Full Stack Developer Resume: Writing Guide with Examples

full-stack developer resume
Created by Cake

A full-stack developer is a fully orientated engineer where his/her job is to develop websites with both frontend and backend skills. A full stack developer has to first identify customer’s needs before developing the software or website. The goal is to vertically integrate website engineering to provide customers with the best user experience.

When it comes to job searching, a professional full stack developer resume becomes crucial in impressing potential employers.

🔎 Fact: According to Glassdoor statistics, with the average of 250 applicants for each job opening, only 2% manage to get into the interview round, and only ONE will receive the job offer.  

You might wonder how the 2% managed to outstanding competitors and leave a positive impression. In other words, how can you outshine? These questions bring to the idea why a well-designed full stack developer resume is the key. 

Bear in mind that an eye-catching resume doesn’t necessarily mean fancy format or word usage, wisely-composed content and legible structure is the core. Now, we would like to show you how to create a full stack developer resume.

How to write a full stack developer resume

Step 1: Perceive the differences between a CV and a resume.

To start in making a professional full stack developer resume,let's clarify the distinction between a CV and a resume. Although it may sound tricky, there are actually evident features that enable us to differentiate. The features are namely its Content, Objective, and Length.

Now let's take a more in-depth exploration of these features: 

✍🏻 Content  

The term CV is an abbreviation of the Latin word Curriculum Vitae, which is derived as “the course of life“. Therefore, the content of a CV would be a comprehensive outline of all your achievements, academic performances, and experiences in a lifetime. 

On the other hand, a resume emphasizes relevant information in accordance with specific job requirements.


✍🏻 Objective 

The objective of a CV is to apply for academic, medicine and science related professions, whereas resumes are required for applying for general jobs. 


✍🏻 Length 

The standard length of a CV is over two pages, but length can be extended according to growth experiences overtime.

A standard resume length is within two pages, where the crucial skills are highlighted in accordance to the skills required for job applications.

Step 2: Choose the right resume format.

Now that you understand that a resume is required for job applications, the second question comes to your mind: “What kind of format can I use for constructing an experienced full stack developer resume?“

Don't worry , we have sorted out three widely used approaches :

✍🏻 Time based approach (reverse-chronological)

Listing of your past experiences and accomplishments in reverse-chronological order. The advantage of this format is that it allows employers to quickly scan through your latest work experiences. 


✍🏻 Skill-based approach

Listing of your expertise and skills in categories. It focuses on how your skills are related to the job position. The advantage of this format is that without looking  through your work history,  hiring managers can easily identify your expertise and skills.


✍🏻 Hybrid approach

The combination of time based and skill based approach. The hybrid approach highlights past experiences and accomplishments along with skills and expertise. 

💡To further understand how each of the resume formats work, please do check up the related article: 10+ Resume Format for Job Application [+ Templates].  

Step 3: Look up resume templates & resume examples online as references.

Next, you can simply look up full stack developer resume templates and resume examples online in accordance to your selected resume format.

Step 4: Tailor your resume for the job position. 

As you look through the templates to identify a suitable choice, the next stage will be tailoring it. The objective of tailoring your resume is to recognize the required skills and responsibilities on the job description relevant to your experience.   

Follow the following steps to create a unique and highly-customized full-stack developer resume:

  1. Identify required skills and responsibilities of the desired full stack developer job position.
  2. List down the required skills and responsibilities. 
  3. Relate these required skills and responsibilities to your personal experiences and skills. 
  4. Explain your experiences and skills in elaboration.

Step 5: Craft a cover letter.

You might be wondering about the significance of a cover letter. Apart from your resume, the cover letter plays an important role in communicating with your potential employer or hiring manager. 

Cover letters enable recipients to really know who you are and most importantly understand how you can contribute to the company. Therefore, a good full stack developer cover letter can undoubtedly distinguish you from many others applying for the job as well!

Step 6: Proofread.

Finally, before officially publishing your full stack developer resume, make sure to double-check your content in omitting any unnecessary typos, grammatical errors and content related errors. Unnecessary errors may interfere with the employer's reading and understanding, and might even cost you a chance for a job interview. 

Therefore, here are some important tips and tools:

Important tips and tools to help you create an error-free resume:

  • Read through your resume carefully - Try checking for any content-related errors, like inaccurate working experience, unrelated skillset, missing materials etc. 
  • Editing tools - Use software tools to correct grammatical errors. (i.e. Grammarly)
  • Skim through the resume from an employer’s perspective. 

Try asking yourself, is this what an employer desires to read on the resume? 

What is the key message behind the content itself?

What skills and experience of a full stack developer would an employer want a candidate to acquire? 

By evaluating these questions,  it ensures the relevance and relatedness towards your desired job position. 

⚠ Reminder: Avoid informal language and punctuation - make sure that proper style (formal style recommended) and language are adopted throughout the content.

What to put on a resume for a full stack developer

1. Resume Profile (Personal Information) 

Personal information provides employers the essential information about who you are. Therefore, crucial information like your Full Name, Professional Title, Address, Phone Number, and Email are required in your full stack developer resume as it allows potential employer to contact you.   

Optional personal information such as Personal website and LinkedIn URL can be provided in the full stack developer resume profile to show your achievements. 

Optional information to include that might help you stand out:

  • Personal website link -
    Collection of your full stack project portfolio shows that you actually possess certain skills as a full-stack developer; therefore it is an important element of a full stack developer resume. 
  • Relevant personal information link -
    Provide any necessary certifications for programming languages like Java, Python, Ruby, or any other required certificates. 
  • LinkedIn URL -
    Your LinkedIn profile can solve the problem of you having an abundance of work experiences and glowing recommendations. Simply provide your LinkedIn URL so your potential employer can be impressed by your achievements!

2. Resume Headline

Like any headlines of news and articles, a resume title is to catch the potential employer’s interest. Similarly, the resume headline plays an identical role. 

It is the first thing employers would examine before further reading through your experiences. Therefore, a resume headline should be a summary of your entire full stack developer resume. 

Next, the task would be on how to craft a catchy and well-phrased headline that enables you to stand out. 

🔍 How to craft a catchy resume headline?

#Step 1: Highlight your biggest achievements or strongest strengths.

Identifying your biggest achievements and outlining your strongest strength is the first thing to do before coming up with a full stack developer resume headline. Focus on how you can benefit the organization you are applying to. The main concept is to sell yourself as high as possible in persuading your potential hiring manager that you are worth promoting. 


#Step 2: Use strong and catchy phrases.

Instead of using mundane phrases that are too general among the group, opt for 

catchy phrases like Award Winning, Compassionate, Fully equipped, Modern responsive, and Strategic orientated, etc. 

These phrases give your resume a distinct and separate definition that will capture the hiring manager’s instant attention.  


#Step 3: Place it at the top of your resume.  

You would definitely want your potential employer to immediately identify your strength from a glance, so the best place for your full stack developer resume headline should be right beneath your name and contact information .

3. Resume Summary

A professional summary for full stack developers should briefly introduce the candidate’s experiences as a full-stack developer, your skills, your achievements, and your vision (what goals you aim to achieve in the workplace).

Example:

2+ years experience in application layers and database. Certified in Java CA, professional in front end and back end technologies. Developed websites for 10+ renowned clients. Looking to join ABC Tech as a full stack developer and help optimize product development process.

4. Resume Objective

Next, your full stack developer resume objective - which is the goal or purpose of your career, can be placed right after your summary.

Writing a career objective for your full stack developer resume is not compulsory, but it can provide your employer with a more in-depth idea of how you are related to your profession. 

💡 The article provided lists down the Pros and Cons of including a resume objective in your full stack developer resume, which will assist you in evaluation of its effectiveness and usability.  

5. Skills

The most important part of a full stack developer resume is to provide relevant skills in accordance to your ideal job position. Without providing the skills you require, your potential hiring manager may go through a hard time in examining your suitability for the job. 

Here are some ways in listing down the professional skills on your full stack developer  resume: 

  • Simple bullet point

Simply list down the skills you possess as a full stack developer.

The major trait of bullet point form is that it is straightforward in reading. In other words , employers can effectively identify your skills within a glance. However, being straightforward doesn’t mean it is clear enough in understanding your skillset. 

If you choose to list down your skills in this approach, make sure your work experience or cover letter should explain the skills you’ve mentioned in more detail. Otherwise, the hiring manager may be unclear on how you implemented your skills. 

Simple bullet point sample:

  1. Backend languages
  2. Database Technology
  3. HTML/CSS/Javascript
  4. Git and GitHub
  5. UI / UX Design
  • Bullet Point (with extended and explained information)

A more advanced approach would be providing detailed information in accordance with the bullet point. 

  • Categorization

This approach is suitable when a desired job position requires  a broad skillset. It starts by classifying skills into categories, and further elaborate on specific skills of each particular segment. 

6. Work Experience

Another important part of your full stack developer resume is the work experience column. Your work history is a crucial element in the resume as it shows your potential and qualifications to hiring managers.

In addition, it can offer substantial information on your work history and previous achievements.

Now that we understand the importance of your work experience, it leaves the question on how to write work experience in your full stack developer resume. Remember to include Organization, Job Location, Role Title, Beginning & End Dates, Job Duties & Achievements.

Essential things to be included in your work experience section: 

  • Name of the organizations where you are held employment
  • Location of the organization 
  • Titles and positions you previously held 
  • Start and end of the employment period for each role. (i.e. Month/Year)
  • A brief description of the skills you applied meeting your responsibilities, as well as your accomplishments 

7. Education

Education information provides credibility to your skillset and profession.  

5 essential information you should include in your resume education section: 

  1. Your degree and major
    If you have one or more degrees, make sure you list the most recent one first and list down the rest in reverse-chronological order
  2. Your year of graduation 
  3. Relevant coursework
  4. The “School” you have attended 
  5. The "Honors & Awards" you have earned 

8. Additional Information 

As for additional information in a full stack development resume, remember to keep it relevant and related to increase the credibility of your resume.

Cake provides the best full stack developer resume templates & examples for talents to demonstrate their qualifications. Let us help you land the dream job as a full stack developer with a strong resume (free download)!

Tips for preparing an attractive full stack developer resume

Now that we have fully structured and built up your full stack developer resume, it's time to e further enhance its quality and readiness before submission:

#Tip 1: Customize your full stack developer resume for the job.

Customizing your full stack developer resume to meet your desired job position’s requirements is critical in grasping the attention of your potential employers. It not only shows your attentiveness towards their company, but also shows that you do really respect and want the job.

Here's how you can customize your resume : 

First, start by performing research on the company and the job you are applying for by identifying the vision and mission of the company, and the most important skills that the position requires. 

Second, make a list of your most relevant experiences and skills that most align with the company’s vision and job requirement. This will effectively enhance the visibility of your resume.

#Tip 2: Quantify results on your full stack developer resume. 

Leverage your experiences and achievements by providing numbers and statistics to make your content more convincing and explicit.

For example, instead of writing “I was responsible for designing the augmented reality app that increased profit to the company” can be rephrased as “the augmented reality app I designed attracted 10k extra traffic per month, bringing 3 times of cash revenue to the company.” 

More quantification data examples are listed below: 

  • The number of awards won
  • The amount of product sold
  • The growth of conversion rate
  • The sum of of sales goal achieved
  • The enhancement of satisfaction rate

#Tip 3: Craft an ATS-friendly resume.

An ATS (Applicant Tracking System) is a software that companies use in order to examine the applicant’s qualification towards a job opening.  Therefore, do construct your full stack developer  resume into an ATS friendly one.

Let’s further examine how to craft an ATS-friendly resume. 

🔍 How to craft an ATS-friendly resume?

  • Label resume sections accurately:

The ATS scans through your full stack developer resume in search of relevant headings like “Work Experience” and “Skills” to examine the qualification, so do not replace these headings with confusing headings like “What I am good at ”or “Jobs that I have done ”, which will confuse the ATS.


  • Always include job related keywords:

Include the keywords that a full stack developer position will have like: Javascript, Python, User Interface design, HTML etc.


  • Choose the appropriate resume format:

The ATS works best with the time based approach (Reverse chronological resume format)

#Tip 4: Adopt resume action words (verbs).

You might come across typical phrases like “I am responsible for...”  or “I’ve managed …”  in a resume, so does the hiring manager. In fact, the hiring manager might even feel numb and plain while reading through the same old phrases. Hence, let’s not wait to groom your resume. 

✅ Pro tip: Instead of using repeated phrases, try advancing these phrases into action words that will make your resume come alive.

For example “I’ve managed” can be replaced with attracting verbs like “Inspired”, “Mentored”, or “Contributed”, etc. 

#Tip 5: Optimize your work experience by providing enough related information.

As mentioned before, one of the most important parts of your full stack developer resume is your work experience.

So do provide your employer with detailed information like development methodologies, size of the team you have managed, your role as a leader, and your job’s impact to make you sound more professional and persuasive.

How to write a full stack developer cover letter

We have introduced the importance of a full stack developer cover letter as it enables your recipient to really know who you are and your motivation for applying. We are surely ready to deep dive into how to craft a decent full stack developer cover letter. 

📝 Note: The typical length of a full stack developer cover letter is within a page, where you should include five parts, namely your contact information, greeting, hook, body, and closing.

1. Contact details

Provide your full name, email address, mobile number, and address (not necessary). You can also add links to your professional personal websites like LinkedIn, Cake, Medium, if you have been building a personal brand on them.


2. Introduction (Greeting)  

Formally greeting hiring manager with either his/her name or the company’s position will promote a good first impression. You can search on the company’s website or LinkedIn page to find the name. After greeting the hiring manager, you may introduce yourself further, elaborating on your personality, your strengths, and your goals towards the job position. 


3. Motivation (Intention to apply)

Next, focus on the reason why you are motivated in applying for the job. It can be because of the company’s mission, the company’s culture, the working environment, or the working hours, etc. The hiring manager will really want to understand why you are motivated towards the job to further examine your suitability. 

You can align your motivation in what you believe in, what opportunities you have observed and what improvements you can obtain from the job position. 

At the same time, it’s a good chance to show how deeply you understand the company and how much you identify with the company’s core value and mission. 


4. Qualification 

The qualification part is the main body of your full stack developer cover letter. Afterall, the cover letter is all about promoting yourself to increase the odds of getting the job. 

For that reason, your qualification section should: 

  • Identify the qualities and skills required for the job you are applying for.
  • List all your past experiences and achievements related to the job requirements.
  • Pick the top few accomplishments that can make you stand out from the competition. Elaborate on the accomplishments, key learning, and acquired skills. 
  • After you have further explained your performance, try quantifying it with numbers and statistics, as it would be clearer for your employer to know how much value you are able to bring to the company!

5. Closing 

Finally , sincerely thank the hiring manager for spending time reading your cover letter.

Also, don't forget to mention if there is any portfolio or relevant certificate attached. Lastly, sign your full name at the end of the letter. Then you’re all set!

Full Stack Developer Resume Sample

Chris Wong 

Certified Full Stack Web Engineer 

Address: Da-an district, Taipei City 
Phone number 0987-765-869
Email Address : [email protected]
 Personal website: Chriswong.wix.com

Professional Summary

Passionate and dedicated solution seeker with 5+ years in user interface design, website developing , programming, and solution implementing. Certified in both front end and back end technologies. Seek to leverage practical experiences, hands on technical expertise and increase customer value by the role of the full stack developer.

Work Experience

Full Stack Engineer
Internship XX 

o6/2016 - 12/2016

  • Worked under the application and website development department  
  • Developed a Language learning app in accordance with rapid prototype

Full Stack
Multinational Corporation

02/2017 - Present 

  • Responsible for API design for product of multinational corporation 
  • Worked on the building company’s official website which attracted traffic of around 10 thousand people in half a year, boosting a 20 percent increase in sales revenue per month.
  • Led an agile team which helped prioritize the core needs of customer in order to develop strategic solutions
  • Increased overall 35 percent in customer value (according to 2020 second half of the year survey)

Education

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 
B.S. in Software Development | Computer Science 

Year of graduation: 2016

Skills

Hard Skills

  • Front end 
    • HTML/CSS
    • JavaScriptUI/UX
  • Back end 
    • Python
    • Git
    • C++
    • SQL

  Soft Skills

  • Creative innovation - Ability to think out of the box in design thinking concepts.
  • Detailed analytics - Ability to collect and analyze information in a timely and efficient manner.
  • Problem Solving - Able to identify the core issue of a situation and willing to take on challenges in order to solve problems in an effective manner. 
  • Project Management - Led 5 cross-functional teams of the complete website development process, met 200% of revenue goal in renown multinational corporation.

--- Originally written by Vivian Chen ---

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