Writing a graduate CV as a software engineer can be challenging. Without work experience it can be difficult to know what information to include on your CV and how to format and structure a CV. You want an employer or recruiter in Ireland to be able to glance at your CV and pick out key technical information that proves you will be an excellent fit for the job.
A graduate CV template for software engineers should give enough information on your education, technical skills, college projects and your internship. The CV format should be concise and descriptive. One page for your CV is sufficient and it should be easy to read and flow well. Your technical skills must stand out and you should use action words to describe your projects and experience.
Download our free graduate cv template for software engineers in Ireland to get you started.
Let’s look at CV tips for graduate software engineers which will help you achieve this.
How to write a graduate CV for software engineers?
How do you format a graduate software engineer CV?
What projects to include on Graduate CV?
Graduate software engineer CV tips
Free Graduate CV Template For Ireland
How to write a graduate CV for software engineers?
As a graduate writing their first CV, you will want to focus on your technical skills and emphasis what you have learnt during college and your internship.
It is important to avoid including too much detail on your CV as a recruiter or hiring manager will scan the document quickly looking for keywords such as programming languages and frameworks.
Our free CV template shows how to use bullet points to summarise your skills, technical projects, and internship.
It also uses action words such as deployed, designed, completed to give a clearer picture of what your role was during each stage of a project.
It is essential to include links to your Github account, Stack Overflow profile, Blog and LinkedIn page. This shows your technical and communication skills. It provides employers with evidence of your coding abilities, your contributions to the software community, and your soft skills.
How do you format a graduate software engineer CV?
To format a graduate CV, include the following sections:
1. Professional Summary
At the top of your CV, include your name along with your title (e.g. Graduate Software Engineer). Also include one line to summarise three key technical skills that make you an excellent candidate for the job you are applying for. This line should closely match the technical requirements of the job description.
For example,
JAIME RYAN
Graduate Software Engineer | BSc (Hons) Computer Science and Information Technology (2018-2022)
Highly skilled in Java application development using AWS Serverless and Docker containers
Below this you can include personal details such as email address, phone number and college course you are studying.
Do not include your full address. Town and County is sufficient.
2. Links to your online identity
Include links to your accounts on Github, Stack Overflow, LinkedIn as well as your Blog posts.
3. Education
List your college course and year of graduation. You can also list relevant modules you have studied during your course.
4. Technical Skills
Technical skills is a key section of your CV and one of the first to be noticed by a recruiting manager.
When you apply for a job, write down the tech stack that the company is looking to hire for.
These technologies should be listed first under Technical Skills so they stand out immediately.
Include your skills on Cloud platforms such as AWS or Azure. List the different frameworks and libraries you have used, such as unit testing frameworks and frontend libraries. Include Agile tools you have experience with, such as Jira.
You can also include any certifications you have achieved.
5. Projects
College projects give you the opportunity to list the technologies you have experience with and the software components you have created.
When describing your project work, it is important to note that employers are looking for more than your technical skills. They also want to see your communication skills being used as part of a team.
Include the following details of your college project on your CV:
- Project requirements
- Your role and team size
- Tech stack used
- Final deliverable of project
- Metrics achieved by project
Include a link to the Github repository for your project so the code can be examined.
6. Work Experience
If you completed an internship during your course, this is an excellent opportunity to highlight how you applied your skills in the workplace.
Teamwork and communication skills must be emphasised, as these are skills every employer is looking for in a graduate software engineer.
Include the following details of your internship on your CV:
- Company & job title
- Team responsibilities
- Personal responsibilities
- Tech stack used
- Personal achievements
If you did not complete an internship, include details of a part-time job. Focus on listing transferrable skills such as problem solving, communication and teamwork.
7. Interests / Hobbies
A short description of your interests and hobbies provides an insight into your personality and can be a talking point during an interview.
If you are a member of a sports team, include this because teamwork skills are transferrable.
If you hold a full drivers license, you can also mention this.
8. References
Have two references lined up before you begin interviews. You can use a previous work manager or your college project supervisor.
You can either list your references or include one line that states “Excellent references available on request”.
What projects to include on Graduate CV?
Graduate software engineers are expected to include examples of their coding abilities on their CV.
A Github account with one or more repositories, showing examples of clean code, unit testing, exception handling and error logging demonstrates that you are a graduate capable of writing high quality code.
Examples of projects for a software engineer CV include:
- REST API with user authentication that queries a Cloud database
- Interactive UI that queries a Public API and is responsive across devices
- Full stack application with UI, API and Data layer
Look for project inspiration on platforms such as Youtube and Skillshare.
Include a hyperlink to the Github repository on your CV.
Graduate software engineer CV tips
Here’s 5 graduate CV’s tips:
- Emphasis teamwork and communication skills
- Use action words to highlight your skills
- Provide sufficient details on tech stacks
- CV’s in PDF are more professional than CV’s in Word
- Include links to your Github, Blog, Stack Overflow, LinkedIn
Free Graduate CV Template for Ireland
Here is an example of a Graduate CV Template for Software Engineers.
Download this free CV template from Software Space.
