Keywords for a Frontend Developer resume

Frontend hiring runs on evidence. A screener reading a frontend resume is checking three things in about twenty seconds: which framework you write every day, whether you have shipped to real users at some scale, and whether you understand the parts of the job that are not JavaScript, meaning accessibility, performance budgets, and working from a design system. Keywords are how you signal all three fast. The wrong version of this resume lists thirty libraries with no context; the right one names the framework in the headline, repeats it inside bullets where the work is described, and lets the rest of the stack sit in a short skills block.

Most frontend openings pass through an applicant tracking system before a human sees them, and the filters are usually blunt: React, TypeScript, accessibility, testing. But the hiring manager reads differently. They skim for nouns that suggest you have dealt with real constraints, things like bundle size, Core Web Vitals, state management, cross-browser support, design tokens, and code review. A term only counts if it appears where the work happened. "TypeScript" in a skills list is a claim. "Converted a 40-file React app from JavaScript to TypeScript" is proof, and it scores the keyword twice.

Match your vocabulary to the posting you are answering. A team on Next.js with server components wants to see SSR, hydration, and routing language. A team maintaining an internal tool wants forms, tables, data fetching, and role-based views. A product company with a public site wants Lighthouse scores, SEO, and page weight. Pick fifteen to twenty terms that are actually true of you, spread them across the summary, the skills groups, and the bullets, and drop the rest. Padding with tools you touched once is the fastest way to lose a phone screen.

The 38 keywords

Keyword	Why it matters	Where to put it
React	The most requested frontend framework by a wide margin, and the term most ATS filters key on first.	Headline, summary, and inside at least two bullets describing what you built with it
TypeScript	Most teams hiring in the last few years write TypeScript, not plain JavaScript, and they screen for it explicitly.	Skills list and a bullet about typing an existing codebase or shared component props
JavaScript (ES6+)	Signals you know the language under the framework, which matters for interview screens and legacy code.	Skills list, first item in the languages group
Next.js	Named directly in a large share of React postings; implies you know routing, rendering modes and file-based structure.	Skills list and a bullet where you mention the rendering approach you chose
Component library	Shows you build reusable pieces rather than one-off pages, which is how frontend teams scale.	A bullet under your current role, with the number of components and who consumed them
Design system	Teams with designers want someone who works from shared tokens and patterns instead of inventing spacing.	Summary if it is central to your work, otherwise a bullet about adoption across teams
WCAG 2.1 AA	Accessibility is a legal and procurement requirement at many companies, and the version plus level reads as real experience.	A bullet about an audit or remediation, plus the skills list
Accessibility (a11y)	Recruiters search both spellings; hiring managers treat it as a maturity signal.	Skills list and a bullet mentioning keyboard navigation or screen reader testing
ARIA	Specific enough to separate people who have actually fixed accessibility bugs from those who list the word.	Inside an accessibility bullet, not alone in a skills list
Core Web Vitals	The standard shared language for frontend performance between engineering, SEO and marketing.	A performance bullet with a before and after number for LCP or CLS
Bundle size	Concrete proof you have profiled and cut real weight, not just installed packages.	A bullet with a kilobyte figure and what you removed or split
Code splitting	A common interview topic and a direct answer to slow first loads.	The same performance bullet as bundle size
Lighthouse	Named in job posts as the measuring tool; gives your performance claims a source.	Skills list or parenthetically in a performance bullet
Responsive design	Still listed on most postings, and mobile traffic share makes it a real requirement.	A bullet about breakpoints, mobile layouts, or a mobile conversion number
CSS-in-JS	Indicates which styling era your codebase experience comes from and how you scope styles.	Skills list, alongside your other styling tools
Tailwind CSS	Widely adopted and frequently named by name in postings; absence can filter you out of matched roles.	Skills list, styling group
Sass	Legacy and current codebases still use it; shows you can maintain older styling layers.	Skills list
State management	Framework knowledge without state knowledge reads junior; this is where non-trivial apps get hard.	A bullet about refactoring data flow, naming the specific tool
Redux Toolkit	The concrete version recruiters search for when the codebase uses Redux.	Skills list if true, and the state management bullet
React Query	Server-state caching is now a distinct skill from client state and is named in postings.	Skills list or a data-fetching bullet
REST API integration	Most frontend work is consuming APIs; say so plainly rather than assuming it is obvious.	A bullet about a feature that pulled from backend services
GraphQL	Filters a subset of roles in and out; include only if you have queried or written schemas.	Skills list
Jest	The default unit test runner in React shops and a standard filter term.	Skills list and a testing bullet with coverage or defect numbers
React Testing Library	Signals you test behaviour rather than implementation details, which senior reviewers notice.	Testing bullet next to Jest
Cypress	End-to-end coverage is a separate ask from unit tests and is named in many postings.	Skills list, testing group
Playwright	Increasingly replacing older e2e tools; recent experience with it dates your stack as current.	Skills list
Storybook	Shows you document components for designers and other engineers, not just ship them.	A component library bullet
Git and pull requests	Every team wants evidence you work in review, not alone on a branch.	A collaboration bullet about reviewing teammates' code
CI/CD pipeline	Frontend engineers are expected to keep builds green and deploys routine.	A bullet about build time, preview deploys, or automated checks
Webpack	Build tooling knowledge is asked about in interviews and needed on older projects.	Skills list, tooling group
Vite	The current default for new projects; shows your tooling knowledge is not stuck in 2019.	Skills list, tooling group
Server-side rendering	Determines whether you fit SEO-sensitive or app-shell products; hiring managers look for the distinction.	A bullet naming what you rendered on the server and why
Cross-browser testing	Still a real cost center for consumer products, especially Safari behaviour.	A QA or bug-fix bullet
Figma handoff	Names the working relationship with design, which is half the job on product teams.	A collaboration bullet
A/B testing	Connects your frontend work to product outcomes, which is what gets you past the hiring manager.	A bullet with the metric the test moved
Micro frontends	Only relevant at larger orgs, but a strong match term when the posting mentions it.	Architecture bullet, if genuinely part of your work
Mentoring	Mid-level and senior postings almost always list it, and most candidates leave it out.	A bullet about onboarding a junior developer or running code review standards
Agile / Scrum	Describes how you work in a sprint team; common filter term for contract and enterprise roles.	Summary or a single skills line, never as its own bullet

Questions people ask

How many frontend frameworks should I list?

List the ones you would be comfortable being interviewed on, usually one primary and one secondary. If you write React daily and used Vue on a project two years ago, put React in the headline and Vue in the skills list. Listing four frameworks equally makes a reviewer assume shallow experience in all of them.

Should I put React in my job title line?

Yes, if the roles you are targeting name it. A headline like "Frontend Developer, React and TypeScript" matches keyword filters and tells a human reader in two seconds whether to keep going. Change it when you apply to a shop running a different stack.

Do I still need to say HTML and CSS?

Include them once in a skills group, since some ATS configurations still search for them, but do not build bullets around them. What earns attention is the level above: responsive layouts, design tokens, CSS architecture that did not collapse as the app grew. Semantic HTML is worth naming inside an accessibility bullet.

How do I show performance work if I never had access to analytics?

Use local measurements you can defend. Lighthouse scores, bundle size in kilobytes before and after, render counts, or build times are all fair game and do not require production analytics. Say what you measured with so the number has a source.

Is accessibility really worth a dedicated bullet?

On most product teams, yes. Companies face procurement requirements and legal exposure around accessibility, and very few candidates can describe concrete remediation work. One bullet naming WCAG 2.1 AA, keyboard navigation, or screen reader testing sets you apart from a stack of identical React resumes.

What keywords matter most for a junior frontend role?

React or the posted framework, JavaScript, HTML and CSS, Git, responsive design, and REST API integration cover most junior filters. Add whatever testing tool you have touched, even lightly, because juniors who test are rare. Skip architecture terms like micro frontends until you have actually worked in one.

Should I include my portfolio and GitHub?

Put both in the header if the code and projects are presentable. Reviewers for frontend roles often click through before deciding on a phone screen, and a live site beats a paragraph of description. If your GitHub is mostly forks and abandoned tutorials, link only the portfolio.

How do I keep the skills section from becoming a keyword dump?

Group it into three or four named buckets, such as languages, frameworks, testing, and tooling, with five or six items in each. The grouping shows judgment and keeps the eye moving. Then make sure your strongest six terms also appear inside bullets where the work is described.

Keywords for a Frontend Developer resume

Weak bullets, rewritten

The 38 keywords

Common mistakes

Questions people ask

Use relevant keywords without stuffing

Weak bullets, rewritten

The 38 keywords

Common mistakes

Questions people ask

Keywords for related jobs

Use relevant keywords without stuffing