Frontend Developer CV in 2026 [Free Checklist]

A recruiter may search for React, Vue, TypeScript, accessibility, testing, or design system experience before they read your achievements in full. An engineering manager will then look for signs that you can work safely in a real codebase: clear components, maintainable styling, sensible state management, reliable releases, and cooperation with the rest of the team.

Write for both readers. Put your core stack near the top, but use your experience section to prove how you used that stack. A line that says React, TypeScript, Tailwind, Jest is useful for scanning. A bullet that says you rebuilt a checkout step, reduced client-side errors, and improved completion is useful for shortlisting.

A good Frontend Developer CV also separates frontend development from general web design. If you mainly code user interfaces, say so clearly. If you also design UI, build backend endpoints, or manage CMS templates, include that too, but do not blur your target role.

Use a simple reverse-chronological structure for most frontend roles:

1. Contact details and links.
2. Profile.
3. Technical skills.
4. Work experience.
5. Selected projects.
6. Education and training.
7. Additional sections, if relevant.

This structure works because it gives the reader your stack quickly, then backs it up with product evidence. It is also easier for applicant tracking systems to parse than a design-heavy layout.

Put your name, phone number, email, town or region, portfolio URL, GitHub, and LinkedIn at the top. You do not need a full postal address, date of birth, headshot, or marital status for a UK CV.

Use clear headings such as Profile, Technical skills, Experience, Projects, and Education. Avoid using icons as the only label for contact details because some parsing tools may miss them. If you use a designed CV, keep the underlying text selectable and readable.

Your profile should be four to six lines. It should tell the reader your level, your frontend stack, the type of products you have worked on, and the evidence that makes you credible.

Weak profile:

Frontend developer with experience in React and JavaScript. Good team player with a passion for building websites.

Better profile:

Frontend developer with four years' experience building React and TypeScript interfaces for B2B SaaS products. Strong record of turning Figma designs into accessible, responsive components, improving Core Web Vitals, and writing tested UI code used by sales, support, and customer success teams. Comfortable working with REST APIs, design systems, Git workflows, and agile product squads.

The stronger version works because it gives context. It names the stack, product environment, users, quality standards, and collaboration style. It avoids empty adjectives and gives the recruiter reasons to keep reading.

If you are junior, you can still write a precise profile. Focus on training, projects, work placement, freelance work, open-source contributions, or a portfolio. For example:

Junior frontend developer with a recent software development apprenticeship and a portfolio of React, JavaScript, and responsive CSS projects. Practised in building accessible forms, consuming REST APIs, using Git, and writing clear component documentation. Looking for a team where I can grow through code review, testing, and production delivery.

Frontend recruiters often scan skills before the experience section. Group your skills so they can find what matters:

• Languages and core web: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, TypeScript.
• Frameworks and libraries: React, Next.js, Vue, Nuxt, Angular, Svelte, Redux, Zustand, Pinia.
• Styling: Sass, Tailwind CSS, CSS Modules, styled-components, design tokens, responsive layouts.
• Testing and quality: Jest, Vitest, React Testing Library, Cypress, Playwright, Storybook, ESLint.
• Build and tooling: Vite, Webpack, npm, pnpm, Git, GitHub Actions, CI/CD.
• Product collaboration: Figma, Jira, agile delivery, design systems, accessibility reviews.
• APIs and integration: REST, GraphQL, authentication flows, analytics events, CMS integration.

Do not list technologies you cannot discuss. If you mention Next.js, be ready to talk about routing, rendering, data fetching, performance, or deployment. If you mention accessibility, be ready to explain labels, focus states, keyboard navigation, colour contrast, semantic markup, and screen-reader testing.

For a senior role, show architecture and quality ownership. Add skills such as component library governance, frontend observability, performance budgeting, technical discovery, mentoring, migration planning, or cross-team standards.

The experience section should show what you built, how you built it, and why it mattered. Use bullet points with a clear action, technical context, and result.

Weak bullet:

• Worked on the company website using React.

Better bullets:

• Rebuilt the customer onboarding flow in React and TypeScript, reducing form validation errors by 28% and improving completion across mobile users.
• Created reusable design system components with Storybook, cutting duplicate UI code across three product squads.
• Improved largest contentful paint on key landing pages by optimising image loading, route splitting, and unused JavaScript.
• Partnered with UX designers to fix keyboard navigation and focus management issues before a WCAG 2.2 accessibility review.
• Added Cypress tests for checkout, login, and account settings journeys, reducing release regression issues.

You do not need metrics for every bullet, but use them wherever you can. Good metrics for frontend developers include load time, Core Web Vitals, conversion, completion rate, error rate, accessibility issues closed, components adopted, test coverage, deployment frequency, build time, or support tickets reduced.

When you cannot share numbers, use scale and context:

• Built a component library used by eight product teams.
• Supported a React migration across a 120-page customer portal.
• Delivered responsive UI for a public-sector service used by high-volume mobile visitors.
• Refactored legacy jQuery widgets into maintainable Vue components.

The reader should be able to picture the work. Built UI components is vague. Built accessible date picker, address lookup, and multi-step form components used across onboarding and billing is specific.

Projects help when you are junior, changing career, freelancing, or applying for a role where the employer wants to see code. They are also useful for frontend developers because visual and interactive work can be inspected quickly.

Choose two or three projects that prove relevant skills. For each project, include:

• Project name and link, if public.
• Purpose or user problem.
• Stack.
• Your contribution.
• One or two practical outcomes.

Example:

Accessible booking form — React, TypeScript, React Hook Form, Zod, Tailwind CSS. Built a multi-step booking flow with keyboard-friendly controls, clear validation states, and saved progress. Added unit tests for validation logic and documented component states in Storybook.

Avoid listing ten small tutorial projects. A small but complete project with responsive layout, form handling, API integration, error states, and accessibility detail is more persuasive than several unfinished clones.

If your work is commercially confidential, describe the problem without naming the client. You can still explain the scale, stack, and impact without exposing private information.

Frontend developers are often closest to the code that affects accessibility and performance. A CV that mentions these areas with examples will usually feel more mature than one that only names a JavaScript framework.

For accessibility, mention evidence such as:

• Semantic HTML and landmark structure.
• Keyboard navigation and visible focus states.
• Form labels, errors, hints, and ARIA only where needed.
• Colour contrast and responsive text behaviour.
• Screen-reader checks or manual testing.
• Fixes made after audits or user testing.

For performance, mention evidence such as:

• Reducing unused JavaScript.
• Code splitting and lazy loading.
• Optimising images.
• Improving Core Web Vitals.
• Avoiding unnecessary re-renders.
• Monitoring client-side errors.
• Improving perceived loading states.

The GOV.UK Service Manual explains WCAG 2.2 as an internationally recognised accessibility standard, and UK public-sector or regulated product teams may expect practical awareness of it. You do not need to turn your CV into an accessibility essay. One or two evidence-led bullets can be enough.

Frontend work sits between design, backend, product, QA, content, and analytics. Employers want to know you can work through ambiguity, not just complete isolated tickets.

Show collaboration through examples:

• Translating Figma designs into responsive components while discussing edge cases with UX.
• Working with backend developers to agree API responses, error handling, and loading states.
• Pairing with QA to define regression coverage for critical journeys.
• Helping product managers understand technical trade-offs.
• Reviewing pull requests and documenting component usage.

If you are senior, include mentoring and technical direction. Show how you improved the work of the team, not just your own output. Examples might include introducing design tokens, improving Storybook documentation, setting frontend testing standards, or coaching juniors through code review.

A Junior Frontend Developer CV should prove learning speed, fundamentals, and practical project work. Employers will not expect you to have led large migrations, but they will expect clean basics: semantic HTML, responsive CSS, JavaScript fundamentals, Git, debugging, and willingness to accept feedback. Put your portfolio and projects near the top if your commercial experience is limited.

A mid-level Frontend Developer CV should prove independent delivery. Show that you can take designs, clarify requirements, build features, test your work, fix defects, and contribute to technical decisions without constant supervision. Your bullets should show production code, not only training projects.

A Senior Frontend Developer CV should prove judgement. Focus on architecture, standards, mentoring, performance, accessibility, design systems, migrations, and cross-team influence. Senior readers will look for trade-offs: how you improved maintainability, reduced delivery risk, guided other developers, and balanced user needs with technical constraints.

Do not simply add senior to your title. Show senior evidence in the bullets. A line such as Led migration from legacy Vue 2 views to Vue 3 composition API across customer account pages, creating migration guidelines and mentoring four developers through code review carries more weight than a generic leadership claim.

Most frontend job adverts are specific. One role may focus on React, Next.js, and design systems. Another may ask for Vue, Nuxt, and CMS integration. A third may be closer to UX engineering, accessibility, and prototyping.

Before sending your CV, compare the advert with your draft and adjust:

• Profile: match the target stack and product context.
• Skills: move the most relevant tools higher.
• Experience: prioritise bullets that match the role's main problems.
• Projects: include the project closest to the employer's product.
• Keywords: use the employer's terms where they match your experience.

Do not claim tools you have not used. Instead, bridge honestly. For example, if a role asks for Vue but you mainly use React, you might write: Commercial React and TypeScript experience, with personal Vue 3 project covering composition API, routing, form handling, and component state.

This is more credible than hiding the gap or pretending full commercial experience.

A portfolio can help, but it should not carry the whole application. The CV must still make sense without the reader clicking anything.

Use links for:

• A personal portfolio with selected projects.
• GitHub repositories with clear readmes.
• Live demos.
• Component libraries or Storybook examples, if public.
• Blog posts or technical notes, if they show real judgement.

Check every link before sending. Broken demos, empty GitHub profiles, missing readmes, or inaccessible portfolio pages can weaken an otherwise good application.

If your best work is private, you can still include a short project section and offer to discuss the work in interview. Do not share client code, private screenshots, or internal product details without permission.

Frontend developers come from varied backgrounds: degrees, apprenticeships, bootcamps, self-study, internships, freelance work, and career changes. Your education section should support your evidence rather than distract from it.

Include relevant qualifications such as:

• Computer science, software engineering, digital media, web design, or related degree.
• Software development apprenticeship.
• T Level in Digital Software Development.
• Bootcamp with substantial project work.
• Certifications or courses in accessibility, cloud, testing, or framework-specific tools.
• Relevant modules such as web development, human-computer interaction, databases, or software engineering.

If you are experienced, keep education brief. If you are junior, include relevant modules, projects, and technical coursework. The National Careers Service notes that web developers may enter through university, college, apprenticeships, or working towards the role, so do not apologise for a non-linear route. Show what you can build and how you keep improving.

Many CVs list React, Vue, Angular, Next.js, Nuxt, Svelte, Tailwind, Bootstrap, and several testing tools without showing where they were used. This makes the CV look broader but weaker.

Fix it by connecting tools to outcomes. Mention the stack in your skills section, then prove it in experience bullets and projects. If you used React to build a component library, say that. If you used Playwright to cover a high-risk checkout journey, include it.

Accessibility is part of frontend quality. If your CV never mentions semantic HTML, keyboard navigation, form labels, focus management, or WCAG awareness, it can feel shallow for public-sector, finance, health, education, or SaaS roles.

Fix it by adding one or two honest examples. You do not need to claim specialist status. You might say you fixed form error messaging, improved focus states, or worked with QA to test keyboard-only journeys.

Frontend developers often care about design, but a CV is not the place to prove every animation or layout idea. Over-designed CVs can be hard to read, difficult to parse, and distracting from the evidence.

Fix it with a clean layout, clear headings, readable spacing, and selectable text. Save interactive or highly visual work for your portfolio.

A CV full of duties can make real experience sound passive. Implemented frontend tasks does not tell the reader whether your work improved anything.

Fix it by adding impact where possible. Use metrics, scale, product context, or user outcomes. For example: Reduced repeated support tickets by improving account settings validation and error messages says more than Worked on account settings page.

Frontend jobs vary widely. Some employers need a design-system engineer. Others need a CMS-heavy developer, a React product engineer, a Vue specialist, or a frontend performance problem-solver.

Fix it by tailoring the profile, skills order, and first few experience bullets to the advert. The structure can stay the same, but the emphasis should change.