The Best Mid-Level Software Engineer Resume Example and Writing Guide

This is the only guide you’ll ever need to write a winning mid-level Software Engineer resume. 

Follow this guide, and you’ll start to see more positive feedback and job interview invitations in your email inbox. 

Here’s what we’ll go through: 

• The best mid-level software resume examples and why they work
• What to put in each resume section
• How to actually write resume sentences that give hiring managers the impression you’re the “John Wick” of software engineering
• Additional resume tips

You won’t just find out how to write a mid-level software resume by filling in the gaps. You’ll also learn how to turn any work achievement, job responsibility, or skill that’s related to software into a powerful resume sentence. 

Let’s get started! 

Top Mid-Level Software Engineer Resume Examples

We’ll look at two of the best mid-level software engineering resumes. Then, we’ll answer the big question: Why do they work, and how can you replicate their success? 

Example 1 

Why This Resume Secured an Interview

This is the standard format for most mid-level sample resumes. Everything is written in reverse chronological order to prioritize the most relevant experience. 

Here’s why this resume works for experienced software engineers: 

• Concise Language: Immediately highlights their expertise and makes an objective statement in the summary section. They also get straight to the point when describing a previous software engineering role. 
• Achievements: Highlights the outcome achieved using quantitative data after writing about a job responsibility or skill carried out. 
• Technical Skills: Uses a range of industry keywords to showcase their knowledge in the role. 
• Specificity: Uses numbers to specify achievements and job responsibilities. This makes it clear that they have a good understanding of what exactly they’re doing. 

Example 2 (No Formal Education)

Why This Resume Secured an Interview

You might be shocked to find that this software engineer resume sample doesn’t have an education section. Isn’t a formal qualification essential for all job seekers? 

Well, in this case—not really. 

It’s common for a Senior Software Engineer or a mid-level professional with more than 8 years of experience to skip the education section. The main reason is that they have lots of practical experience. From handling a tech stack and database design to operating systems, this shows much more about your software skills than a science degree or boot camp. 

Here’s why this software engineer resume template still works: 

• Summary: The candidate highlights that they have XX years of experience, which speaks more for itself than a bachelor’s degree. Moreover, they’ve made their areas of expertise clear.
• Career Progression: The candidate’s work history highlights their professional growth. This implies that the applicant is looking to grow and is continuously learning.
• Industry Knowledge: Uses a range of industry keywords to highlight their expertise in the field. 
• Project Outcomes: They describe the results of the projects they’ve worked on. This shows the hiring manager that they understand what they’re working toward and how they can make a positive impact. 
• Leadership Skills: Includes responsibilities that showcase leadership skills such as managing and overseeing a team. 

How to Complete Your Resume Sections: Mid-Level Software Engineer Edition

The resume sections usually required are the following:

• Header
• Work Experience
• Education
• Skills

Below, we’ll go through what to put for each section on a mid-level resume in software engineering. 

Header 

The header is all about the contact details. Here’s what to put: 

• Full Name 
• Location (City, Country)
• Email Address
• Phone Number
• LinkedIn URL or Website Link

Work Experience

The work experience section is the most important part of a resume. This is where you show the impact you made in previous companies. The priority here is to highlight professional achievements. Then, write about the job duties or skills applied to reach an aimed outcome. 

Of all resume formats, the reverse-chronological format is the best. That’s because it focuses on the most recent events, meaning it’s relevant.

Here’s a few examples of good resume sentences in the work experience section:

• Work Achievements: Increased the performance of the firm's technology risk dashboard by 80% by integrating a new infrastructure data source into the pipeline (Java, T-SQL).
• Job Duties and Purpose: Created a WPF application for Santander (Scandinavia) to parse data entered into their automated Merlin telephone line using COM.
• Applied Skills and Outcome: Deployed and maintained Linux VMs on private cloud for key infrastructure such as Redis.

Your work history on your resume should only go as far back as up to 5 years. When you have extensive experience and want to highlight career progression, feel free to go back up to 8 years ago or more. 

However, fewer bullet points are required when listing jobs older than 5 years. You could even skip bullet points altogether for these 5+ year-old roles and only list the job title. The reason is to maintain a one-page resume and save enough space to describe what you did in your most recent roles. 

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Education

List your formal education and academic achievements. All that’s essential is your university degree. Here’s how to show it on a resume:

• Academic Qualification (e.g. Bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree)
• University or Institution 
• Location (City, Country)
• Year of Graduation
• GPA (Optional)

See the example below. 

Important note: As you saw from one of our examples at the start of this article, there are some cases where you can omit the education section. But that’s usually only when you have more than 8 years of experience and can make your professional development clear through career progression. 

Skills

List single words or phrases that highlight your areas of expertise. Group-related skills can also be put into different categories. For instance, you could make a category for programming skills. 

Here’s an example below.

Other Resume Sections for Mid-Level Software Engineers

There are a few extra sections you could put on a mid-level software resume. However, it’s best to include them when you meet the following criteria:

• You have a significant achievement that shows off your skill level
• You have enough space to not go over one page

A significant achievement could be from a side project you worked on, like building your own app using React and having 10,000+ active users.

And, one-page resumes are highly recommended because they force you to be selective when choosing what details to highlight. Therefore, you’ll only showcase the very best version of your professional self by highlighting the essential information. 

If there’s anything else you want to mention that’s relevant but not essential, you could always write a cover letter. 

Summary

The summary section is 2-3 sentences long. This is where you highlight the following details: 

• Years of Experience
• Areas of Expertise and/or Key Skills
• Career Objective (Optional) 
• Achievements

Aim to write a compelling career overview by showing the hiring manager where your expertise lies. 

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Projects

Relevant projects to mention on a resume could include building your own mobile applications or software testing. 

Describing your role in personal projects is similar to how you describe your role in the work experience section. But unlike the work experience section, you prioritize only showing key achievements. You could also include another bullet point to highlight a key responsibility but be wary of the length of your resume. 

Here’s an example below.

Certifications

Certifications solidify expertise for your skills and knowledge. 

Listing certifications on a resume is similar to how you would list your university degree in the education section. However, the difference is that you can write a bullet point describing what you did to earn that certificate and the skills you had to apply. 

Here’s an example below.

Specializations

A specializations section is another way to highlight your areas of expertise. If there are any specific skills or roles you’d like to emphasize, this is a custom resume section worth considering.

 Here’s how to approach it: 

• Select a key role, skill, or software you want to highlight
• Include the institution or organization
• Mention the date (month and year)
• Write bullet points describing the skills applied and responsibilities carried out to reach aimed project outcomes

See one of our examples below.

The Ideal Work History Section of a Mid-Level Software Engineer Resume

Here’s what to write about for the work experience section of a mid-level software engineer resume:

• Work achievements
• Key job responsibilities
• Desirable job skills 

Below, we’ll go through typical examples for each of the above in a software engineering context. Then, we’ll go through how to turn those points into a powerful resume sentence that will impress your hiring manager. 

These are the same steps to follow when describing relevant experiences and transferable skills in the work experience section. 

1. Examples of Mid-Level Software Engineer Achievements 

• Successful Projects: Completing projects at the expected standard, meeting deadlines, and keeping within the allotted budget.
• Code Optimization: Optimizing existing code for better performance and efficiency. 
• Bug Resolution: Fixing technical issues found in software applications. 
• Programming Languages: Implementing a range of programming languages such as Python, Java, C++, and more. 
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Working effectively with other departments and team members such as product managers and designers. 
• Technical Documentation: Updating and maintaining a document that includes key details such as user guides and APIs. 
• Leadership: Mentoring, coaching, and leading team members to ensure the success of a project, e.g., providing feedback to ensure code quality.  
• Enhancing Security: Improving security systems to safeguard against potential threats and malware. 
• Design and Architecture: Ensuring a system structure that reinforces software scalability and aligns with core objectives. 

How to Turn Your Achievements Into Powerful Resume Sentences

First, let’s clarify what a work achievement is. 

Work achievements are all about hitting goals and milestones. This doesn’t always have to be life-changing results like designing software from scratch and becoming a millionaire overnight.

Work achievements can also include small wins like meeting project deadlines ahead of time or taking on a new job responsibility. In other words, it’s all about reaching a positive result or outcome.

As for how to turn an achievement into a powerful resume sentence, follow these steps: 

1. Use an action verb to describe the result or outcome achieved 

2. Use numbers, data, or a statistic to highlight the accomplishment

3. Include the time frame of the accomplishment 

4. Write about the skills or responsibilities involved in getting the result

Here’s another similar step-by-step formula to turn your achievements into a powerful resume sentence: 

1. Use an action verb to describe the responsibility 

2. Use numbers, data, or statistics to specify the responsibility 

3. Include the technical skills applied to carry out the responsibility 

4. Mention the specific outcome achieved by using numbers 

Mid-Level Software Engineer Resume Sentences for Achievements

Using the steps listed above, we’ll translate the example software engineer achievements from earlier into compelling resume sentences: 

• Successful Projects: Reduced 45% of the overhead costs of the analytics team in 3 months by implementing an Excel exporting integration into the risk report engine (Java, Python).

• Code Optimization: Increased the firm's technology risk oversight by 60% by developing and integrating new infrastructure scanners into the risk reporting engine (C#, T-SQL). 
• Bug Resolution: Restructured backend pipelines and API endpoints for more seamless user registration and sign-up, which led to a 200% increase in new users and a 20% increase in average user retention.
• Programming Languages: Led the development of a service that provides automated pen-testing to internal front-office facing teams while managing and mentoring 3 pen-testers (Python, Java Spring Boot, Angular JS, OracleDB).
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborated with stakeholders and multiple cross-functional teams to help develop a uniform wireframe across multiple products, reducing turnaround time and testing requirements by 30%. 
• Technical Documentation: Improved satisfaction rating by 50% by building documentation and training guides for the risk dashboard. 
• Leadership: Led the analyst peer mentoring committee for Jersey City by conducting event planning, budget analysis, mentor and mentee pairing, and mentor training for over 200 analysts.
• Enhancing security: Preemptively analyzed 20+ potential security vulnerabilities in software, and developed integrated testing frameworks, reducing downtime by 30% compared to previous year.
• Design and architecture: Introduced an all-in-one platform to streamline the process from receiving an order to fulfilling the order to the customer and easing supply chain restrictions(TypeScript, React, Nest.js, Redux, Material UI).

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2. Examples of Mid-Level Software Engineer Job Responsibilities

• Write clean and efficient code in one or more programming languages such as JavaScript, Python, C#, C++, SQL

• Identify scalable software opportunities that can meet project requirements and align with business objectives

• Review existing code and identify areas for optimization and performance improvement

• Create and optimize technical documentation such as system architecture and APIs 

• Reinforce cybersecurity for protection against malware and potential threats

• Write SQL queries and design or enhance databases 

• Communicate with stakeholders and cross-functional teams such as UX/UI designers and product managers

How to Turn Your Job Responsibilities Into Powerful Resume Sentences

Job responsibilities are the tasks or duties you’re expected to perform.

As a Software Engineer, your main responsibilities are to create and develop software solutions. Other typical responsibilities include managing projects and assisting other engineers or departments. 

The best way to write about job responsibilities in a way that highlights your expertise is by specifying your tasks and their purpose. 

Use the following steps to translate standard job responsibilities into powerful resume sentences: 

1. Use an action verb that emphasizes your impact

2. If possible, use numbers or data to specify the job responsibility 

3. Add relevant details describing what you did and how you did it

4. Mention the purpose of the task and the outcome you worked toward

Mid-Level Software Engineer Resume Sentences for Job Responsibilities

Using the steps listed above, we’ll translate the examples of software engineer job responsibilities from earlier into compelling resume sentences: 

• Created modular tests in Python, NI LabVIEW, and TestStand to automatically validate electrical components.
• Created a scalable, available ad server on AWS using EC2, Elastic Load Balancing and Autoscaling Groups, serving over a billion daily requests.
• Architected and developed an ETL pipeline for automatically ingesting partner data on a scheduled basis, using REST APIs where possible, or automated screen scraping when necessary.
• Designed a fast, secure, and type-safe REST API to create wallets and transactions on the Cardano blockchain(TypeScript, Node.js)
• Configured 6 network control center deployable server suites which include 78 virtual servers, 6 McAfee Sidewinder Firewalls, 6 Bluecoat Proxy Servers, 12 Physical ESXi Servers, 6 Network Access Servers, 2 Intrusion prevention servers, and 12 Cisco switches.
• Created an interactive dashboard application using Ruby on Rails and MySQL for data visualizations and business intelligence, allowing our sales and management teams to view business-critical data quickly and easily.
• Collaborated with the CTO to deploy an Android application (Kotlin, Java).

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3. Examples of Mid-Level Software Engineer Skills 

Hard Skills:

• APIs: GraphQL, RESTful
• Backend Development: Node.js, Django, Ruby on Rails 
• Cloud Platforms: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud
• Database Management: SQL, NoSQL, MongoDB
• DevOps and CI/CD: Docker, Jenkins
• Programming: C++, Java, Python
• Web Development: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, Angular
• Version Control: GitHub

Soft Skills:

• Attention to Detail
• Communication
• Critical Thinking
• Leadership
• Problem-solving

How to Turn Your Skills Into Powerful Resume Sentences 

Skills refer to the abilities required to do the job. There is a skills section for your resume (which should only contain your top strengths and most relevant skills for the job), but that doesn’t mean you can’t talk about them elsewhere. 

As a Software Engineer, most of your job skills will relate to technical proficiency. In other words, your expertise in software and programming. 

Here’s how to write about your skills: 

1. Use an action verb that best describes how you applied the skill 

2. Mention what you needed to do to apply that skill 

3. Highlight the purpose or aimed outcome 

Use numbers to specify what you did when a significant volume or quantity is involved. And mention other skills or tools involved in the process when it’s relevant. 

Mid-Level Software Engineer Resume Sentences for Skills

Using the steps listed above, we’ll translate the examples of software engineering skills from earlier into compelling resume sentences. 

Hard Skills:

• Restructured backend pipelines and API endpoints for more seamless user registration and sign-up.
• Implemented and maintained RESTful API endpoints for a web application to provide rideshare services to students in California using Node.js, Express, Docker, and MongoDB.
• Implemented a publish-subscribe architecture using AWS Lambda to obtain subscribed microservices and update associated configs, avoiding the expense of redeployment and manual effort.
• Conducted company-wide SQL Server SME, performing SQL code reviews, developing testing tools and methodology, and resolving customer escalations through system resource and query plan analysis.
• Designed CI/CD system to test and deploy ROS2 packages & multi-architecture docker images.
• Developed and deployed a Kalman filter-based semiconductor anomaly detection algorithm in C and C++ with a 99.1% accuracy to a fabrication plant, impacting 15K+ semiconductor manufacturing machine users.
• Carried out the re-platforming of existing e-commerce websites, increasing SEO performance and decreasing current overhead to manage legacy solutions(TypeScript, React, Material UI, Jest, Nest.js).
• Integrated build pipeline processes with Slack, JIRA, GitHub, and Jenkins.

Soft Skills:

• Optimized confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data and servers while identifying and implementing technology trends and platforms to boost efficiency and communicating strategy to management, staff, partners, and customers.
• Consulted with our clients on DevOps culture and best practices to reduce deployment cycle time and increase productivity for developers and system administrators.
• Carried out requirement gathering and business analysis and designed and developed bespoke applications for internal use and external clients.
• Led a team of 5 on a greenfield project to create the next version of the LMS using Openshift / Rancher RKE (Kubernetes), Kafka, Couchbase, and Postgres.
• Automated data extraction and validation by developing web scraping tools using Beautiful Soup and Selenium. This led to a reduction of hundreds of man-hours previously used in manual verification.

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3 Tips to Speed Up the Resume Writing Process

Before wrapping things up, we’ll share three more tips to help you speed up the resume writing process. 

1. Prioritize Work Achievements

Prospective employers are mostly interested in what you’ve achieved for previous companies. This means you should prioritize relevant work achievements that are telling of your ability. 

When writing about previous roles, start with key achievements. Or whenever in doubt about what details should be included, prioritize relevant accomplishments. From helping the company increase revenue by X% to completing a project on time and within budget, focus on highlighting positive outcomes you contributed to. 

2. Use an AI Resume Writer

As shown throughout this guide, an AI writer can be used to speed up the writing process.

Granted, you could do it by yourself. But if you had the choice, why not have a personal writing assistant? 

If you’re unsure what to write, use AI to do the heavy lifting. Or better yet, use AI to formulate the sentences for you and replace parts of what’s been generated based on your own work experience. 

3. Use an AI Keyword Scanner

All successful candidates use resume keywords. Without them, you won’t get past the applicant tracking system. 

However, going back and forth between your resume and the job posting isn’t ideal. What is ideal is having a list of keywords from the job description listed right in front of you, so editing is twice as easy – and that’s where an AI Keyword Scanner feature comes in handy. 

Ready to Secure More Job Interviews? 

Made it to the very end? Congrats! The effort you’re putting in now to create an exceptional mid-level software engineer resume will pay off. 

Ultimately, HR checks your resume. Not a fellow Software Engineer. 

It’s HR’s role to narrow down the list of applicants. They’ll do this by assessing your skills through your resume and seeing if it matches the job description. Only when you pass this initial phase will you then be evaluated by a qualified software engineer in the company you’re applying to. 

Follow the steps in this guide for each software resume you create, and you’ll find yourself landing more interviews. 

But don’t forget that job hunting is also a numbers game. Use tools like our AI Resume Writer and AI Keyword Targeting feature to speed up the process so you can send more tailored job applications. 

If you’d like to try our AI Resume Builder, you can sign up here for free. No card details are required – simply sign up with your email and create a password to get started. 

Good luck!

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