Top 12 C# Developer Skills to Put on Your Resume

Hiring managers skim fast. Show them you own the C# stack, from runtime to repos to the web edge. Pack your resume with skills that prove you can design, ship, and keep systems humming under load—across desktop, web, cloud, and data.

C# Developer Skills

1. .NET and .NET Framework
2. ASP.NET Core MVC
3. Entity Framework
4. LINQ
5. WPF
6. WCF
7. Blazor
8. Xamarin (.NET MAUI)
9. SQL Server
10. Azure DevOps
11. Git
12. RESTful APIs

1. .NET and .NET Framework

.NET is the modern, cross‑platform runtime for building apps in C#, spanning Windows, Linux, macOS, web, cloud, and mobile. .NET Framework is the older, Windows‑only runtime that powers many existing enterprise apps. Both provide a rich Base Class Library, JIT/AOT options, and language interoperability.

Why It's Important

.NET gives C# developers a consistent, high‑performance platform with first‑class tooling and APIs. New work belongs on .NET; many businesses still run critical systems on .NET Framework—being fluent in both means you can build greenfield and keep legacy stable.

How to Improve .NET Skills

1. Strengthen C# fundamentals: generics, async/await, span/memory, records, patterns. Sharp tools, fewer bugs.

2. Know when to pick .NET vs .NET Framework. New projects on current LTS (.NET 8/9). Maintain or gradually migrate older .NET Framework apps.

3. Explore the platform: ASP.NET Core for web, worker services for background jobs, gRPC or minimal APIs for services.

4. Understand EF Core vs EF6, hosting models, configuration, and dependency injection.

5. Apply SOLID principles and pragmatic patterns. Keep code clean, testable, observable.

6. Ship small projects. Profile, benchmark, debug. Learn by doing, then do it again.

How to Display .NET Skills on Your Resume

2. ASP.NET Core MVC

ASP.NET Core MVC implements the Model‑View‑Controller pattern for building dynamic, testable web apps with Razor views, routing, filters, and dependency injection baked in.

Why It's Important

Separation of concerns, clean routing, powerful model binding, and first‑rate performance let you deliver maintainable sites and APIs without wrestling the framework.

How to Improve ASP.NET Core MVC Skills

1. Master the core pipeline: middleware, routing, model binding, filters, and DI.

2. Use EF Core effectively for data access, with proper contexts, migrations, and projections.

3. Harden security: Identity, authentication/authorization, antiforgery, data protection.

4. Make it fast: async everywhere, caching (response/in‑memory/distributed), compression, minimal allocations.

5. Test with unit and integration suites. Automate in CI. Keep regressions out.

6. Prefer ASP.NET Core over legacy MVC 5 for new work; plan migrations where feasible.

7. Use patterns judiciously (e.g., domain services, CQRS where it earns its keep). Avoid ceremony for ceremony’s sake.

How to Display ASP.NET MVC Skills on Your Resume

3. Entity Framework

Entity Framework (EF/EF Core) is an ORM that maps relational data to C# objects, trimming heavy data‑access boilerplate and enabling expressive, testable data code.

Why It's Important

Less plumbing, more product. EF accelerates CRUD and complex queries while keeping you focused on domain logic, not hand‑rolled SQL everywhere.

How to Improve Entity Framework Skills

1. For read‑only queries, use AsNoTracking() to skip the change tracker.

2. Project to DTOs with Select so you pull only the columns you need.

3. Be intentional with loading: prefer eager or explicit loading; use lazy loading sparingly to dodge N+1 surprises.

4. Batch work: avoid calling SaveChanges() in tight loops; group operations and wrap in transactions.

5. Leverage compiled queries for hot paths. Squeeze extra milliseconds where it matters.

6. Tune your model: right relationships, indexes in the database, owned types, value converters, and clear constraints.

7. Watch generated SQL. If it looks scary, simplify the LINQ or drop to raw SQL for that slice.

How to Display Entity Framework Skills on Your Resume

4. LINQ

LINQ brings query capabilities straight into C#, unifying how you slice arrays, collections, XML, and database data with fluent operators or query syntax.

Why It's Important

Readable, declarative data work that scales from tiny filters to hefty projections. Less noise, more intent.

How to Improve LINQ Skills

1. Get comfortable with lambdas and extension methods. They’re the grammar of LINQ.

2. Know your operators: Where, Select, GroupBy, Join, Any, All, Aggregate, and friends.

3. Understand IEnumerable<T> vs IQueryable<T>. Client‑side vs provider translation is a big deal for performance.

4. Remember deferred execution. Don’t materialize with ToList() unless you truly need to.

5. Prefer Any() over Count() > 0, choose FirstOrDefault vs SingleOrDefault deliberately.

6. Experiment and profile. Tools like LINQPad help you probe behavior quickly.

How to Display LINQ Skills on Your Resume

5. WPF

Windows Presentation Foundation is the .NET desktop UI framework for Windows, pairing XAML with powerful data binding, templating, and styling to build rich client apps.

Why It's Important

When you need a deep Windows desktop experience—custom UI, complex data visualization, hardware acceleration—WPF lands the punch.

How to Improve WPF Skills

1. Lean into MVVM. Clean separation, testable logic, snappy binding.

2. Level up XAML: styles, templates, resource dictionaries, data templates, and triggers.

3. Tune performance: UI virtualization, frozen Freezables, minimal bindings in hot paths, and careful layout.

4. Structure projects well: assemblies for UI, view models, services, and shared contracts.

5. Polish UX: consistent theming, accessible controls, keyboard navigation, high‑DPI readiness.

How to Display WPF Skills on Your Resume

6. WCF

Windows Communication Foundation is a service framework for SOAP and other protocols (HTTP, TCP, MSMQ) that powered many enterprise distributed systems on Windows.

Why It's Important

Plenty of organizations still run WCF services. Knowing WCF keeps you effective in maintenance, modernization, and staged migrations to newer stacks.

How to Improve WCF Skills

1. Design contracts carefully with appropriate operation shapes and data contracts.

2. Pick bindings to fit the scenario: NetTcpBinding for fast intranet, BasicHttpBinding for compatibility, custom bindings only when necessary.

3. Manage instances and concurrency with InstanceContextMode and ConcurrencyMode to balance state and scale.

4. Throttle wisely to protect resources under load.

5. Secure the channel: transport vs message security, encryption, certificates, and endpoint authorization.

6. Use reliable sessions only when your business rules truly need them.

7. Enable tracing and message logging to diagnose production issues quickly.

8. Plan for the future: consider migrations to gRPC or RESTful ASP.NET Core services where it reduces complexity.

How to Display WCF Skills on Your Resume

7. Blazor

Blazor lets you build interactive web UIs with C#. Run on the server, in the browser with WebAssembly, or blend both using the modern Blazor Web App model with server‑side rendering and streaming.

Why It's Important

Full‑stack C# without context‑switching to JavaScript for most tasks. One language, shared models, strong tooling.

How to Improve Blazor Skills

1. Master components: parameters, cascading values, lifecycle methods, and event patterns.

2. Handle forms and validation cleanly; keep state predictable across navigation.

3. Choose the right hosting model: Server for fast startup and secure code, WebAssembly for offline and edge scenarios.

4. Make it smooth: Virtualize long lists, pre‑render pages, throttle events, and consider AOT for heavy client work.

5. Use JS interop for browser APIs when needed, wrapping calls in tidy abstractions.

6. Factor out a reusable component library to reduce duplication across features.

How to Display Blazor Skills on Your Resume

8. Xamarin (.NET MAUI)

Xamarin enabled cross‑platform mobile apps in C# for iOS and Android. Today, its successor—.NET MAUI—offers a unified, modern stack for building native apps across mobile and desktop with a single project and shared UI.

Why It's Important

Mobile reach without juggling multiple languages. If you’ve shipped with Xamarin, you’re already close to MAUI. Employers value that migration path.

How to Improve Xamarin/.NET MAUI Skills

1. Adopt MVVM (or MVU) patterns, with clean separation between views and logic.

2. Get fluent in XAML layouts, styling, and control templating. Make UI responsive and accessible.

3. Tune startup and memory. Use the handler architecture, image optimization, and deferred work.

4. Integrate platform features via native bindings when necessary.

5. Test on real devices and emulators across form factors, themes, and locales.

6. Plan migrations from Xamarin to .NET MAUI where support timelines warrant it.

How to Display Xamarin Skills on Your Resume

9. SQL Server

SQL Server is Microsoft’s relational database engine for durable, transactional data at scale, tightly integrated with the .NET data stack.

Why It's Important

Most real systems are data systems. Knowing SQL Server means your C# apps store, query, and evolve data reliably.

How to Improve SQL Server Skills

1. Index smartly: covering indexes, filtered indexes, appropriate keys. Rebuild or reorganize as needed.

2. Write sargable queries. Avoid SELECT *, push filters to the database, and keep predicates index‑friendly.

3. Balance normalization with pragmatic denormalization for read‑heavy workloads.

4. Use the Query Store and execution plans to spot regressions and hotspots.

5. Wrap frequent operations in stored procedures; consider table‑valued parameters for bulk flows.

6. In C#, always parameterize. Lean on connection pooling; dispose connections promptly.

7. Cache data that doesn’t change often, and invalidate on truth rather than hope.

8. Guard consistency with transactions and the right isolation levels for your scenario.

How to Display SQL Server Skills on Your Resume

10. Azure DevOps

Azure DevOps is a suite for planning, source control, CI/CD, artifacts, and testing—end‑to‑end delivery with guardrails and visibility.

Why It's Important

Automation and collaboration win. Pipelines catch issues early, releases are repeatable, and teams move in lockstep.

How to Improve Azure DevOps Skills

1. Build YAML pipelines: templates, variables, environments, and approvals. Keep them in repo, code‑reviewed.

2. Automate .NET builds: restore, build, test, publish, and produce versioned artifacts.

3. Ship with multi‑stage pipelines; add gates, quality checks, and deployment strategies (blue/green, canary).

4. Manage infrastructure as code with your preferred tooling. Version it, review it, track drift.

5. Wire in quality: unit/coverage, integration tests, linting, SCA/SAST where required.

6. Protect secrets via secure stores and scoped variables. Least privilege always.

7. Use Boards for work transparency and traceability from requirement to deployment.

8. Observe everything: logs, metrics, dashboards, and alerts that tell you when to act.

How to Display Azure DevOps Skills on Your Resume

11. Git

Git is a distributed version control system for tracking changes, branching safely, and collaborating without stepping on each other’s toes.

Why It's Important

You can’t scale a team—or yourself—without reliable version control. Git is the lingua franca.

How to Improve Git Skills

1. Pick a branching model (trunk‑based, GitFlow, feature branching) and use it consistently.

2. Write crisp commits. One intent per commit, clear messages, useful history.

3. Know merge vs rebase, and when to squash. Keep main clean, green, and releasable.

4. Automate checks with hooks and CI to enforce quality before code lands.

5. Use worktrees for parallel tasks and reduce local branch thrash.

6. Tune your .gitignore and .gitattributes; avoid polluting the repo with generated clutter.

7. Leverage your IDE’s Git integration for speed, drop to CLI for power moves.

How to Display Git Skills on Your Resume

12. RESTful APIs

RESTful APIs expose resources over HTTP using standard verbs and status codes. In C#, ASP.NET Core makes building and consuming them straightforward.

Why It's Important

APIs stitch systems together—your app, partners, mobile clients, services you don’t even know about yet.

How to Improve RESTful APIs Skills

1. Use the right methods and codes: GET/200, POST/201, PUT/PATCH for updates, DELETE/204. No surprises.

2. Name resources cleanly; design predictable, hierarchical routes.

3. Version deliberately (URL, header, or query). Communicate breaking changes early.

4. Cache smartly: ETags, Cache‑Control, and conditional requests to save bandwidth.

5. Secure with OAuth2/OIDC, scope tokens appropriately, validate inputs, rate‑limit where needed.

6. Return consistent errors with problem details. Make failures easy to consume.

7. Compress responses, paginate large lists, and support content negotiation.

8. Document with OpenAPI/Swagger and keep it generated from code so it never drifts.

9. Instrument thoroughly: logging, tracing, correlation IDs, and metrics.

10. Choose controllers or minimal APIs based on complexity. Keep handlers short and focused.

How to Display RESTful APIs Skills on Your Resume