The Software Engineer résumé, with XYZ bullets shown.
A real-world Software Engineer résumé built around Google's XYZ formula — accomplished X, as measured by Y, by doing Z. Annotated so you can see exactly which words do which job.
The full sample
Fictional candidate, real-world phrasing. Use as a structural model — adapt the content to your own experience.
Alex Rivera
alex.rivera@example.com · 555-0124 · Brooklyn, NY · github.com/alexrivera · linkedin.com/in/alexrivera
Summary
Senior Software Engineer with 6 years building React + TypeScript platforms at fintech and consumer-tech companies. Strongest in front-end performance optimization (Core Web Vitals, edge rendering) and accessibility (WCAG 2.2). Comfortable shipping cross-functionally with design, PM, and back-end.
Skills
Languages & frameworks: TypeScript, JavaScript, React, Next.js, Node.js, Python, Go
Reduced p95 load time of the customer dashboard from 4.2s to 1.8s by migrating Webpack to Vite and splitting the route bundle, lifting weekly active users by 12% over the quarter.
Led the WCAG 2.2 audit and remediation of the 280-page marketing site, reducing axe-core violations from 1,420 to 0 and unblocking the EU enterprise sales motion.
Built the team's internal Slackbot used by 14 engineers daily, tightening the on-call lookup flow and cutting Q2 support tickets by 23%.
Migrated the user service from REST to gRPC, reducing p99 latency by ~30% and freeing the front-end from 7 cascading network calls per page-load.
Owned the payment-method picker re-build, increasing checkout completion rate by 4.1 points in A/B test (n = 38,000) by removing 2 unnecessary form steps.
B.S. Computer Science — Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, 2020
Why these bullets work: the XYZ breakdown
Google's internal résumé guidance for engineers uses one formula: "Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y] by doing [Z]". Below, three bullets from the sample, with each part highlighted.
X · the accomplishmentY · the measurable impactZ · the method
Bullet 1 — Performance
Reduced p95 load time of the customer dashboard from 4.2s to 1.8sby migrating Webpack to Vite and splitting the route bundle, lifting weekly active users by 12% over the quarter.
Why it lands: the accomplishment is concrete (load time, with before/after), the method shows engineering judgment (specific tools + specific technique), and the impact ties to a business metric (WAU). Recruiters can verify all three.
Bullet 2 — Accessibility
Led the WCAG 2.2 audit and remediation of the 280-page marketing site, reducing axe-core violations from 1,420 to 0 and unblocking the EU enterprise sales motion.
Why it lands: the metric is a single number that recruiters and engineers both immediately understand (1,420 → 0 violations), and the business outcome (EU sales unblock) shows you understand why accessibility work matters beyond compliance.
Bullet 3 — Internal impact
Built the team's internal Slackbot used by 14 engineers daily, tightening the on-call lookup flow and cutting Q2 support tickets by 23%.
Why it lands: "Internal tooling" bullets get dismissed when they sound like hobbies. Quantifying both the user count (14 engineers daily) and the measurable result (23% Q2 ticket reduction) reframes the same work as engineering with business value.
SWE-specific tactics
Lead with the metric recruiters can verify
Front-end engineers should lead with Core Web Vitals, bundle size, accessibility violations, or A/B test deltas — numbers that GitHub commits and Lighthouse reports can corroborate. Back-end engineers should lead with p99 latency, throughput, error rates, or cost per request. Avoid metrics that require trust ("improved code quality"); recruiters can't verify those.
Stack lines are not skills lines
Put the languages, frameworks, and infra you actually used on that specific role in a "Stack:" line below each job. Reserve the top-level Skills section for cross-job categories (Languages & frameworks, Tooling, Infrastructure). Most SWE résumés repeat "TypeScript" in every job; the per-role stack line is more honest and harder to keyword-stuff.
Add Klepify free. We'll rewrite the bullets to match your real experience and the specific job posting — with the structural fact-lock that keeps your job titles, companies, and dates exactly what they are.