50+ Resume Keywords for Software Engineers

The essential keywords and phrases that ATS systems look for in software engineering resumes. Organized by category with usage examples.

Why keywords matter for engineering resumes

Software engineering roles receive some of the highest application volumes. A single mid-level engineer posting at a tech company can attract 500-1,000+ applicants. ATS keyword matching is the first filter — if your resume doesn't contain the right terms, your impressive GitHub and system design skills never get seen.

Programming languages and frameworks

Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, Go, Rust, C++, C#, Ruby, Swift, Kotlin. React, Angular, Vue.js, Next.js, Node.js, Express, Django, Flask, FastAPI, Spring Boot, .NET. Include both the language and the frameworks you use with it.

Infrastructure and DevOps

AWS (EC2, S3, Lambda, RDS, ECS), GCP (Cloud Run, BigQuery, Pub/Sub), Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, CI/CD, Linux, Nginx, microservices, serverless, Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

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Databases and data

PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, Elasticsearch, DynamoDB, Cassandra, GraphQL, REST API, gRPC, Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ, data pipelines, ETL, data modeling.

Methodologies and practices

Agile, Scrum, Kanban, TDD (Test-Driven Development), code review, pair programming, sprint planning, technical debt, refactoring, performance optimization, scalability, system design, distributed systems, high availability.

How to use these keywords effectively

Don't just list keywords — integrate them into achievement bullets. 'Built a Python/FastAPI microservice handling 10K requests/second on AWS ECS, reducing latency by 40%.' Use ATSBoost to scan your resume against specific job descriptions and identify exactly which keywords you're missing.