Being a WordPress developer is becoming an increasingly popular and relevant job, namely because over 40% of the internet is run by WordPress.
Whether you're just starting out or have years of experience, your WordPress engineer resume should reflect your versatile set of skills including work experience, education, and other significant accomplishments. What's more, it should highlight your capabilities in both web development and marketing.
To land your dream job soon, this guide will show you everything you need to know about writing a well-rounded WordPress developer resume. Let’s begin!
7 Steps to a Strong WordPress Developer Resume
The proper use of the WordPress content management system requires a variety of skills, including programming and advertising knowledge alongside a sense of user-friendly design. Whatever experience you bring to the table, make sure it's clearly visible on your WordPress developer resume — with these 7 steps you're sure to succeed:
Step 1: Highlight your biggest assets in your summary
It often takes recruiters just 7.4 seconds to look through your resume. So you’ll first have to write a short, concise summary of the most important skills, experiences, and achievements of your WordPress career so far.
This brief description should be no longer than 4-5 sentences (or bullet points) and needs to create a lasting impression on recruiters and hiring managers. Mention why you’re suited for this job and this particular company. Stand out from the crowd of applicants by researching the company and its needs beforehand.
Step 2: Show off your skills
List all the skills that you think are relevant to the desired job.
Pay special attention to what skills are specifically required in the WordPress developer job ad and adapt your resume accordingly. You can categorize your competencies into programming languages, marketing tools, spoken languages, and more.
Add whatever category you think is helpful to get you the job!
Our advice: Read the job advertisement thoroughly and take a close look at the requested programming languages and other skills. Cross out the qualifications from your CV that are not necessary for this position.
Feel free to mention the ones that can positively set you apart from the other applicants. Do you speak a foreign language? Go ahead and mention it. Got some awesome soft skills that define who you are? Add those in.
And one more thing: No matter what competencies you list, always be honest. Otherwise, you could even lose the job later. Honesty is the best policy. And recruiters will always know if you’re lying. Nearly 85% of recruiters are already aware that candidates exaggerate skills.
Step 3: Keep in mind work experience is key!
Let's move on to one of the most important parts of any resume: Your previous work experience.
List your work history in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent job. Each of your career stages should include the job title, company, and the time that you worked at that particular job.
Use bullet points to list which WordPress developer skills you learned and applied in each position. Remember to keep it short and sweet and highlight your core responsibilities. You can even adapt these to each job ad so you’ll first present the things that matter to them.
Tip: Always personalize your resume to a new role as much as possible. Impersonal applications and lack of resume customization are among the top three reasons why resumes are rejected.
Step 4 (optional): Mention relevant certifications
Have you taken courses in SEO, PPC, or other marketing-related topics? Or learned a programming language or new technology? Maybe you’ve completed relevant courses, training programs, or further education on the topic of WordPress in the past.
Mention all of this here and list all of the certifications you earned outside academia — preferably at an accredited institution. This will show that you’re motivated and passionate about your career and help your chances of getting one step closer to your dream job. Especially if you’re applying to an entry-level role or making a career switch.
Step 5: What’s your story? Outline your background and education
Of course, your academic career shouldn’t be left out of your WordPress developer resume.
As with your work experience, add your individual milestones in reverse chronological order. List the institution, dates of attendance, and location of your university.
If you’re in the process of acquiring a new qualification, put it at the beginning of this paragraph and insert the words "In Progress" instead of a start and end date.
Step 6 (optional): Present your awards and promotions
If you received career awards or notable promotions in the past, you should not only be proud of yourself — but also mention it in your resume! This will surely impress recruiters and hiring managers who are looking for high achievers.
Step 7 (optional): Go over notable achievements in your WordPress career
If you're somewhat of an old stager in the WordPress business, it's time to showcase your greatest achievements.
These could be: Developing a well-known WordPress plugin or increasing website traffic through SEO optimization, to name just a few examples. If you have metrics that illustrate the impact of your efforts, all the better — your interviewers will be thrilled to read about your past successes. Be prepared to talk about these results during your interview and tell them how you’re able to help this new company get similar achievements.
WordPress Developer Resume: Free Sample
Let’s see all of the 7 tips above in practice with a hands-on example.
WordPress developer resume example
Before you jump into your professional summary, you should list your full name, current job title, place of residence, email address, phone number, and LinkedIn account. You could also include a portfolio that demonstrates your comprehensive know-how as a WordPress developer or other social links.
Personal Data
Charlotte Miller, WordPress Developer
Raleigh, North Carolina
1-300-555-0200
linkedin.com/in/example-profile
Professional Summary
- WordPress developer with 5 years of experience and a strong history of success in website management and development.
- Skilled in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP.
- Proficient in handling SEO and PPC campaigns.
- Top communication, teamworking, and problem-solving skills.
- Providing excellent customer service.
Skills
- Programming Languages: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP
- Marketing: Google Analytics, Google AdWords, SEO, PPC, CMS
- Languages: English (native), French (fluent)
Work experience
Upwork, North Carolina, March 2019 — Present
WordPress Developer
- Building websites using WordPress, such as upwork.com/blog
- Presenting website drafts to clients, e.g. ClientOne
- Providing technical support to clients
- Coding in HTML, Javascript, PHP, and CSS
- Being the first point of contact for PPC and Google AdWords
- Creating WordPress "True 7" theme and "Akosmet" plugin
- Creating an extensive user guide for WordPress websites
Webmaster
Doya, North Carolina, Apr 2014 — March 2019
- Community management, including private emails and comments on the website
- Creating new plugins and extensions to make the website more user-friendly
- Creating SEO content to increase website traffic
- Updating the WordPress website regularly
- Setting up SEO rules and regulations
Certifications
WP Training Course, WP World, Apr 2020
WordPress SEO Course, SEO Camp, Oct 2014
Education
Bachelor of Computer Science
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina – Mar 2014
Template: WordPress Developer Resume
It's your turn!
To make sure your WordPress developer resume helps you score an interview (and maybe some bonus points too) with the toughest recruiters, use our free template.
It covers all the points mentioned above. If any of the optional categories don’t apply to you (e.g. you haven't received any awards yet), leave it out. Make sure to include all important sections, namely personal data, professional summary, skills, work experience, and education.
Resume Template
Personal data
[Full name] [Job title]
[City, State]
[Email address]
[Phone number]
[LinkedIn URL]
[Professional website/portfolio URL - if available]
Professional Summary
- [Point about work experience]
- [1-2 points about specific WordPress developer skills]
- [1-2 points about general professional skills]
Skills
- [Programming Languages]
- [Marketing tools & skills]
- [Any additional relevant skills, e.g. languages]
Work experience
- [Job title]
- [Company - State] [Employment start date — Employment end date]
- [Job description]
- [Job title]
- [Company - State] [Employment start date — Employment end date]
- [Job description]
- [Job title]
- [Company - State] [Employment start date — Employment end date]
- [Job description]
Certifications (optional)
- [Certification name, institution, date]
- [Certification name, institution, date]
Education
- [Name of degree earned]
- [Name of university, city, state] [Date degree received]
- [Name of degree earned]
- [Name of university, city, state] [Date degree received]
Awards and Promotions (optional)
- [Title of award earned, year]
- [Category] [Additional Information]
- [Job promotion title, year]
- [Company] [Additional Information]
Notable Achievements (optional)
- [Achievement 1]
- [Achievement 2]
FAQs:
Remember that your CV is your first chance to leave a good impression from the start. With our tips, you’re now well-prepared and ready to get that job!
If you still have some question marks about how to compose the perfect WordPress developer resume, you may find an answer below.
Q1. How do you put WordPress on your resume?
To showcase your skills as a WordPress developer in your CV, you should include the following skills (only if you’ve actually acquired them):
- Programming languages, preferably HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP
- Experience with marketing tools, such as Google Analytics, Google Adwords, PPC, SEO, and CMS
- Development of themes and plugins (you can include the names of the most popular ones/the ones you are most proud of)
- Database management
- Customer support
And whatever else might be relevant. Remember to always stick to the truth when talking about your skills and capabilities.
Q2. What is the role of a WordPress developer?
WordPress developers use the open-source content management system WordPress to create websites, using and building various themes and plugins. WordPress developers are usually also familiar with aspects of marketing, such as SEO tools, PPC campaigns, CMS, and more. This is necessary to create a fully-rounded user experience.
A sound knowledge of programming languages is also an integral part of the job. WordPress developers often work with other developers to create websites.
Q3. What is the salary of a WordPress developer?
The median annual wage for WordPress developers in the US is currently $73,771/year. Wages range from $46K to $120K. Salaries largely depend on your background, experience, as well as the company you’re going to be working for. WordPress developers can also earn well on the side by working as a freelancer or selling their own themes and plugins.