Frontend Developer (New Grad) Resume Example
Frontend developers reach new grad level when they show production feature contributions measured by performance wins, not academic project completion.
This resume is for new grad frontend engineers who have completed multiple internships and shipped production code, but aren't yet responsible for end-to-end system architecture or technical roadmapping.
- Evidence of shipping features used by real customers in a production environment
- Proficiency in modern frameworks and performance optimization techniques
- Experience collaborating within an established engineering organization and design system
- Experience section prioritizing internship impact over academic coursework
- Skills grouped by language, framework, and design tools for quick scanning
- Projects section highlighting independent technical exploration and documentation
Katie Campbell
Summary
Experience
- Developed 4 high-fidelity dashboard visualizations using React and D3.js for the Splunk Observability Cloud, improving data density for system monitors.
- Optimized initial page load for the analytics module, reducing Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) by 22% through strategic code splitting and asset compression.
- Spearheaded the migration of 12 legacy components to the internal design system, ensuring UI consistency across the merchant portal.
- Shipped a new filtering interface used by over 15,000 monthly active users to navigate complex telemetry data sets.
- Built a reusable notification system using TypeScript and Tailwind CSS, supporting real-time error alerts and custom toast configurations.
- Refined the issue-tracking interface, resulting in a 15% increase in user interaction with the primary resolution action buttons.
- Directed a cross-functional initiative to improve accessibility scores from 74 to 92 on Lighthouse across 5 core product pages.
- Engineered a responsive sidebar navigation component using React and Framer Motion, enhancing the mobile web user experience.
- Decreased CSS bundle size by 18KB by auditing unused styles and implementing a utility-first CSS approach across the onboarding flow.
- Launched an automated unit testing suite using Jest and React Testing Library, covering 8 critical user paths and reducing regression bugs.
Education
Skills
JavaScript · TypeScript · HTML · CSS · Git · React · Node.js · GraphQL · Tailwind CSS · Jest · D3.js · Redux · Vite · Figma
Projects
Component Library Explorer
Built a comprehensive documentation site and playground for a custom UI library, featuring live code editing and accessibility testing for 20+ components.
React, TypeScript, Vite, Storybook
Personal Finance Visualizer
Created a data visualization dashboard that parses CSV exports to provide interactive spending insights, trend analysis, and budget forecasting.
React, D3.js, Firebase, CSS Modules
What makes this resume effective
- This resume meets the hiring bar for a new-grad frontend engineer by demonstrating production-level code contributions, measurable performance improvements, and cross-functional collaboration.
- See how Katie Campbell highlights her work at Splunk, specifically the 22% reduction in Largest Contentful Paint, which proves she understands performance metrics beyond just writing syntax.
- Notice how the Sentry internship entry mentions improving accessibility scores from 74 to 92, showing a commitment to professional standards like WCAG and Lighthouse.
How to write better bullet points
Helped build a new navigation bar for the mobile app.
Engineered a responsive sidebar navigation component using React and Framer Motion, enhancing the mobile web user experience.
It specifies the exact tools used and the specific user experience improvement achieved.
Fixed bugs and improved the speed of the dashboard.
Optimized initial page load for the analytics module, reducing Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) by 22% through strategic code splitting.
It replaces vague speed claims with an industry-standard performance metric and the specific technical method used.
Worked on the design system and made components.
Spearheaded the migration of 12 legacy components to the internal design system, ensuring UI consistency across the merchant portal.
It demonstrates initiative and scale by quantifying the migration effort and its impact on the broader product.
Frontend Developer (New Grad) resume writing tips
- Quantify the reach of your work, such as the number of monthly active users interacting with your features.
- Highlight specific performance wins, like bundle size reductions or improved Lighthouse scores, to show technical maturity.
- Group technical skills by category to help recruiters quickly identify your proficiency with React, TypeScript, or testing frameworks.
Common mistakes
- Listing only school projects without emphasizing internship contributions, which makes you look like a student rather than a professional.
- Describing tasks instead of outcomes, such as 'wrote React code' instead of 'migrated 12 legacy components to the design system.'
- Neglecting to mention testing or accessibility, which are critical signals that you can write production-grade code in a team environment.
Frequently asked questions
Is this resume right for someone with only one internship or just personal projects? Yes, if you apply outcome-oriented framing and technical depth to your project descriptions instead of just listing basic tutorials.
Yes, if you apply outcome-oriented framing and technical depth to your project descriptions instead of just listing basic tutorials.
Yes, if you can demonstrate the same level of technical depth and outcome-oriented framing in your project descriptions. It is less effective if your experience is limited to basic tutorials without any complex state management or performance considerations.
What if I didn't intern at well-known tech companies like Splunk or Sentry? Focus on how you improved the codebase or user experience at your specific organization; impact matters more than the company brand name.
Focus on how you improved the codebase or user experience at your specific organization; impact matters more than the company brand name.
Your impact matters more than the brand name, so focus on describing how you improved the codebase or user experience at your specific organization. If you worked at a small agency, emphasize your ability to ship features quickly and communicate with cross-functional partners.
What if I don't have access to specific metrics like LCP or user counts? Focus on the scale of migrations, number of components built, or specific problems solved, such as automating testing to improve code quality.
Focus on the scale of migrations, number of components built, or specific problems solved, such as automating testing to improve code quality.
You can still show impact by describing the scale of the migration, the number of components built, or the specific problems your code solved for the team. Mentioning that you automated unit testing for eight critical user paths is a powerful metric even without external user data.
How much should I change before applying to a full-stack role? Expand Node.js and GraphQL mentions in your experience bullets to show backend competency while maintaining a strong frontend focus.
Expand Node.js and GraphQL mentions in your experience bullets to show backend competency while maintaining a strong frontend focus.
You should expand the Node.js and GraphQL mentions from the skills section into your experience bullets to show backend competency. Highlight any work with APIs or databases while keeping the strong frontend performance wins shown in this example.
What do hiring managers focus on for entry-level developers? Managers prioritize high-signal candidates who understand professional workflows like design systems and testing to ensure minimal hand-holding.
Managers prioritize high-signal candidates who understand professional workflows like design systems and testing to ensure minimal hand-holding.
At this stage, teams are looking for high-signal candidates who can jump into a codebase with minimal hand-holding. This resume signals that by showing familiarity with professional workflows like design systems, Jest testing, and performance profiling.
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