Such is the competition that despite possessing all the relevant skills, job seekers have to prove their potential to recruiters. To accomplish this, a professional resume works perfectly in conveying your expertise to the recruiter. .
A well-crafted app developer resume can work as a key essential in getting shortlisted.
In this article, we will guide you through the best practices of resume writing for this profile to help you stay ahead of the competition.
Let’s begin.
1. Drafting a customized resume
The first essential to curating an impeccable App Developer Resume is resume customization.
You need to customize your resume to meet the requirements of the jobs you are targeting.Doing this will make your resume more appealing to a hiring organization.
So instead of sending the same generic resume, make minor tweaks and modifications and send your highly job-targeted resume to your target companies.
2. Choosing the right resume format
If you are seeking to pass the applicant tracking system and showcase your expertise and skills efficiently, then using the right resume format can do wonders for your job application.
As most recruiters are notorious for spending a mere 6 seconds on a single resume, it becomes crucial that you choose the most appropriate resume format as it helps you effectively present all your achievements and accomplishments.
Below are a few resume formats which are deemed to be perfect for app developers looking to impress recruiters with their skillset:
Reverse-chronological
This is one of the most popular and most used formats among recruiters.
It helps you showcase your skills in a progressive manner. For example:
- It presents all your work experiences in a reverse chronological format i.e. from present job profile to the previous work history.
- This makes your resume relevant as your current professional engagements are displayed first.
- This format helps job seekers present their career story with a larger emphasis on current achievements. Thus, it is considered ideal for professionals with a consistent work trajectory.
- If you have career gaps in your career as an App Developer, we recommend you to not use this resume format as it will make your career gaps too visible.
- While this is not a deal breaker, it might negatively impact your shortlist chances as all recruiters do not follow the ‘skill over work history’ priority order for shortlisting candidates.
Functional
The functional resume format is also known as a skill-based format because it lays emphasis on all your skills. Instead of focusing on the progression of your work trajectory, it gives you a chance to draw attention to your skills.
Since this format allows you to showcase your expertise and achievements in a single section, it is considered the ideal formal for entry-level employees and App Developers with a big fat career gap in their work history.
Combination
Also known as the Hybrid format, it combines the characteristics of a reverse chronological and functional format to give equal importance to your strengths, skills, and work experience.
The hybrid resume format helps you present your work experience alongside all your past achievements and core-competencies in one space. As such, it is ideal for mid-senior level App Developers with massive work experience to their disposal.
3. Optimizing the Resume Summary Section
A resume summary is the focal point of your resume. It is one of the first things that a recruiter notices.
You should ideally draft a short paragraph highlighting your key accomplishments and what you can bring to the table. Focus on how your skills matter and how they have helped an organization grow.
This approach to formulating your resume summary can drastically increase your shortlist chances.
Here is an example of a resume summary for App Developers:
“10+ years experienced App Developer with vivacious expertise in developing, designing, maintaining, and testing android and ios applications. Adept at managing and leading a team of 20+ developers to build multiple AI-enabled smart shopping applications for clients with 100% satisfaction at the stipulated time. Awarded the ‘Best App Developer’ for 3 years from 2017-2020 for developing revenue-generating apps with a track record of getting 200K+ downloads within the first quarter of launching it”.
4. Showcasing Relevant Skills
There are majorly two types of skills that you can showcase in your resume:
- Core Skills
- Technical Skills
Core Skills refers to your profile-specific skill sets that comes with being a professional in your chosen field. App Developers are expected to have the following core skills:
- App Designing
- Programming
- Coding
- Analytics
In addition to these core skills, you can also include a few skillsets you have picked up in the longevity of your career. Some example of these add-on skills include:
- Team Management
- Timely Project Execution
- Product Development
- Training & Onboarding
After you streamline a list of your core skills and add-on skills that you have accumulated, list them down under a distinct section called the ‘Key Skills’ section in your resume.
After you do this, make a subsection under this section titled ‘Technical Skills’.
Your technical skills refers to your ability to deploy g different tools, software, and methodologies to achieve your work goals.
Here are some examples of technical skills for an App Developer:
- C/C++
- GitHub
- HTML5
- Node.js development
- JavaScript
- Python
- Waterfall Model
- Agile
5. Perfecting the Professional Experience Section
As an App Developer, you are expected to be lingual at what you do. You are expected to have the ability to develop device-compatible applications that cater to your client’s needs & requirements.
Being able to do this is expected. That said, it is not the only thing that matters.
Factors like the organizations you have worked at and the duration of your work experience in a given organization will also be considered. Whether you were above average and if you were able to get a promotion will also determine your suitability for an app development job.
Most employers today are looking for professionals who can do something more than the average work responsibility that comes with their job description. This may be evidenced by some hr-statistics.
You get a chance to show that you are exceptional in this professional experience section of your resume. Here are some tips that can help:
- Use one-liner points instead of using paragraphs to enhance the readability.
- Illustrate your career achievements and use numbers or achievement figures to demonstrate the relevance of your professional contributions wherever possible.
- Mark key achievements in bold.
- Group similar points together under a unique heading to show your overall expertise area.