Technical CVs have to satisfy two audiences: a recruiter skimming for fit, and an ATS parsing for keywords. These annotated examples show how to present technical experience so both understand it. Pair with how to write a CV.
A strong technical profile
"Network engineer with five years' experience designing and securing enterprise networks. Cisco-certified, with a track record of reducing incidents through segmentation and monitoring."
Why it works: role, experience, credential and impact in three lines.
An achievement bullet (not a duty)
"Redesigned network segmentation across three sites, reducing lateral-movement risk and cutting security incidents by 30%."
Why it works: specific action, scope and quantified result.
A skills section that parses cleanly
List concrete technologies and methods (e.g. TCP/IP, firewalls, SIEM, Python, Azure) using the same terms as the advert — this helps ATS parsing. Avoid vague soft-skill lists here.
Projects
For technical roles, a short projects section (with links where appropriate) can be decisive — especially early-career. Show what you built and the outcome.
Practise what you've learned
Turn this into a stronger CV now. CV Optimisation checks your CV against a specific role, and Job Intelligence™ decodes exactly which skills and keywords the vacancy wants so you can mirror them. Build the evidence behind your CV in your Career Passport™.
What a strong technical bullet looks like
Weak: "Worked on the payments system." Strong: "Rebuilt the payments retry service in Go, cutting failed transactions 18% and saving ~£40k/year." Technical CVs win on outcomes, scale and stack — name the technology, the action, and the measurable result.
Structuring a developer/engineer CV
- Tech stack summary near the top (languages, frameworks, cloud, tooling).
- Experience with 3–5 result-led bullets per role, quantified.
- Projects — especially valuable for early-career; link to GitHub or a live demo.
- Keep formatting ATS-friendly: no tables or graphics that parsers mangle.
Tailor to the role's stack
Reorder your skills and projects to foreground the technologies in the advert. A backend role and a data role should see different versions of your CV. Then prepare to discuss your choices — see our guidance on CV optimisation.