Recruiters and hiring managers give a CV about seven seconds before deciding whether to keep reading. That is not an insult; it is arithmetic. A single junior posting gets 200 to 800 applications. After reading a few hundred developer CVs (mostly junior and mid-level), the same five problems account for almost every rejection at the screening stage. None of them is about skill. All of them are fixable in an afternoon.
1. The bullet describes a task, not a result
The most common line on a junior CV:
Developed REST APIs using Node.js and Express.
That sentence is true for a hundred thousand people. It tells the reader what you touched, not what happened because you touched it. Rewrite:
Built the order-tracking API (Node.js/Express, PostgreSQL) used by 3 internal tools; cut average support lookups from ~5 min to seconds.
Formula: what you built + the stack in parentheses + who used it or what changed. If you have a number, use it. If you do not, use a concrete consequence ("replaced a manual spreadsheet process", "shipped to production in week 2").
2. The skills section is a keyword dump
JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Node, Express, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Docker, AWS, Git, Jira, Agile, HTML, CSS, Python, Java, C++
Nobody believes you are equally good at seventeen things. Screening tools will match the keywords, but the human who reads it next discounts the whole section. Split it:
- Working daily: TypeScript, React, Node.js, PostgreSQL
- Used in projects: Docker, AWS (ECS, S3), Python
- Familiar: Java, C++
Three tiers, honest, and now every item is credible.
3. The summary says nothing
Passionate and motivated software developer seeking a challenging role in a dynamic team.
That sentence could be deleted from every CV on Earth without losing information. A summary should answer, in two lines, "what kind of developer are you and what proves it?":
Backend developer (2 years, Node.js/TypeScript). Shipped two production services at a logistics startup; comfortable owning a feature from ticket to deploy. Looking for a backend or full-stack role in a small team.
Note the last line: it tells the reader which roles to match you against. That is a favor to them.
4. Projects are listed but not evidenced
For juniors, projects are the work history. "Built a to-do app with React" is not evidence. Give each project the same treatment as a job: one line on what it is, one line on the hardest technical problem, a link to the repo and to a live version. A hiring manager who clicks the link and sees a README with a screenshot and setup instructions has just done your technical screening for you.
5. The important information is not on the first screen
Most CVs are read on a laptop, in a browser tab, with the top third visible. What is on that top third? Often: full postal address, a photo, date of birth, a huge header, then "Education" in detail. Move contact details to one line, put the summary right below, then experience or projects. Education goes last unless you graduated within the year and it is your strongest card.
Before/after in one place
Before
Junior Developer, Acme Ltd (2024–2025)
- Worked on the frontend using React
- Fixed bugs and participated in code reviews
- Collaborated with the team using Agile
After
Junior Developer, Acme Ltd (2024–2025)
- Owned the customer-facing checkout flow (React, TypeScript); reduced abandoned checkouts by 12% after rebuilding the address form.
- Closed 60+ bugs over 8 months, including a memory leak in the product listing that had been open for a year.
- Reviewed PRs from two other juniors; wrote the team's first component testing guide (Jest/RTL).
Same person, same job. The second version gets a phone call.
A 20-minute checklist
- Every bullet: does it say what changed because of you? If not, rewrite or delete.
- Skills: three tiers, honest.
- Summary: two lines, ends with the role you want.
- Projects: link, hardest problem, live demo.
- First screen: contact line, summary, best section. Nothing else.
I rewrite developer CVs for a living at DevCV Rewrite: 19 EUR, delivered in 24 hours, full refund within 14 days if it does not help. If you would rather do it yourself, the checklist above is exactly what I apply.
Top comments (0)