Top 12 Peoplesoft Developer Skills to Put on Your Resume

The IT stack never sits still, and neither should your skills. A PeopleSoft developer who blends core platform know‑how with clean engineering habits wins interviews and trust. A resume that shows depth, currency, and real impact makes hiring teams pause and lean in.

Peoplesoft Developer Skills

1. PeopleCode
2. Application Engine
3. SQR
4. PeopleTools
5. Integration Broker
6. Fluid UI
7. BI Publisher
8. Component Interface
9. SQL
10. PS Query
11. Application Designer
12. Elasticsearch

1. PeopleCode

PeopleCode is the language inside PeopleSoft. It drives component logic, events, validations, workflow, data manipulation, and integration hooks across the suite.

Why It's Important

It’s the backbone of customization and configuration. With PeopleCode, you tailor behavior, automate processes, and wire up integrations while honoring PeopleSoft’s security and data rules.

How to Improve PeopleCode Skills

Make your code easier to read, faster to run, and safer to change.

1. Name things clearly so intent is obvious—records, variables, functions, classes.

2. Break logic into reusable routines and application classes. Short, focused methods beat sprawling event code.

3. Prefer delivered functions and objects (Record, Rowset, Message, File) before rolling your own.

4. Keep SQL out of loops. Use effective keys, set‑based operations, and Rowset/Record methods when possible.

5. Add robust error handling with Try/Catch and consistent logging.

6. Trace and profile with PeopleCode/SQL trace options to hunt bottlenecks.

7. Document the “why”, not just the “what,” especially around complex event order or side effects.

8. Review together. Peer reviews catch hidden assumptions and style drift.

9. Stay current with features like Event Mapping, Drop Zones, and Configuration frameworks to reduce customizations.

How to Display PeopleCode Skills on Your Resume

2. Application Engine

Application Engine runs batch work—set‑based SQL and PeopleCode—reliably, at scale, in the background. Perfect for heavy lifting.

Why It's Important

It powers data loads, nightly jobs, complex updates, and integrations. When designed well, it’s fast, restartable, and easy to operate.

How to Improve Application Engine Skills

1. Optimize SQL with proper indexing, bind variables, and explain plans. Think set processing, not row‑by‑row.

2. Use arrays and temporary tables to cut trips to the database and stage complex transforms.

3. Structure state records lightly—only what you need for restart and context.

4. Enable restartability and set smart commit intervals. Durable, not chatty.

5. Parallelize with chunking strategies and well‑designed temp tables to fan out safely.

6. Trace, measure, tune. Capture AE/SQL traces and fix the slowest step first.

7. Modularize with called programs and sections. Smaller parts, easier changes.

8. Clean as you go: purge temp/log tables and archive routinely.

How to Display Application Engine Skills on Your Resume

3. SQR

SQR (Structured Query Report) generates reports and batch data processes. It’s stable, proven, and still common in established PeopleSoft shops.

Why It's Important

Legacy doesn’t mean obsolete. Many payrolls, finance reports, and conversions still run on SQR. Knowing it keeps critical processes humming while you modernize thoughtfully.

How to Improve SQR Skills

1. Write set‑based SQL and lean on bind variables. Avoid per‑row queries.

2. Use arrays and load‑lookup patterns to cache reference data in memory.

3. Separate data from layout: keep SQL blocks tidy and formatting sections reusable.

4. Batch I/O for files and avoid excessive commits.

5. Parameterize with command‑line flags and config files for portability.

6. Log clearly and standardize exit codes for scheduling and support.

7. Plan modernization: when reports need pixel‑perfect output or burst delivery, consider BI Publisher as a successor.

How to Display SQR Skills on Your Resume

4. PeopleTools

PeopleTools is the platform: development, runtime, security, integration, search, and administration for PeopleSoft applications.

Why It's Important

Everything runs through it. Mastering PeopleTools means faster delivery, fewer customizations, and better alignment with delivered capabilities.

How to Improve PeopleTools Skills

1. Track releases (8.59, 8.60, 8.61+) and adopt features that reduce code: Event Mapping, Page and Field Configurator, Fluid features, PTF.

2. Practice in sandboxes and keep a personal “patterns” library for common solutions.

3. Use configuration over customization wherever possible to simplify upgrades.

4. Explore the toolset deeply: App Designer, Query, Security, AE, IB, Search Framework, PTF.

5. Engage the community—discussions, webinars, user groups—to trade real‑world patterns and pitfalls.

How to Display PeopleTools Skills on Your Resume

5. Integration Broker

Integration Broker moves messages in and out of PeopleSoft—synchronous and asynchronous, XML and JSON, REST and SOAP—through gateways, nodes, service operations, and handlers.

Why It's Important

It’s your bridge to everything else. Clean integrations keep data consistent, processes automated, and teams unblocked.

How to Improve Integration Broker Skills

1. Tune the domain: right process counts, queues, and handlers for your throughput profile.

2. Prefer async where feasible to decouple systems and improve resilience.

3. Standardize payloads with schemas and versioning. Backward compatibility saves rollbacks.

4. Harden security: SSL/TLS, keys, certificates, node authentication, and least‑privilege permissions.

5. Make errors actionable: consistent error objects, retries with backoff, and correlation IDs for tracing.

6. Monitor relentlessly with IB Monitor and logs. Alert on queue growth, retries, and handler failures.

How to Display Integration Broker Skills on Your Resume

6. Fluid UI

Fluid UI delivers responsive pages, tiles, and navigation that scale from phone to widescreen without drama.

Why It's Important

Better UX equals fewer clicks, fewer tickets, and happier users. Fluid is how modern PeopleSoft looks and feels.

How to Improve Fluid UI Skills

1. Design mobile‑first. Grid layouts, tiles, and accordions that breathe at small breakpoints then expand gracefully.

2. Lean on delivered styling and themes; minimize custom CSS/JS to keep upgrades painless.

3. Use the right page types (landing, activity guides, search) and keep interactions obvious.

4. Build accessible pages with labels, keyboard paths, and ARIA where needed.

5. Test across devices and browsers. Emulators help; real screens tell the truth.

6. Measure page weight and round‑trip time. Trim images, scripts, and chatty PeopleCode.

How to Display Fluid UI Skills on Your Resume

7. BI Publisher

BI Publisher creates pixel‑perfect documents and reports from PeopleSoft data. PDFs, Excel, bursting, the works.

Why It's Important

When stakeholders want precise formats—invoices, pay advices, regulatory forms—BI Publisher shines and scales.

How to Improve BI Publisher Skills

1. Design efficient data models with tuned SQL and only the fields you need.

2. Keep templates modular using sub‑templates and shared styles for consistency.

3. Use bursting to split output by recipient and channel with minimal overhead.

4. Schedule smartly and take advantage of caching and off‑peak windows.

5. Secure outputs with row‑level controls and proper roles on data sources.

6. Test rendering across formats

How to Display BI Publisher Skills on Your Resume

8. Component Interface

Component Interface (CI) exposes component behavior programmatically, enforcing the same business rules you get in the UI while enabling automation and integrations.

Why It's Important

It’s the safe door into components for external code. You get data integrity, validations, and search rules without screen‑scraping.

How to Improve Component Interface Skills

1. Design for reuse: generic methods, clear keys, and lean property sets.

2. Use effective search keys to load the smallest possible data set.

3. Handle errors consistently and return meaningful messages to callers.

4. Minimize round trips by batching operations and setting values before saves.

5. Secure tightly with focused permission lists and audit trails.

6. Test with edge cases—effective‑dated rows, duplicates, and missing keys.

How to Display Component Interface Skills on Your Resume

9. SQL

SQL powers the data tier—selecting, joining, aggregating, and updating across PeopleSoft’s relational schema on Oracle, SQL Server, or DB2.

Why It's Important

Strong SQL turns slow pages into snappy ones and makes batch jobs finish before sunrise. Weak SQL does the opposite.

How to Improve SQL Skills

1. Know the schema: records, keys, effective dating, and how modules relate.

2. Write set‑based queries with sensible joins and window functions where appropriate.

3. Index wisely and read explain plans. Let the database work with you, not against you.

4. Bind variables always for plan stability and security.

5. Avoid functions on indexed columns in WHERE clauses when you can rewrite them.

6. Test at scale with production‑sized data, then tune the hottest statements first.

7. Keep transactions tight and commits controlled to reduce contention.

How to Display SQL Skills on Your Resume

10. PS Query

PS Query (PeopleSoft Query) lets you create ad hoc queries with prompts, expressions, and joins—no code required.

Why It's Important

It empowers analysts and developers to extract answers fast, prototype reports, and validate data without deploying code changes.

How to Improve PS Query Skills

1. Join only what you need and pick selective criteria early.

2. Select specific fields rather than “*” to reduce payload.

3. Use prompts for reusable, scheduler‑friendly queries.

4. Leverage aggregates and expressions instead of post‑processing in spreadsheets.

5. Mind indexes on filter/join fields; avoid wrapping them in functions.

6. Review the execution plan and refactor slow subqueries.

7. Respect row‑level security and verify results across user roles.

How to Display PS Query Skills on Your Resume

11. Application Designer

Application Designer is where you create and maintain definitions—records, pages, components, menus, messages, and PeopleCode.

Why It's Important

It’s the workbench. Clean structure, naming, and projects here lead to fewer defects and smoother compares during updates.

How to Improve Application Designer Skills

1. Master object relationships across records, subrecords, pages, and components.

2. Adopt naming standards and consistent effective‑dating rules.

3. Prefer configuration tools (Event Mapping, Page and Field Configurator, Drop Zones) to reduce invasive changes.

4. Use projects well: group related objects, run Compare/Report, and document impact.

5. Integrate with version control and keep change notes crisp.

6. Test events deliberately: RowInit, FieldChange, SavePre/SavePost—order matters.

How to Display Application Designer Skills on Your Resume

12. Elasticsearch

Elasticsearch underpins PeopleSoft’s Search Framework—fast indexing, quick lookups, facets, and relevance across large datasets.

Why It's Important

Users find what they need quickly. Administrators get scalable, secure search tied to PeopleSoft row‑level security.

How to Improve Elasticsearch Skills

1. Design search definitions with only required fields and sensible facets.

2. Tune indexing schedules and choose incremental vs. full builds thoughtfully.

3. Right‑size shards and replicas for your data volume and query patterns.

4. Monitor health: nodes, heap usage, query latency, and failed docs.

5. Use synonyms and analyzers to lift relevance and user satisfaction.

6. Secure the pipeline end‑to‑end and validate that search honors row‑level security.

How to Display Elastic Search Skills on Your Resume