What does this occupation involve?

Research, design, and develop computer and network software or specialized utility programs. Day to day that includes work like analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system and analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.

What other job titles cover this work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Application Developer, Application Integration Engineer, Software Architect, and Developer. Use the relevant alternatives as search terms and check the responsibilities before deciding whether the posting describes the same work.

How do I turn this occupation's duties into resume bullets?

Start with a task you actually did, such as analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system. Then answer four questions: what did you personally do, who or what depended on it, which tool or constraint mattered, and what changed or proves the work happened. Write the line from those answers rather than copying the occupation description.

Resume evidence worksheet for Software Engineer

Built from the O*NET occupation Software Developers, which is how this job is recorded officially.

For the occupation "Software Engineer", a strong resume should make the core work easy to see: research, design, and develop computer and network software or specialized utility programs.

Start with work you have actually done:

Analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system.
Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.

Then build each line from your evidence. For each line, name what you did, who or what depended on it, the relevant tool or scope, and what proves the work happened.

How do you turn this occupation's work into resume evidence?

Choose one task you actually did. Answer the four questions in plain language before trying to make the sentence sound polished.

Evidence prompt 1
Confer with data processing or project managers to obtain information on limitations or capabilities for data processing projects
Evidence prompt 2
Confer with systems analysts, engineers, programmers and others to design systems and to obtain information on project limitations and capabilities, performance requirements and interfaces
Evidence prompt 3
Consult with customers or other departments on project status, proposals, or technical issues, such as software system design or maintenance

Ask these four questions about the task you chose

What did you personally do, rather than what the team or job was responsible for?
Who or what depended on the work?
What tool, system, process, or constraint shaped the work?
What changed, finished, became easier, or proves the work happened?

Build the line: [what you did] + [who or what it served] + [tool, process, or scope] + [what changed or proves it]. Use only the parts your own experience supports.

What should the top third make easy to find?

Do not turn this into a long summary. Use it as a priority check before a reader reaches the rest of the page.

Target: [Use the posting's exact job title]
Show one relevant example: One result, artifact, decision, or responsibility from your own history that answers a worksheet prompt below.

How can you place those answers in a resume?

This is a fillable worksheet, not a finished resume. The role material comes from O*NET; brackets mark the facts and evidence you still need to supply.

Rendered in the Standard template by the same engine that exports your PDF. See all 5 templates, or start this resume free.

What else is this job called?

Use relevant alternatives as search terms, then compare the responsibilities before deciding whether a posting describes the same work.

Application Developer
Application Integration Engineer
Software Architect
Developer
Infrastructure Engineer
Network Engineer
Software Development Engineer
Software Engineer

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total. The eight above are a starting point, not a keyword list to paste into a resume.

Common questions

What does this occupation involve?: Research, design, and develop computer and network software or specialized utility programs. Day to day that includes work like analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system and analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.
What other job titles cover this work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Application Developer, Application Integration Engineer, Software Architect, and Developer. Use the relevant alternatives as search terms and check the responsibilities before deciding whether the posting describes the same work.
How do I turn this occupation's duties into resume bullets?: Start with a task you actually did, such as analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system. Then answer four questions: what did you personally do, who or what depended on it, which tool or constraint mattered, and what changed or proves the work happened. Write the line from those answers rather than copying the occupation description.

What jobs are closest to this one?

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

Source and use notes

O*NET describes the occupation. It does not know your experience or set the requirements for a specific employer.
Use only the tasks, skills, tools, and qualifications that your own history supports and the posting actually calls for.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.