As a web developer, your bread and butter lie in creating and maintaining websites. That’s not all though – you’ll often find yourself working with other web developers, clients, and stakeholders to build a website that meets the needs of both the client and the end user.
Whether you’re an aspiring front-end, back-end, or full-stack web developer, let’s help you get started with our entry level web developer resume examples.
With our resume templates, cover letter writing tips, and frequently asked questions sections, you’re fully equipped to take on the next step in your web development career.
Why this resume works
- Captivated by the stories about the thrill (and the big bucks) in the IT world? Welcome to the club. Even with limited experience, a resume that showcases your ability to foster tangible results from your classroom knowledge might just be your golden ticket to landing that unicorn job.
- In your entry level web developer resume, call attention to your exceptional expertise in job-relevant tools and software (we’re talking HTML, Bootstrap, Python, JavaScript, Node.js, etc.). Even better, pair these proficiencies with the quantified feats you achieved during internships and other projects.
What Matters Most: Skills & Work Experience
Since web development often involves identifying and fixing issues within a website, recruiters look for well-rounded candidates who can problem-solve on the fly. They’ll also be looking for specific technical skills, such as programming language proficiency and expertise related to the type of web developer required in the job description.
In your resume, show that you have the technical proficiency to keep up with a web development team as you work together to meet client requirements.
Here are a few of the top skills recruiters are looking for in entry level web developers.
9 Top Entry Level Web Developer Skills
- Testing and debugging
- SEO proficiency
- Responsive design
- JavaScript proficiency
- Version control (Git)
- HTML/CSS
- WordPress proficiency
- Adobe InDesign
- Agile methodology
Sample Entry Level Web Developer Work Experience Bullet Points
Seeing as you’re working on securing an entry level web developer role, you’re not expected to have years of formal work experience just yet. If you do, that’s a bonus – otherwise, internships, volunteer work, personal projects, or extracurricular activities will suffice.
Whatever you do, use your work experience section to illustrate how you put the technical skills you have into practice. Add concrete, measurable examples whenever possible to help the reader visualize your achievements.
Here are a few samples:
- Assisted in product development and enhancements of the current suite to boost engagement by 15% using Scrum methodology
- Provided technical support for 10+ existing online products through the company’s support ticket request system and managed 20+ phone calls and email requests a day
- Designed a business locator for food businesses with 4.5+ star ratings on Google using HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, and Vanilla JS, connecting 137 local food businesses to a user base of 250,000
- Created and deployed 20+ mobile-first applications while learning new languages and frameworks such as React Native and Python
Top 5 Tips For Your Entry Level Web Developer Resume
- Keep your entry level resume to one page
- Unless you have more than 10 years of experience as a web developer, your resume should remain at one page. As an entry-level web developer, you might have trouble reaching a page in the first place; try fleshing your resume out by including academic or personal projects where you put your skills to use. For example, you could have joined a hackathon where you built a REST API with your teammates.
- Generic skills can still help you land the job
- Sure, specific technical skills like programming language proficiency are important, but transferable skills like adaptability and interpersonal skills are just as valuable. You should keep them in your work experience bullet points and reserve your skills section for technical skills, like so: “Collaborated with a team of 6 web developers to build and launch an average of 3 websites per month”.
- It’s alright if you don’t have every skill required for the job
- While some skills are hard requirements, other skills can be listed as nice-to-haves, especially at the entry level. For example, while you know PHP, you might not be familiar with Laravel – some employers will be happy to hire you regardless since Laravel is a PHP framework that you can pick up.
- Add a career objective, but make it a good one
- Including a career objective can help give your resume more direction and purpose. Start by stating the position you’re applying for, and explain what you can do for them as well as your goals. Make sure your career objective is relevant to the job description, and keep it to a couple of direct sentences.
- Here’s an example: “As an ambitious and eager new graduate passionate about all things internet, I would love to apply my technical skills to creating web based solutions and conquering new challenges. Ready to leverage my computer science background and proficiency in HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Python to meet client needs.”
- Try a functional resume format instead of a chronological one
- While a reverse chronological format highlights your work experience, the functional resume format is better for entry level candidates like you because it focuses more on relevant skills like the programming languages you know. Format it in this order: your contact information, career objective statement, a summary of relevant skills, work experience, then education. Put additional information like volunteer work and personal projects last.
You’ll be sending your job application to the hiring manager, but you can also address it to who you will most likely be reporting to, such as the programming team lead or a senior web developer.
If you completed an undergraduate degree in computer science or a related field, the education section of your resume is where you’ll list it. Other forms of programming education such as programming certifications or coding bootcamps should also go into this section. Employers want to see that you have the technical skills required to do your job – you’ll be alright as long as you can prove that you have the necessary skills required in the job description.
Yes, you should! If your education hasn’t helped you create one already, making a portfolio to demonstrate your skills will help recruiters see that you meet the job description requirements. Your portfolio site should be customized to highlight skills specific to the role you’re applying for.
Stephen is the co-founder and CEO of BeamJobs. He started his career in data fulfilling the dream of little kids everywhere: working for an insurance company. He then moved on to work in edtech for a company called Chegg before venturing out to start BeamJobs. Things have come a long way after countless “learnings” (fancy word for mistakes), and BeamJobs has now helped 2.5M+ people create their perfect resume. Stephen and BeamJobs have been featured on awesome sites like Business Insider, Chicago Tribune, Dallas News, Baltimore Sun, the Daily Press, Zendesk, HubSpot, and loads more.
