Web Developer resume examples & templates

So, you need a web developer resume. Some people will tell you the job market has never been better. Others will say job hunting in the modern tech world is getting more and more difficult. Both claims are true. It’s a confusing paradox. 

Here’s a rock-solid fact though: your resume shouldn't be a blunt instrument to secure a basic position. It should be your secret weapon in getting your dream job.

How does a resume accomplish that? Clearly coded achievements, passion and direction! 

The tips, stats and hacks laid out here will help you make sure the hiring manager from your ideal company won't hit "delete" before even reaching the "skills" section. Instead, they'll rush to schedule an interview ahead of the competitors.

Resume guide for a web developer resume

Resume.io can help you achieve job search success. We’ve developed more than 500 occupation-specific resume guides and resume samples, along with professionally designed, field-tested templates and an easy-to-use resume builder tool. 

Here’s what we’ll cover in this resume-writing guide:

• Role of web developers and the job market outlook
• General writing tips for a web developer resume
• The best format for structuring your web developer resume
• Advice on wowing with your summary
• How to add your work history
• Professional resume layout and design hints
• The state of the web development market and the salary you can expect

How to write a web developer resume

Great resumes can change people’s lives. So, let’s dive right in. 

What your web developer resume should have in common with most resumes, regardless of occupation, is the structure. It should fit on a single page and include all of these elements:

• The resume header
• The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
• The employment history section
• The resume skills section
• The education section

Before going through these sections in detail, one at a time, let’s look at some general considerations for your web developer resume, which is really your sales pitch for employment.

• Create around your accomplishments not your responsibilities. The hiring manager knows what a web developer does. They want to know what you did and what results you achieved that will contribute to the company’s success.
• Each user is different and so is each job. Adapt each resume to speak directly to each employer’s needs and wants.
• Make a professional first impression with your layout—tread the line between too formal and too casual.
• Use keywords and phrases that will help you pass through the ATS filter.

Choosing the best resume format for a web developer

If your web developer or IT career has followed a linear path of employee positions, the most commonly used, failsafe chronological resume format is ideal. It provides the most straightforward overview of your work experience in the employment history section.

But if the web developer position you’re pursuing would be a radical departure, or if you have often worked as an independent consultant in contract positions, you might want to consider an alternative resume format. 

Functional resumes, for instance, emphasize specialized skills or specific industries. Other web developers might opt for a hybrid (combination) resume format blending both chronological and functional elements.

Perusing the resume templates in our resume builder will reveal versions of the three formats available as resume examples.

A web developer resume template should present a clean, modern look that demonstrates your ability to create engaging, user-friendly design.

Include your contact information

A website without links would be of little value to the company it represents. The same is true of a resume. The header provides the next step for the recruiter by professionally presenting all the information they need to contact you.

• Full name and title. List your first and last name. Use the title of the role you are pursuing.
• Professional email address. Use a clean format like firstname.lastname@gmail.com. Avoid using your current work email.
• Phone number. List a number where you can be readily contacted, with a professional voicemail greeting.
• Location. List only your city and state. Don’t list street address or zip code. Note 'Willing to Relocate' here if applicable.
• LinkedIn. If your LinkedIn profile is active, relevant, and shows your network, add it here.
• Portfolio. If you have another portfolio of your work, link to it here. Another option would be adding your GitHub profile.

Don’t include:

• Date of birth: Not necessary and could potentially lead to age discrimination.
• Personal details: Marital status, social security number, passport number, etc.

Make the most of your summary

The summary of your web developer resume provides the first professional and human impression you make on the employer. It's your introduction. It's a confident statement with a dash of character.

Highlight your best accomplishments and projects in your summary (sometimes called a personal statement). Present your key qualifications and talents. Show the image of a seasoned professional. Be objective, but be positive about yourself. Modesty is a great quality, but not in a professional "sales pitch."

Tap into your industry knowledge to identify coding languages that are on the rise or what additional interests may attract the recruiter and also ping the ATS screening algorithm. 

Make sure your web developer resume summary describes a professional but injects enough character to make you feel like a real person. Job-specific descriptions should incorporate powerful action verbs (words that imply mental or physical action—ideas of movement, energy and determination). Portray your interactions with people on a team or your personal productivity on important projects.

Below are adaptable web developer resume example summaries you can customize:

Outline your web developer work experience: a trail of success

List your most relevant and recent positions first. Many candidates searching for unicorn opportunities have companies like Google, Microsoft and the like on their resume. How do you compete with that?

Strive to provide better, more satisfying job descriptions than the others do. List duties, achievements, milestones and team accomplishments using strong verbs such as developed, created, enhanced, boosted, tested or conducted. 

Illustrate with numbers, procedures, and percentages if possible, as there's nothing more satisfying for a recruiter than seeing concrete data. 

Focus on the outcomes of your work, not the tasks you performed. Does the list below sound like the requirements from a job ad?

• “Used responsive design principles in all projects.”
• “Knowledge of best practices for web development.”
• “Met with stakeholders to review project goals.”
• “Developed and analyzed testing results.”

It sounds generic because the details are missing. Take a look at these revamped descriptions:

• “Incorporated responsive design principles to boost user engagement by 40% on cell phone version of restaurant client’s site.”
• “Developed client websites using thoughtful, streamlined code, reducing debugging time by 20%.”
• “Collaborated with multidisciplinary team to finalize and communicate client goals.”
• “Analyzed testing results and provided feedback to development teams, facilitating rapid debugging and continuous improvement of code quality.”

Below is a web developer employment history resume sample you can use while writing your own.

How to write a web developer resume with no experience

If you lack experience, don't give up, it isn't a game-ender. Talk about objectives and extra credit accomplishments in the summary. Highlight the passion projects you've worked on (even the small or non-profit ones). 

Describe your fields of extra study and research (such as encryption and blockchain). Mention the conferences, hackathons, coding bootcamps and developer meetups or networking you've attended. 

But above all, be sincere about your goals, determination, productivity, and desire to grow.

Focus on transferable skills you learned in a summer job or internship. Reliability, communication, and time management count for a lot when you’re looking for your first full-time job in your field.

Curate a list of the unique skills that make you an excellent web developer

Your skill list is your arsenal, your talent pool. It satisfies the automated systems and presents a professional developer image for the recruiters. So, here’s how to beat the bots (the ATS) and impress the humans.

You already know how to pick out the keywords from a job listing. Your skills will be prominent among those terms. List them in the order of priority, depending on the job description. These hard skills are one key to your professional success, but you need a balance of hard and soft skills that round out the picture of who you are.

Great web developers are creative thinkers who know how to communicate with all stakeholders. These soft skills may differentiate your resume from one too heavily focused on technical skills.

Check out a web developer resume sample for a skills section below.

But the skills section won’t mean much if you don’t back it up with real-world examples throughout your resume. You can incorporate:

• Creative thinking in a description of a thorny coding problem you solved
• Leadership by relating a time when you were charge of a project or mentored a team of junior developers
• JavaScript skill by linking to a website you designed or detailing the project itself

Each job description will tell you which of your skills to showcase. 

Detail your education & relevant web developer certifications

Web developer jobs are not always strongly associated with formal education. But in your resume, don't miss the chance to present an image of intelligence and self-improvement. 

Data for 2023 shows that 41.2% of developers have a bachelor’s degree and 23% have a master’s degree. About 25% have no higher education diploma at all. A staggering 80% taught themselves at least one language or framework without taking a formal course, including 58.9% who did so through an online program.

Does this mean formal education isn’t important? Not really. Take a look at a job listing for Google or Apple today and you’re likely to find a strong requirement for a BA or MA diploma. 

Here are some additional achievements to include in your education section:

• Training and certifications. Additional certificates, self-taught knowledge, online courses are not only a huge asset but are almost expected by some HRs. One of the common certificates that many companies would like to see from a web developer is a Scrum certification.
• Internships. In a hands-on profession like web development, any real-world experience adds to your value.
• Professional development. Any professional software organization you belong to, such as the IEEE Computer Society, shows you’re dedicated to learning and improving your skills.

Choosing the right resume layout and design for a web developer

The visual appearance of your resume is the key that opens the door to further consideration by recruiters. Make sure it's a skeleton key. There is no hard rule on what the layout/structure/format of your resume should be. Rather, there are some very important principles and tips to follow. 

The first and most important principle is this: make your resume layout and design visually clean, easy to read, and symmetrical. 

A recruiter can read hundreds of resumes per day. Imagine not understanding what WebAssembly, Ruby, C++ or Powershell are, and reading a messy word-scramble of them all day. You tune out and think about Netflix. 

Layouts have character. No surprise there. Humans are visual beings and we draw conclusions from visual cues. Most recruiters expect web developer resumes to look "technical" or "technological." What does that imply? Progress bars, prominent skill lists, a clean, logical layout with structure. 

Web developer text-only resume example

The web developer job market and outlook

The web developer market is hot right now. Not only is it wide open for new candidates, but it’s projected to grow. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the number of web developer jobs will increase by 16% between 2022 and 2032, about twice as fast as the average for all occupations. 

Positions are plentiful, but the growing number of specialists can translate into a bottleneck of hundreds of resumes per job listing. This results in short attention spans of recruiters and automate systems filtering applicants. 

What type of salary you can expect in web development

Senior web developers can expect to earn in the mid-six figures, while those on the low end will begin at less than half that. 

The typical salary range for web developers is $50,930-$133,641 with an average of $82,490.

Key takeaways for building a web developer resume

Web developers are in high demand, but there is also a huge flow of applicants. This means your resume needs to stand out. 

Put your best foot forward and include details to compete with other developers in your employment history. Make your skills section clear, concise, and coordinate it with the other sections. Finally, impart a "technological" character in your layout.

If you want the perfect tool to save yourself time and win your dream position, use our online resume builder with a professional template.