JSON Resume for Software Engineers

Crafting a Software Engineer Resume in JSON Resume Format

Software engineering resumes need to highlight technical skills, project impact, and the technologies used. The JSON Resume format is ideal for this because it structures data in a way that's easy for both humans and ATS systems to parse.

Recommended Structure

{
  "basics": {
    "name": "Alex Chen",
    "label": "Senior Software Engineer",
    "email": "alex@example.com",
    "url": "https://alexchen.dev",
    "summary": "Senior software engineer with 7 years of experience building scalable web applications. Expert in TypeScript, React, and Node.js with a focus on performance optimization.",
    "profiles": [
      { "network": "GitHub", "username": "alexchen", "url": "https://github.com/alexchen" },
      { "network": "LinkedIn", "username": "alexchen", "url": "https://linkedin.com/in/alexchen" }
    ]
  },
  "work": [
    {
      "name": "TechCorp",
      "position": "Senior Software Engineer",
      "startDate": "2021-03",
      "highlights": [
        "Led migration from monolith to microservices, reducing deploy times by 80%",
        "Designed real-time notification system handling 10M+ daily events",
        "Mentored team of 4 junior engineers"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "skills": [
    { "name": "Languages", "keywords": ["TypeScript", "Python", "Go", "SQL"] },
    { "name": "Frontend", "keywords": ["React", "Next.js", "Tailwind CSS"] },
    { "name": "Backend", "keywords": ["Node.js", "PostgreSQL", "Redis", "Docker"] }
  ]
}

Key Tips for Engineers

• Quantify impact — Use numbers in highlights: "reduced latency by 40%", "served 1M+ users"
• Group skills — Organize by category (Languages, Frontend, Backend, DevOps) rather than a flat list
• Include profiles — GitHub and portfolio links are expected for engineering roles
• Keep work highlights to 3-5 bullets — Focus on achievements, not responsibilities
• Use the projects section — Open source contributions and side projects strengthen engineering resumes