The developer resume checklist: everything to check before applying

This is a working checklist, not a reading list. Run your own resume against it before sending it out; each item links to a deeper guide if you want the full reasoning behind it.

Structure and length

• One page, unless you have roughly a decade or more of relevant experience. See how long should a resume be.
• Section order matches what you actually have: Experience-first if your work history is strong, Projects and Education moved up if it is not. See how to write a resume with no professional experience or the fresher-specific version.
• No generic summary filler (“results-driven engineer with a passion for technology”). Either cut the summary or make it specific.

Skills section

• Eight to twelve items, grouped by category, not a flat alphabetical dump. See what skills to put on a resume, and how many.
• Every listed skill is something you could discuss competently for two minutes in an interview.
• Skills order reflects the specialization you’re applying for. See frontend vs backend developer resume.

Experience bullets

• Every bullet describes an outcome, not a duty (“rebuilt X, reducing Y by Z%,” not “responsible for X”).
• At least half your bullets include a real, checkable number. See how to quantify engineering achievements.
• No invented or estimated-without-basis metrics.

Projects

• Three or four projects for early career, fewer as experience grows, each proving something different. See how many projects should a developer resume have.
• Each project description states the problem in plain language, names one real technical decision, and closes with a concrete result. See how to describe GitHub projects on a resume for before-and-after examples.
• You’ve chosen the strongest candidates, not just the most recent ones. See how to choose which GitHub projects belong on your resume.
• If a job history exists, projects add something new rather than repeating it. See GitHub projects vs. work experience.

GitHub

• GitHub URL is in the header, in clean form (github.com/username). See how to put GitHub on your resume.
• Pinned repositories match what the resume describes.
• Every pinned repository has a name, a one-line description, and a real README. See how to make your GitHub profile look professional.
• Any meaningful open-source contribution has its own line with a linked merged PR. See turning an open-source contribution into a resume entry.
• Recent commit activity exists; the profile isn’t dormant for a year or more before you apply.

ATS and formatting

• Single column, no sidebars, no tables used for layout.
• Standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills), not creative alternatives.
• No text embedded inside images, including your name.
• Contact info in the document body, not only in a header or footer.
• Copy-paste test: select all text in your exported PDF and paste it into a plain text editor. It should come out in a sensible, unscrambled order. Full checklist: getting your resume past an ATS.

Final pass

• Tailored to this specific job: skills reordered, leading project matches the role, nothing irrelevant taking up space.
• Read the exported PDF once, start to finish, as a stranger would.
• File name is professional (firstname-lastname-resume.pdf, not resume_final_v3.pdf).

For the full reasoning behind every section, not just the checklist form, see the complete developer resume guide.

Start from a draft that already passes half this list

resumefromgit.com generates a single-column, ATS-safe resume directly from a public GitHub profile: real repositories ranked by activity and quality, a language breakdown from actual code, ready-to-tailor structure. It won’t write your Experience bullets or your summary, but it clears the structural and GitHub-related items on this checklist automatically, so what’s left is the part that genuinely needs your judgment.