Languages: Python, JavaScript, SQL. Frameworks: React, Django, FastAPI. Tools: Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform. Cloud: AWS, GCP.
4. Experience — Reverse chronological. Each role gets 3–5 bullet points. Achievement-focused.
5. Education & Certifications — Degree, institution, graduation year. Relevant certifications (AWS, SAFe, PMP).
6. Projects — Optional but valuable for career changers or recent graduates. Link to live demos or GitHub repos.

Formatting specifics: 10–12pt font (Arial, Calibri, or Garamond), 0.5–1 inch margins, standard section headings, and save as PDF. If the application specifically asks for .docx, send .docx. Otherwise, PDF preserves formatting.

The XYZ formula is the single most effective technique for resume bullet points: "Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y] by doing [Z]."

Side-by-side comparison:

Weak:

• "Responsible for frontend development"
• "Worked on improving application performance"
• "Helped migrate the database"

Strong:

• "Built a React analytics dashboard that reduced report generation time from 2 hours to 12 minutes, adopted by 200+ internal analysts"
• "Identified and resolved N+1 query bottleneck in the product API, reducing average response time from 1.8s to 240ms under load"
• "Led PostgreSQL-to-Aurora migration for a 4TB production database with zero downtime, saving $18K/month in infrastructure costs"

Notice the pattern: specific action + measurable result + context. Numbers are your best friend. Percentages, dollar amounts, time savings, user counts, uptime improvements. If you don't have exact numbers, estimate responsibly: "approximately 30% faster" is better than no number at all.

One more thing: start every bullet with a strong verb. Built, Led, Designed, Reduced, Increased, Migrated, Automated, Implemented, Optimised. Not "was responsible for" or "helped with."

ATS keyword matching is frustratingly literal. If the job posting says "React.js" and your resume says "React," some systems won't count it as a match. This doesn't mean you should keyword-stuff — it means you should be strategic.

The process I recommend:

1. Read the job description and highlight every technical skill, tool, qualification, and responsibility mentioned
2. Compare that list against your resume. For each match you have, make sure the exact phrasing from the JD appears somewhere in your resume
3. For skills you genuinely have but haven't listed, add them — in the skills section and (better yet) in context within a bullet point
4. Include both acronyms and full names: "CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment)"

What NOT to do:

• Don't list skills you don't actually have. You'll get caught in the technical interview.
• Don't hide white text with keywords at the bottom of the page. ATS systems detect this and some flag it as fraud.
• Don't use a generic "skills dump" of 50 technologies. Focus on the ones relevant to the role.

The biggest ROI activity in your job search: tailor your resume for each application. It takes 15–20 minutes. It roughly doubles your callback rate. Two hours of tailoring for six applications is more effective than sending the same generic resume to thirty companies.

Before you hit "Apply," run through this:

Content:

• Professional summary references the specific role or domain you're targeting
• Every bullet point contains a measurable achievement (not just a responsibility)
• Skills section mirrors keywords from the job description
• No spelling or grammar errors (read it aloud — your ear catches what your eye misses)
• No personal information that could trigger bias (photo, age, marital status)
• File is named professionally: "firstname-lastname-resume.pdf"

Format:

• One page for 0–7 years of experience. Two pages max for 7+ years.
• Consistent formatting throughout (same bullet style, same date format, same spacing)
• Single-column layout with standard section headings
• Saved as PDF (unless the application specifically requires .docx)

After submitting:

• Update your LinkedIn to match your resume — recruiters will cross-reference
• If you have a portfolio or GitHub, make sure the projects mentioned on your resume are accessible and well-documented
• Keep a "master resume" with everything you've ever done. Tailor each application from this master list.

Resumes aren't exciting documents. But a well-crafted one is the difference between your application being seen and being silently discarded. Spend the time.