Land your dream Backend Dev job in 2024: craft a killer resume!

8 min readJun 8, 2024

Retelling a story from one of our users.*

Can’t find a job with a nice resume or CV, and don’t even receive an invitation for a job interview?

Me too…a couple of months ago. I’ve been working as a Backend developer for two years, but suddenly found myself out of a job. Almost a year of searching did not bring results — I was not even invited to interviews. I decided to do some research and figure out what the problem was. According to Zippia 65% of recruiters currently use AI in the recruitment process. While the number of applicants for a backend developer position can vary widely, on average job vacancies can receive more than 200 applications each.

So what was the main problem that hindered me from getting an invitation? After reviewing my resume, I realized it wasn’t passing an AI ATS verification and didn’t even reach HR. I figured out how to fix this.

My guide will help you build a strong, valid resume, write effective sections, and include valuable extras that will pass AI ATS verification in the company of your dreams. I’ll also cover the skills for Backend developers in 2024. I should mention that I used the AI resume reviewer to ensure my resume was done perfectly.

1. Summary

A Summary is a concise introduction positioned at the top of a resume. It briefly overviews your background, work experience, professional achievements, and skills. Keep it concise, focused, and tailored to the job you are applying for. A Summary is the first thing HR looks at.

Summaries are typically written in a formal, third-person, indefinite style. It is also usually a short text of 4–5 lines in the preliminary part of the resume.

Example: “Dedicated Backend developer with 2+ years of experience creating efficient and scalable applications. Skilled in Node.js, Express, and MongoDB, with hands-on experience designing RESTful APIs. Known for optimizing performance and enhancing security in web applications. Strong problem-solving abilities and a team-oriented mindset. Eager to bring my expertise to contribute to innovative backend solutions and support the company’s growth.”

Summary proposed by ImproveResumeAI — The AI-boosted version proposed by ImproveResume.AI service

Here are some tips for crafting your Summary:

Highlight key skills: you should mention the programming languages, frameworks, and tools you excel in.
Showcase achievements: briefly include notable achievements or projects you’ve worked on.
Align with goals: here you should indicate how your background and skills align with the job you’re applying for.
Mention soft skills: means to include a few soft skills, like leadership or teamwork, especially if you have experience leading projects or teams.
Tailor to the job: always customize the summary for each job application to match the job description and requirements.

2. Work experience

The poetic part is over; now we move to straightforward prose. The work experience section is the most crucial part of your resume. Do not just list responsibilities, the hack you may use here is the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to showcase how you tackled challenges and delivered impactful results.

Here’s how to break it down:

Situation: here you should briefly set the scene. Describe the context of the problem or challenge you faced (e.g., “Our e-commerce platform experienced slow API response times…”).
Task: explicitly describe the specific task you were assigned. What were you expected to achieve? (e.g., “… tasked with optimizing the backend API…”).
Action: it is perfect to detail the actions you took to solve the problem. What specific skills and knowledge did you use? (e.g., “… implemented caching mechanisms…”). Technologies are typically specified from complex to simple and from general to specific.
Result: quantify the positive outcomes of your work. How did your actions improve the situation? (e.g., “… resulted in a 20% reduction in API response time…”). It is important to indicate the results in numbers.

Examples of Work Experience descriptions for Senior Python Developer using the STAR Method

Work Experience descriptions for Senior Python dev by ImproveResumeAI — AI-boosted version provided by ImproveResume.AI

What’s more, you can tailor the position not only to match your job description but also to align with appealing vacancies (based on reality). For instance, while the name of your position might be Backend developer you may also fulfill Frontend developer duties. Use it according to the applicable position to higher your relevance.

3. Skills

Your skills section is a vital element for grabbing the attention of recruiters and hiring managers. Skills prioritized for this position are critical to the employer, which is why it is advised to list the key technical skills in this section starting with the most difficult.

Here’s how to make it stand out:

You should differentiate and prioritize your Hard skills. Remember that these are the technical abilities you possess, like programming languages (Python, Java, Node.js), frameworks (Django, Spring, Express), databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL), and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure).

There are some more examples of Hard skills for a Backend Developer:

Programming languages: Python, Java, JavaScript (Node.js)
Frameworks: Django, Spring Boot, Express.js
Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL
Cloud platforms: AWS (S3, EC2), Azure (Blob Storage, Virtual Machines)
Version control: Git
DevOps tools: Docker, Kubernetes (basic understanding)

To my surprise, Soft skills are sometimes even more important than Hard skills. Why? All work processes involve interaction between people. A good developer’s responsibilities include technical tasks, team management, and client communication. Moreover, if you don’t have any work experience and are applying for a junior position, Soft skills can play a major role in choosing you as a candidate and making the final decision. Therefore, there are more requirements for specialists, and many companies now have a separate stage for Soft skills interviews.

Generally, Soft skills are your strengths, such as communication, problem-solving, teamwork, adaptability, and time management. Research current backend development trends and prioritize both Hard and Soft skills relevant to your target job and industry.

Here is an example of a Soft skills list for any developer:

Communication: “Effectively convey technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences”.
Problem-Solving: “Approach challenges systematically, identify root causes, and develop solutions”.
Teamwork: “Collaborate effectively with team members to achieve common goals”.
Adaptability: “Embrace new technologies and readily learn new skills”.
Time management: “Prioritize tasks, manage deadlines effectively, and work independently”.

This is what my helper, ImproveResume.AI, provides: Soft skills that are currently in demand, as well as the skills desired by recruiters that are missing from your CV.

4. Education & Certifications

This section highlights your academic background and any industry certifications that demonstrate your ongoing learning and dedication to professional development. It is customary to list education starting with the most recent degree, for example, PhD, MS, or BS.

Firstly you should briefly list your educational background, including the institution name, degree earned, and graduation year. It also makes sense to indicate your GPA if it is higher than 4.5 (in Poland) or the equivalent in other grading systems. You may also specify your diploma as “with honors” if applicable.

Certifications are especially important if you don’t have a higher education background in CS, DS, engineering, etc. List any industry-recognized certifications relevant to backend development. Examples include certifications for specific cloud platforms (AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Microsoft Azure Developer Associate) or frameworks (e.g., Spring Certified Professional). Moreover, if you have certifications in progress, you can mention them with an expected completion date.

Projects can also help you get your resume to the interview stage. Showcase personal projects (pet projects) that demonstrate your skills and highlight projects where you’ve applied your backend development skills, especially those involving the technologies and frameworks relevant to the job you’re applying for.

Examples:

E-commerce Platform: developed a scalable e-commerce backend using Node.js and MongoDB, implementing RESTful APIs and integrating with various payment gateways.
Open Source Contributions: highlight your contributions to open source projects. This not only demonstrates your technical skills but also shows your ability to collaborate and solve problems within a community.
Contributor to XYZ Project: improved the performance of API endpoints and fixed critical bugs, resulting in a 15% increase in overall efficiency.

5. Extra tips

Here are some extra tips on how to search for a job generally:

1) Network. As for me, networking is one of the most important and easy ways to find a dream job! Please don’t forget to leverage your professional network, including LinkedIn, to find job opportunities and get referrals.

2) Job Boards. Regularly check job boards like Indeed, Glassdoor, and specialized tech job sites, this is a common step of the job searching process.

3) Company Websites. You must visit the career pages of companies you’re interested in to find openings directly — the more, the better.

4) Recruitment Agencies. Consider working with recruitment agencies that specialize in tech roles if you feel you don’t want to spend a lot of time doing this on your own.

Additionally, I’d advise you to keep records of the vacancies you apply for, including the company name, position, contacts, date of submission, text of the cover letter, date of response, and the result of the response. I did it just in Google Sheets. This will make your job search more structured and help you avoid applying for the same job multiple times.

Creating a professional and appealing resume is crucial in making a strong first impression. Here are some general guidelines to ensure your resume stands out:

1 page max! Keep your resume concise, ideally to one page, ensuring that only the most relevant information is included.
3 fonts max. Use a maximum of three different fonts to maintain a clean and professional look. Typically, you should stick to one font for headings, another for body text, and optionally one more for special sections or emphasis.
Not overloaded. Avoid cluttering your resume with too much information. Use bullet points and short paragraphs to keep it easy to read.
Reserved style. Maintain a reserved and professional style throughout your resume. Avoid using bright colors, excessive graphics, or overly casual language.

Use the Resume Tailor! I found a resume tailor on the ImproveResume.AI website which helped me customize my resume for each job application specifically! This tool is cool and can significantly enhance your chances by ensuring the resume matches the specific requirements of the job you are targeting. It’s also a real time-saver.

I also want to remind you that resumes need to be updated as you acquire new skills, especially before starting a new job search. 😇

In conclusion, improve your resume, add the required skills and achievements, and don’t hesitate to use resources like online resume builders, professional writing services, and up-to-date guides to stay informed about the latest resume trends and best practices. Also, apply more — on average it takes 100+ applications to get a job.

I hope this article will be useful to my readers and yield practical results. Thank you for reading, and I wish you good luck!