DevOps Engineer resume keywords
Most devops engineer applications are screened by software before a person reads them: the ATS ranks resumes by how many of the posting's words they contain. The lists below are the terms that show up most in devops engineer job ads. Use the ones that are true for you, with the same spelling the ad uses.
Hard skills and ATS keywords
- AWS
- Kubernetes
- Terraform
- CI/CD (GitHub Actions)
- Prometheus & Grafana
- Docker
- Linux
- Incident response
- Kubernetes
- Docker
- Terraform
- CI/CD
- AWS
- Infrastructure as code
- Linux
- Monitoring and alerting
- GitHub Actions
- Incident response
Soft skills recruiters look for
- Ownership
- Calm under pressure
- Collaboration
- Automation mindset
- Communication
Soft skills only count when a bullet proves them. "Team player" is ignored; "Moved 60 services to Kubernetes with Terraform, taking deploys from weekly to 40 a day." shows it.
Action verbs to start your bullets
- Automated
- Migrated
- Reduced
- Built
- Scaled
- Deployed
- Cut
- Hardened
How to use these keywords
- Mirror the job ad: if it says "Kubernetes", do not write a synonym.
- Put the top 6–8 in a skills section and repeat the key ones inside experience bullets with a number.
- Never list a skill you cannot talk about in an interview.
- Keep the file text-based (no skills inside images or tables), or the ATS cannot read it.
Which ones is your resume missing?
Every posting is different. Paste your resume and the job ad — free ATS Match Score Score your resume free (0-100)
No signup. It lists the keywords from the ad that your resume does not contain.
Need the resume itself? See the devops engineer resume example and generate one free from rough notes.