how to make a good resume for college

How to Write a Resume for College – A CollegeAdvisor Guide

How to write a resume for college – introduction.

Standing out as a stellar applicant in the college admissions process is tough. One way to separate yourself from the crowd is by crafting a strong resume for college. Your college resume can highlight information about your background, activities, and achievements. Some of these might not be indicated elsewhere in your college application or recommendation letters . 

In this article, we will teach you how to write a college resume. We’ll highlight 5 simple steps to building your college application resume. We will also discuss what a college resume is and why you may need a resume for college. Additionally, we will provide examples on how to write a resume for college by reviewing college resume examples. Finally, we’ll walk you through some college resume templates in our example college resumes.

So, let’s look at how to write a college resume and explain what makes a good college resume, why you should include a resume for college in your applications, and more!

What is a college resume? 

A high school resume is typically a one-page document that complements your college application . Your high school resume (or college resume) can help you showcase your achievements and extracurriculars for college. It does this by sharing information that is not elsewhere within your college applications. The goal of a college resume is to show the college admissions officers who you are and how you spend your time outside of the classroom . 

Before we jump into how to write a college resume, let’s examine some things that make up a good college resume.

A good college resume should include: 

• Clear structure
• Concise language (bullet points over essay-style)
• Relevant details
• Strong formatting

As we discuss how to write a resume for college, you might wonder what purpose a college resume serves. In short, a college resume is a summary of experiences that you can use to add depth to your college applications. You can also think of a college resume as your high school resume, or a resume for college. Your college resume will include a brief description of each of your experiences and extracurriculars for college. 

While we examine how to write a resume for college, you should first note that your college resume should include key details like your educational details, GPA , extracurricular activities/jobs, and honors/awards. As we’ll discuss, your college resume will have other key features. We’ll go through each of these as we learn how to write a resume for college. 

Many colleges list a college resume within their college application requirements. But, even if a college resume is not listed in the college application requirements, we recommend creating one anyway. 

We will look at a sample college resume later in this article, along with a 5-step guide to creating a resume for college that you can use as you begin writing your college resume. 

Do I need a resume for my college applications? 

No, you do not necessarily need to include a college resume with your college applications. However, a high school resume or resume for college can be a helpful tool in the college admissions process. 

So, how could including a resume for college application be beneficial? First, including a college resume in your college applications can help highlight your skills, experiences, and qualifications to the admissions office of your dream school.  

Having a college resume can help you showcase your extracurricular activities in your college applications. You can highlight leadership positions, accomplishments, interests, and activities on your college resume that might not appear elsewhere in your college applications. 

Creating a resume for college application can also demonstrate your accomplishments and experiences to college admissions officers. Even if a high school resume is optional in the list of college application requirements, including one in your college applications can help you stand out. Standing out is incredibly important in the admissions process, especially if your ideal college is high on the list of college rankings . 

It is a good idea to start putting together your college resume as you near the end of high school.

You may forget the names of clubs, supervisors, mentors, teachers, etc. as you get ready to apply to college. So, the earlier you can gather all the information for your high school resume, the better! That way, all of your experiences are fresh in your mind, and you can create the strongest resume for college possible. 

When should I prepare my college resume? 

As you begin the process of applying to college, you might be wondering when to prepare your college resume. The ideal timeline for creating your high school resume can start as early as 9 th grade. 

In general, you won’t want to include anything on your high school resume before 9 th grade. Like other college application requirements, college admissions officers are only interested in the activities you have participated in during high school. 

Keep a list starting in 9th grade

As early as 9 th grade, you can start keeping a list of your accomplishments and activities. Even though you won’t need to format this list into a college resume yet, it will be the basis for your future college application resume.

As you begin the college admissions process, you can use the list you created and turn it into a college resume. As you apply to college and prepare your college resume, research which college resume format works best for you. Reviewing a sample college resume or college resume template can help you find the perfect college resume format. 

As you look through college resume examples, think about which aspects of the college resume template you like the best. Then, adapt things from those college resume examples to fit your college resume. Once you have decided on a college resume format, list your accomplishments, jobs, and activities within that college resume format. 

Summer before senior year

The best time to create your high school resume is during the summer before your senior year. This gives you plenty of time to perfect your college application resume. 

We’ll examine the necessary components of a successful college resume in the next section of this article. So, read on!

What should a high school student put on a resume? 

As you begin the college admissions process, you may be asking yourself what to include on your high school resume. You can start the college application resume writing process by brainstorming how you spend your time outside of your courses. 

Think about everything you have done or achieved since you started high school and write it down. Your high school resume should highlight your activities, interests, and skills. Pay particular attention to these factors as you consider what to include on your high school resume.

Your high school resume will be organized categorically. Some of the most common categories for a resume for college application include personal information, work experience, extracurricular activities, volunteer experience/community service, education, and skills.  In addition to the categories listed above, below is a list of some other things that high school students should list on their resume for college.

Top ten things to list on your college resume:

• School name and address
• Contact Info
• GPA or Class rank, if applicable
• Internships & volunteer roles
• Awards and honors
• Extracurricular activities
• Leadership positions
• Language competencies

As we mentioned earlier, you may not have information or experiences for every category listed above. That’s perfectly fine! Focus on what applies to you and what you can include on your high school resume as you learn how to write a college resume. 

What does not belong on my high school resume? 

Now that we have examined what to include on your high school resume, let’s discuss what does not belong on your college application resume. 

Keep it current

In general, you should avoid including any activity or achievement from before 9 th grade on your resume for college. However, it’s okay to include something that is particularly impressive and/or attached to a current activity. 

For example, if you have 12 years of experience in playing the violin, you will want to include that on your high school resume. However, if you joined your middle school band for a semester, you should likely leave that out of your college resume. Your resume for college should reflect activities that matter to you now.

Avoid listing daily duties

There is no need to include informal everyday activities on your college resume, such as cooking for your family or cleaning around the house. When you are crafting your resume for college, it’s best to stick to things that are relevant to admissions committees or future employers. 

Note that this is one area where your college resume differs from your activities list. For instance, if you spend considerable time caretaking your three siblings, you may choose to include that on your activities list within the Common App. However, the same responsibilities likely shouldn’t appear on your resume for college.

Keep it clear

As you examine college resume templates and college resume examples, take note of the language and structure in a sample college resume. It’s important to use concise language and clear structure throughout your resume for college. 

Additionally, do not include excessive text or overly detailed explanations on your college application resume. You want your resume for college to be simple and clear. In general, you should limit your high school resume to one page, or two at the absolute maximum. Most people who review your college resume will spend about 30 seconds with it. So, your resume for college should be easily scanned, above all. 

When you use concise language throughout your college resume, it will make it easier for your reader to understand your accomplishments. Because most people will skim your high school resume, having a clear structure throughout will make it easy to read. Keep it simple and keep it consistent. 

Steer clear of images and graphics

While you might come across this in your college resume format research, it’s best to avoid including images or graphics in your college application resume. Although this is a new trend and can be seen on multiple college resume examples and college resume templates, it can be distracting and take up valuable space on your high school resume.  

For instance, if you volunteered at twelve different soup kitchens, there is no need to list each one separately. That will become tedious and take up too much space on your essential resume for college application. 

Finally, you should never misrepresent your qualifications on your high school resume. Be honest about your involvements, however many you have. It’s not worth potentially getting caught in a lie or an exaggeration during a college interview.

Where do I submit my college application resume? 

While you apply to college, you might be wondering what to do with your resume for college applications. Many college application portals will include a section for your college resume, especially if a resume for college is listed as one of the college application requirements. 

Most college application portals list the high school resume section as optional. While you are applying to college, you might notice that most colleges require that you fill out an activities section as part of the application process. The activities section will ask you to list your extracurriculars for college. Often, your activities section will serve the same purpose as your college resume. 

If you choose to include a high school resume with your college application, it should reflect your accomplishments in more detail than your activities section. Additionally, if you choose to include a resume for college with your application, make sure it adds something new to your activities list. 

You will receive access to your college’s application portal once you have completed the process of applying to college but before you receive a college acceptance letter and officially enroll . When it’s time to upload your high school resume, be sure to upload it as a PDF rather than a Word document. That way, you can ensure that your formatting of your college resume stays consistent on every application. 

We’ll provide more details about the college resume format later in this article, when we examine college resume examples and college resume templates. 

How often should I update my college resume? 

It may be helpful to update your resume (or other records) every six months to a year in order to avoid missing any important details. You can use your college resume for more than just your college application requirements. In fact, there may be internships or other opportunities you seek out in high school that will ask you to submit a high school resume. Updating your college resume often will help you keep track of your experiences and accomplishments. 

In general, you should update your high school resume as often as it works for you. However, when you are almost done applying to college , you will want to make sure that your college resume is up-to-date and accurate before including it with your application. 

No matter how often you update your resume for college applications, we encourage you to keep copies of any old college resume examples you might have. Having old copies of your college resume can help you in the future as you begin to tailor your college resume for potential reviewers. 

How to write a resume for college

Now that we have a better understanding of what makes up a college resume, let’s focus on how to write a resume for college. You can begin writing your college resume by creating a list of your key details . Your key details will be the starting point for your college resume. 

First, you will include information about where you go to school, as well as your current GPA and any Honors statuses. You will also want to list your academic interests on your high school resume, including what you hope to study or pursue beyond high school. 

You will also include your extracurricular activities and the years you engaged in them on your resume for college. Additionally, you will want to add any jobs or internships you have had and the dates you held them. You can also list any leadership positions and the years you held them on your college resume. 

Finally, you will want to include any special skills you have on your resume for college. This can include certifications as well. 

Once you have a list of your key details, you will want to organize these details into sections on your high school resume. For some, these sections might include Objective, Education, Leadership Positions, Work and Internship History, and Special Skills.  

College Resume Walkthrough

Linked about is our college resume walkthrough. Let’s do another walkthrough of these sections here to see what kind of information to include in each one. 

Your objective is the reason why you are writing your college resume. This section will vary depending on where you send your resume. 

If you are creating a resume for college applications, you should include information about your intended major or future career in this section. However, if you are sending your high school resume to a potential employer, your objective section will include information about why you are uniquely skilled for the job. 

Education 

The education section of your college resume should include all high schools you have attended, along with your GPA and anticipated date of graduation. 

If your high school provides you with a class rank, you can also include that piece of information within this section of your resume for college. 

Additionally, you can include your SAT or ACT score within this section, especially if you are submitting your resume for college applications. 

Leadership Positions 

Be sure to highlight any leadership positions you have held in your college resume. This includes any appointed positions you have received and even informal leadership positions. 

For example, if you were voted Class President of your Student Council, you can include that information here. Or maybe you are a peer mentor on your soccer team—you can include those details within this section of your college resume. 

Work and Internship History 

This section of your high school resume will list your whole work history, including internships , summer jobs , or part-time jobs. 

You will want to include the job title, company, dates of employment, and a brief outline of your duties for each of the work or internship experiences in this section of your resume for college. 

Special Skills 

Finally, this section of your college resume will outline any technical or soft skills you might have. Soft skills include things like teamwork, communication skills, and conflict resolution. 

In this section of your resume for college, you can also include any languages you speak or certifications you have. 

After you have organized your high school resume into sections, you will want to include a bulleted list detailing your responsibilities within each of your engagements/leadership roles. Be sure to include only relevant details in your descriptions, as it’s important to be concise on your college resume.  

Remember to include the years for every role/activity on your college resume. You will want to list them with the most recent positions/activities at the top of your resume for college. 

College resume format

Your college resume format is one of the most important features to consider as you apply to college. As you construct your college resume format, make sure that it’s readable. 

Most people won’t look at your college resume for more than 30 seconds. So, any reader should be able to skim your high school resume and come away with a relatively clear idea of your qualifications and background. 

The ideal college resume format will have the name of the student clearly listed at the top of the college resume. Another aspect of a strong college resume format will have clear sections with strong headlines. Additionally, the best college resume format will include bulleted lists where appropriate. 

We will look at the college resume format in action as we review some college resume examples and college resume templates. 

College resume examples

As we review our sample college resume, we will explain how to use it to craft your own college resume when you apply to college. Use this sample college resume as a reference point for your resume for college. Then, adapt it to fit your own unique needs. 

We will discuss the sample college resume in the next two sections of this article. As we review the sample college resume, pay particular attention to what makes this college resume clear and effective. You can use this sample college resume as a college resume builder while you apply to college. 

At first glance, you can see that this college resume is organized. This resume for college has clear sections and a concise structure. What makes this college resume clear and effective is its formatting, language, and length. Be sure to incorporate these same elements into your own high school resume as you apply to college. 

Remember, this sample college resume is just one of many college resume examples available. Figure out what you like best about this sample college resume and use it to craft your own college resume. 

Sample college resume – What works? 

The key features of this sample college resume are its formatting, language, and length. Focusing on these in your own college resume will ensure that your resume for college stands out. 

Clear delineated sections

The formatting in this college resume works so well because it includes clearly delineated sections and organized by year. Keeping your information and experiences organized by year is an effective format for a resume for college applications. 

Simple and straightforward language

Another feature of this college resume that works well is the language. There is clear language and details throughout this resume for college that provide context for each role and accomplishment. For example, each of the work experiences in this high school resume feature a brief description of the student’s role and duties/responsibilities. 

Concise structure

Additionally, this resume for college application features a concise structure that helps the reader clearly understand the purpose of each section. The descriptions within this college resume are brief but comprehensive. Having a concise structure and clear language throughout your college resume is key. 

The final key feature that works well in this college resume is the length. This resume for college is just one page in length. Ideally, you want your college resume to fit on one page, but that is not a hard and fast rule. If you have a wealth of experiences and extracurriculars for college, your college resume can go over the typical one-page length. 

Even though this high school resume is a little over one page, it does not have any irrelevant details or extraneous information on it. As you begin writing your college resume, be sure to only include relevant details on it. 

As you learn how to write a college resume, keep track of what features work well and incorporate them into your own college resume. If you are unsure if the sample college resume will work for your college resume, don’t worry. There are plenty of college resume examples and college resume templates to choose from as you are applying to college. 

College resume template

There are multiple college resume examples that you can review as you start your college resume or college application letter . Looking at a college resume template can help you decide on the formatting, language, and length that works best for you. 

Hunter College has a web page with college resume examples and college resume templates. Use it as a resource as you build your high school resume. 

If possible, you should avoid using form templates as you construct your college resume. Instead, think of the college resume template as a guide. You should aim to format your resume for college in the way that works best for you. 

It’s best to be a bit unique as you create your high school resume. Looking at a college resume template can help you find your own distinct style. You can also incorporate different aspects from a college resume template into your own college resume. 

However, be sure to avoid any hard-to-read fonts or unnecessary details in your formatting as you learn how to write a college resume. While your resume shouldn’t look like it was made using a stock college resume template, it also should not be overly crowded.

College resume builder

There are also college resume builder resources, like this one from Wheaton College , that will help students build their college resumes. You can use a college resume builder to format your own resume for college. 

At CollegeAdvisor.com, we host webinars on topics that help you apply to college. We have a webinar on how to write a resume for college, with plenty of college resume examples. We also have a webinar with advice from former Admissions Officers on how to build your college resume. 

Once again, you should generally avoid a pre-formatted college resume builder or college resume template. Instead, use these college resume examples as a jumping off point as you begin the college admissions process. 

Formatting your high school resume yourself makes it easier to make any quick edits or fix any formatting quirks. If you were to use a college resume builder or college resume template, these adjustments may be a challenge. 

Build your College Resume in 5 Simple Steps

Having examined some college resume examples, let’s review 5 simple steps for how to write a resume for college. 

Five Steps to Build your College Resume

Make an accurate list of your experiences, awards, education, and qualifications. You will use this list as the outline for your resume for college. 

Choose the best college resume format for the job. Before you finalize your choice of college resume format , review a college resume template or college resume examples for guidance. Then, create a resume header for your college resume. 

Add your accurate information by section on your resume for college. Reference the college resume examples you reviewed previously to choose the sections you will use on your high school resume. Organize each list by year, placing the most recent item at the top of your resume for college. Be sure to separate your extracurricular experiences from your awards/honors, creating two lists (or more if necessary). 

Format your lists to be clear and readable , and add your name and contact information as the header of your college resume. 

Ask a friend, family member, or mentor to copy edit your resume for college! Having another set of eyes on your high school resume will help you create the strongest resume for college possible. 

How to write a college resume – Final Thoughts

In this article, we reviewed how to write a college resume. As we discussed the purpose of a college application resume, we examined college resume examples and described key features that work in a college resume. We hope the college resume examples we featured in our article on how to write a resume for college help you craft your high school resume as you apply to college.

Need help crafting the perfect college application resume? CollegeAdvisor.com can teach you how to write a resume for college. Register for a free CollegeAdvisor.com account and receive access to hundreds of articles and webinars. These resources will help you craft your college resume as you begin applying to college.

This article was written by  Claire Babbs . If you want to get help with your college applications from Claire or other  CollegeAdvisor.com  Admissions Experts , click here to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. During your meeting, our team will discuss your profile and help you find targeted ways to increase your admissions odds at top schools. We’ll also answer any questions and discuss how CollegeAdvisor.com can support you in the college application process.

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Resume for College Application – Examples & Template

July 8, 2024

College application resumes are different from professional resumes. There’s a certain way your resume for college applications should be to ensure your profile stands out. In one page, your resume will need to cover your academics, background, extracurricular activities and achievements. So to be asked to complete a resume, on top of everything else that goes into the college application? We know, it sounds like a lot. If you’re not sure where to start, you’ve come to the right place. Down below, we’ll dive right into what a college resume is and how to write a college resume. You’ll even find three college application resume examples and a college application resume template to help you start your own.

Let’s have a look at how to begin your resume for your college applications.

What goes into a college application resume?

A resume for your college application, otherwise known as your high school resume, should be one page long. It’s a space for you to show colleges all of your most important activities and achievements that they wouldn’t necessarily know in other parts of your college application. The overall objective of the college application resume is to demonstrate the bigger picture of who you are. It’s essentially a summary of what you’ve done, assembled in a way that serves as a snapshot of your greatest achievements.

There are a few core sections that will go into your college application resume:

– Contact information: Your full name, home address, email and phone number should be at the very top of your college application resume. The header of your resume should have all of this information. This includes any LinkedIn page or personal website that showcases your achievements. – Educational details and academic accomplishments: The full name of your high school and the dates of when you attended should go here. This is where you’ll include your GPA, your AP or IB courses, your ACT or SAT scores and your class ranking, if it’s significant.

College Resume Template (Continued)

Extracurricular activities and work experience: Any special volunteering, internships, part-time jobs, or even had a unique experience studying or working abroad? You should mention those moments here. This section of the resume will amplify what kind of person you are in the community around you. To better understand you as an applicant, admissions officers want to know where you spend your time outside of school. Did you have any leadership positions? Was there a special job or position you had? – Awards and honors: If you have any accomplishments that you’re proud of, you should list them here. This is the part of the college application resume to list achievements like your first prize in a district-wide writing competition or your Most Valuable Player award in your tennis team. Remember, both academic awards and extracurricular awards can be mentioned, so be sure to include any relevant recognitions. – Special skills and interests: Let’s say you speak more than one language and you’re passionate about all things student leadership. Perhaps you know everything about computers. This part of the college application resume is where you should list those unique skills. Think of strong skills and interests you possess, while making sure they reflect your overall college application profile and ambitions. If you have any particular interests or even hobbies that can strengthen your application, then go for it.

Putting together the resume for your college applications can be a tedious process, so it’s best to pay careful attention to every line. You’ll want to focus on the format , style of language , brief but concise descriptions and crucial details .

Resume for College Application – Examples & Templates

College resume template #1.

Here are three different resume examples for college applications. They’ll go from the most basic college application resume to the most detailed:

1) For a standard college application resume, take a look at this student interested in studying anthropology or literature in college. The following is a very standard college application resume:

Dakota Lee 909 Park Avenue Portland, Oregon (012) 345-6789 [email protected]

Bloomington High School, Class of 2024 GPA: 3.85

• Lead students (K-6) in all camp-related activities relating to literature immersion.
• Organize art projects three days a week with senior counselors.
• Coordinate students’ final art show for parents.
• Assisted graduate students in their anthropology research 4 hours every week.
• Presented at the end of every month my own research findings between literature and anthropology.
• President, Student Anthropology Club: 2021-Present
• Vice President, Bloomington Book Club: 2022-Present
• Team Captain, JV Tennis Team: 2021-Present
• First Chair Violinist, Symphony Orchestra: 2022-Present
• High Honors List: 2024
• Principal’s List: 2023-2024
• National Honors Society: 2021-2024
• Most Valuable Player, JV Tennis Team: 2023-2024
• Languages: Spanish, French, Japanese
• Computer: Microsoft Word, Excel, Adobe Photoshop

College Resume Template #2

2) The next college application resume includes more details than the resume above, with a different layout. You’ll find that there is a short description of the student’s character and interests under a section called “Educational Goal” at the top:

Jon Jackson 678 Orange Street Austin, Texas (123) 456-7890 [email protected]

Educational Goal

Diligent, driven student with a passion for business and economic development. Dedicated to improving the livelihood of small businesses across the state of California. Focused on collaborating with business leaders, community organizers and students across the country to create a stronger, more sustainable economy.

High School Diploma                                                                                                                    2024 Springfield High School Austin, Texas GPA: 3.98 Courses: AP Calculus, AP Physics, AP Macroeconomics, AP US History, AP Spanish

Austin Chamber of Commerce – Student Representative                                                     2021-2024 Austin, Texas – Served as representative of public schools across the city of Austin, advocating for student perspectives on Austin’s economic initiatives. – Developed campaigns and city-wide initiatives to encourage more student involvement in local elections, distributed pamphlets door-to-door to invite neighborhoods to participate in city-wide census polls. – Relayed information from commerce meetings back to our school district. – Advocated for the support of small businesses. – Created a bimonthly “Student Visit Day” to continue open communication between decision makers and high school student leaders across Austin.

• President, Business Club 2021-Present
• Treasurer, Young Economists 2022-Present
• Student Volunteer, Save the Children 2022-Present
• Editor, Springfield Student Gazette 2022-Present
• High Honors List 2024
• Principal’s List     2023-2024
• National Honors Society     2021-2024
• Best Student Entrepreneur, Business Club     2023-2024
• Languages: Spanish, German, Arabic
• Advocacy, Debate, Public Speaking
• Microsoft Word, Excel, Adobe Photoshop

College Resume Template #3

Now let’s look at a college application resume that has a different structure and even more details. Keep in mind the first two resumes you just saw above:

Cassandra Zimmerman Los Angeles, CA ✦ (012) 987-6543 ✦ [email protected]

Driven student with a track record of community and student leadership. Passionate about women’s rights and girls’ education, eager to make a difference through service and mentorship. Committed to applying my leadership and communication skills to contribute to my college community, I am excited to major in business marketing and sociology to create a better working environment for women around the world.

High School Diploma                                                                                       Expected in June 2024 Valley High School Los Angeles, CA GPA: 3.88 – Awards: Academic Achievement Award (2021-2023), Community Service Excellence Award (2022-2023), Student Role Model Award (2024) – Courses: AP Microeconomics, AP Literature, AP European History, AP Spanish, AP French – Clubs: Journalism Club, UNICEF Club, Girls Empowerment Club, Entrepreneurial Club – Sports : Track and field team captain

• Critical thinking
• Innovation and adaptability
• Project management
• Organization and coordination

Professional Skills

Leadership – Led a team of 10 senior students across the Los Angeles School District to meet with the Mayor of Los Angeles and discuss our hopes for women in business. – Steered the track and field team as team captain, maintaining a positive spirit throughout every season. – Initiated the weekly column of our student newspaper to focus on areas of local community improvement. Communication – Showcased results from community polling to 50 members of the school district leadership. – Proactively participated in journalism club, leading student investigation pieces on local incidents affecting women-led businesses. – Collaborating across different school clubs to foster an interdisciplinary education and promote a united community. Computer and Technology Proficiency – Highly skilled in Microsoft Excel to aggregate and process data, while also proficient in the entire Microsoft Office Suite applications. – Adept in creating social media campaigns on X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram and TikTok.

Work History

University of Southern California, Young Leaders Internship                                      2022-2024 Los Angeles, CA YMCA Girls Leadership                                                                                                 2021-2024 San Francisco, CA

Volunteer Experience

UNICEF Local Chapter Volunteer                                                                             2021-2024 Volunteered as a student leader UNICEF member for our local chapter every month. Disseminated pamphlets and helped organize Los Angeles events that focused on girls’ education. Mentoring freshmen with All Hands On Deck                                                            2022-2024 Served as a mentor to freshmen students across the Los Angeles Unified School District. Coordinated activities with arts organizations and businesses across the city to help struggling students have more access to educational and extracurricular resources. Dog Rescue Volunteer                                                                                                 2021-2024 Participated as a weekly volunteer at the local animal shelter to help clean, feed and walk dogs. Promoting adoption events and animal rescue awareness across the city.

College Application Resume Styles

By looking at the resumes for college applications above, you’ll see that the three are quite different from each other. The first was a very simple college application resume example, while the second was a bit more informative, though not entirely. The third college application resume example provided more background information and relevant details. However, it’s always important to keep in mind that you’ll want your college application resume to be around one page.

The top general tips for writing your resume for college applications are:

1) Write your contact information and professional email address. Make sure your email address is something that colleges won’t have to think twice about.

2) Begin with education . Colleges know that you won’t have a lot of work experience. They’re academic institutions, so first and foremost, they’re interested in your academic performance. Start your college application resume with your education.

3) Bulleted lists over paragraphs. Elaborate on your achievements and experiences with brief descriptions in bullet points, not in lengthy paragraphs . Admissions officers will want to read clear and concise descriptions that are straight to the point.

4) Use strong action verbs that empower you. If you led a group of children at camp or presented your research in front of a committee, use an action verb that encapsulates your responsibilities. This means that instead of writing “It involved leading groups of children…” try something like “Directed groups of children to…”

5) One page does the trick. It’s tempting to want to make your resume as long and informative as possible. But the moment that happens, the quicker the reader will lose interest. College admissions offices are looking through thousands of applications. Keeping your college application resume concise will only work in your favor. Doing so is also a great exercise for future job applications and helps you decide what you really want to focus on sharing.

As seen from the examples above, you can personalize the style of your college application resume. But a general college application resume template will look like the following:

Your name Home address, City, State (Your) phone number | [email protected]

The name of your high school                                                                City, State, Year of Graduation

GPA: Your score ￭  SAT: Your score  ￭  ACT: Your score

Relevant Coursework : The names of any relevant, important classes

Your role, The name of your experience                                                                      City, State, Year

• Description of your experience.

Awards/Honors

• The name of your award: Date you were awarded

Description of your award. Any specific numbers and information that provides more context.

Additional Skills

List your skills that are relevant to your overall college application. They can be both professional and unique skills.

Resume for College Application – Examples & Template – Additional Resources 

• How to Complete the Common App Activities Section
• How to Complete the Honors Section on the Common App 
• 300 Best Colleges in the US
• Common App Essay Prompts 2024-25
• 10 Instructive Common App Examples 
• How to Brainstorm a College Essay 
• Application Strategies

Joanna Hong

With a BA from Pitzer College and an MA from University College London, Joanna has worked in London, Berlin, and Los Angeles covering many cultural and political issues with organizations such as Byline Media, NK News, and Free Turkey Media. A freelancer for The New York Times, her work has also appeared in Newsweek, Dazed and Confused Magazine, and The Guardian, among others. In addition, Joanna was the recipient of the 2021 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellowship in Fiction and is currently completing her first novel.

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College Resume - Examples & Writing Guides for 2024

You’ve just sat down to write a college student resume.

An A+ resume that converts.

Whether you need a part-time job to cover your bills or a college internship for more experience, we are here to help.

This guide will take you through a simple step-by-step process of creating a college student resume. 

• An example of a finished college resume that works
• How to write a college resume that’ll fill up your interview diary
• How to make your college resume stand out [with top tips & tricks]

For some added inspiration, here’s a college student resume example, created with our very own resume builder :

The above example gets serious results, and yours will too. Simply follow the steps below.

Check out some of these related resume examples that you might be interested in:

• No Experience Resume
• Internship Resume
• Research Assistant Resume
• Students and Graduates Resume
• High School Resume
• Teacher Resume

How to Format a College Student Resume

The first step when creating any resume is to pick the best resume format.

Formatting has a number of benefits, but mostly it allows the hiring manager to read your resume with ease.

The most common resume format for a college student is “functional” or “skill-based”, which allows the hiring manager to immediately see the benefits in hiring you. We recommend college students starting with this format.

Students will usually have stronger skills than their work history, which makes the functional resume a good choice. It’s also ideal for those who have gaps in their employment history.

Now that you have the best format, you need to organize your resume layout .

Use a College Student Resume Template

Before you go ahead with crafting your college student resume, you may want to use a college student resume template.

A resume that is neat and orderly will be a breeze for recruiters to read.

Oh, and it’s the best way to prevent formatting issues.

What to Include in a College Student Resume

The main sections in a college student resume are:

• Contact Information
• Volunteer Experience
• Extracurricular Activities

Want to go a step further? You can also add these optional sections:

• Awards & Certification
• Personal Projects

Interests & Hobbies

But what should you write for each of these sections? Read on to find out.

Want to know more about resume sections? View our guide on What to Put on a Resume .

How to Correctly Display your Contact Information

Now, this section doesn’t require flair, but it must be factually correct. Messing up the contact section can mean the recruiter can’t contact you – oops! 

The contact information section must include:

• Title - In this case, “College Student” or “High-school Graduate”
• Phone Number – Proofread this multiple times
• Email Address – Use a professional email address ([email protected]), not one from your childhood ([email protected]).
• (Optional) Location - Applying for a job abroad? Mention your location.
• Abigail Pearce - College Student. 101-358-6095. [email protected]
• Abigail Pearce - Student. 101-358-6095. [email protected]

How to Write a College Student Resume Summary or Objective

So, this is a job you really want.

This may even be a job you NEED.

However, your competition is fierce. 

And with so much competition, you need to convince the hiring manager within the first few sentences.

To do this, use a resume summary or objective .

These are short paragraphs that go on top of your resume, just under your contact information. They give an overview of your entire resume.

But what is the difference between the two sections?

A resume summary is a 2-4 sentence summary of your professional experiences and achievements.

Dependable marketing sophomore with 1 year part-time experience in a marketing internship to oversee marketing campaigns that maximise profit. Experience includes PPC campaigns, SMM, web design, brand development, and more.

A resume objective is a 2-4 sentence snapshot of what you want to achieve professionally.

Current undergraduate sophomore in marketing with hundreds of classroom hours in marketing and sales related courses. Passionate about maximizing revenue with effective marketing campaigns. Experience includes creating campaigns for my own personal projects in my first term at College X. Skilled in WordPress, Facebook Ads Manager, Photoshop, ClickFunnels, and more.

So, which one is best, summary or objective?

Those with some work experience should go with a resume summary. On the other hand, those who seriously lack work experience should go with a resume objective.

How to Make Your College Student Work Experience Stand Out

Recruiters like to feel confident that you can do the job. There is no easier way to do this than to list your work experience .

Here’s the best way to structure your work experience section:

• Position name
• Company Name
• Responsibilities & Achievements

The Pizza Cabin

03/2019 - 01/2020

• Served food to 40+ people a night and multiple tables at a time.
• Educated customers on menu items and daily specials.
• Received 98% positive customer feedback.
• Engaged customers in a personal, yet professional manner, which helped me to win “Employee of the Month” 4 times.

To separate your resume from the competition, you should focus on your achievements instead of daily tasks. This will allow the recruiter to see the obvious benefits in hiring you.

Instead of saying:

“Served customers”

“Served food to 80+ people a night and multiple tables at a time”

Simply, the first statement is way too vague. There zero chance the recruiter will be impressed by this.

The second statement shows that you were able to serve 80+ people and multiple tables at a time. This tells the recruiter that you are able to work under pressured conditions and to time constraints – impressive!

What if You Don’t Have Work Experience?

Now, not every applicant will have worked in a similar job before.

If this is you, there is a simple way to get around this.

Simply call-upon crossover skills from any previous jobs.

For example, if you held a customer service role at a local pizza restaurant, you can talk about any crossover skills and experiences. Just like a sales associate, you would be able to show you used strong communication and sales skills.

As a student, make sure to check out our student resume guide!

How to Correctly List your Education

Next, it’s time to talk about your education.

Whether it’s a college junior resume or college sophomore resume, your education section is crucial.

There’s nothing too complicated with this section, just simply enter the information for your in-progress degree in the following format:

• Degree Type & Major
• University Name
• Expected Graduation
• GPA, Honours, Courses, and anything else you might want to add

Majoring in Marketing

University of Chicago

2019 - Present

• Relevant Courses: Principles of Marketing, Managerial Communications, Quantitative Methods, and Macroeconomics.

Now, you may have some questions on this section. If so, here are the answers to some of the most frequent questions that we get:

• What if I haven’t completed education yet?

As we mention above, you should still mention your current place of education, despite not finishing yet

• Should I include my high school education?

If you have not yet finished your college degree, you should also include your high school education

• What do I put first, my education or experience?

Experiences are the priority, so those go first

Want more information? Check out our guide on how to list education on a resume .

Top 10 Skills for a College Student Resume

You’ve got all the skills.

But here’s the thing –

Your competition is well-skilled too!

Show the hiring manager that you’re the top candidate by listing your best skills.

But what are the best skills for a college resume?

Create a list of hard skills and soft skills that you have developed so far in life, such as the following:

Hard Skills for a College Resume:

• Microsoft Office
• Typing Speed
• Copywriting

Soft Skills:

• Creative Thinking
• Communication
• Time-Management
• Team Player
• Decision-Making

Tailor your skills to the job description. You can have the best skills in the world, but the recruiter won’t appreciate them if they’re not relevant to the job.

Here’s a more comprehensive list of 100+ must-have skills this year.

What Else Can You Include?

We’ve now covered every essential resume section .

But the school bell hasn’t rung just yet.

You need your resume to stand out!

Acing the above sections should be enough to get you shortlisted, but adding the following sections could give you a further advantage over the other applicants.  

Awards & Certifications

Have you ever won an award?

Have you completed any third-party courses?

Do you hold any specialized certifications?

Regardless of what it is, if there is anything that you’re proud of, be sure to include it here.

Here’s an example:

Awards & Certificates

• Food Handlers Card & Food Safety Manager Certification 
• “Critical Thinking Masterclass” – Coursera Course

Need to speak multiple languages at your new job?

Yes or no, being able to speak a second language is impressive.

And with so much competition, this could be the difference.

Add a language section if you have space. 

Rank the languages by proficiency:

• Intermediate

Now, you may be wondering, “why would a recruiter want to know that I’m a part of the football team?”

Well, it allows the recruiter to get to know who you are on a personal level.

But it doesn’t stop there…

Certain hobbies demonstrate that you have soft skills, like teamwork and communication. 

Here’s which hobbies & interests you may want to mention.

Include a Cover Letter with Your Resume

Your resume should now be ready to send.

No application is complete without a convincing cover letter.

In opposition to a generic resume, a personalized cover letter shows that you care about working for this specific company .

Here’s how to structure a winning cover letter:

You should complete the following sections:

Personal Contact Information

Your full name, profession, email, phone number, and location

Hiring Manager’s Contact Information

Full name, position, location, email

Opening Paragraph

It’s no secret that recruiters skim through their pile of resumes. As such, use concise language to mention:

• The position you’re applying for
• Your experience summary and best achievement to date

With the recruiter intrigued, you can get deeper into the following specifics:

• Why you chose this specific company
• What you know about the company
• How are your top skills relevant for the job
• Which similar industries or positions have you worked in before

Closing Paragraph

Don’t just end the conversation abruptly, you should:

• Conclude the points made in the body paragraph
• Thank the recruiter for the opportunity
• Finish with a call to action. This is a good way to keep the conversation going. A simple “At your earliest opportunity, I’d love to discuss more about how I can help you achieve X” will work

Formal Salutations

End the letter in a professional manner. Something like, “Kind regards” or “Sincerely.”

For more inspiration, read our step-by-step guide on how to write a cover letter .

Key Takeaways

Building a college resume doesn't have to be hard.

Follow the tips in this guide for a college resume that is head & shoulders above the competition. 

Here are our best tips on how to create a college resume:

• Make your resume easy to read by formatting it correctly. Prioritize the reverse-chronological format, and then follow the best practices on content layout
• Use a resume summary or objective to hook the recruiter
• In your work experience section, highlight your most notable achievements to date
• Include a convincing cover letter to separate you from the competition

Suggested Reading:

• How to Make a Resume with No-Experience [21+ Examples]
• 21+ Essential LinkedIn Profile Tips For Job-Seekers
• Use Resume Keywords to Land the Job [880+ Keywords]

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How to Write a College Resume That’ll Get You Hired (Plus an Example!)

When you’re in college, a strong resume is one of the first things that helps you land an internship or part-time job. It represents you to employers when you can’t be in the room (yet!) and is essential to convincing them to call you for an interview based on your previous experiences and current skills. Whether you have a resume you used for college applications or are starting completely from scratch, putting effort into your resume now gives you a higher likelihood of success and sets a solid foundation, making it a breeze to update in the future as you—and it—evolve.

If you feel like you have nothing to put on your resume, don’t worry. After advising hundreds of students on these documents, I know you have more to offer than you think! I frequently meet first-year college students who believe they can’t include many of the things they did before college on a resume. You absolutely can—and you should—until those get outranked by all the other awesome things you’ll accumulate over the course of your college career. Even if you’re a freshly minted high school graduate, you have valuable skills and experiences employers want, and this guide can help you showcase them.

Read on to learn about what goes on your resume, how to format it, and what else you can do to ensure it makes you shine—and to see our college resume example.

What Goes on a College Resume

In setting up your resume, you should use a few core sections to help you easily lay out all the information a recruiter is looking for when they make quick decisions about whether or not to interview you. (And yes, recruiters do skim, reportedly spending an average of 7.4 seconds making their first pass on a resume, so you want to make a good impression fast).

Contact Info

It’s traditional to start with your basic contact information at the top of your document including your name, email, phone, and the city and state where you live. Use your full name (and maybe bump up the font a point or two because you’re a big deal!), and if you have a nickname you prefer, you can include it in parentheses.

Use your college email as it’s typically professional and establishes your educational brand. Now is also a good time to check that your phone’s voicemail greeting is up-to-date. In case a recruiter calls while you’re busy—or you don’t recognize the number and swipe it to voicemail—this greeting could be their first impression of you. Even recording something as simple as, “ Hello, you’ve reached Christine. Please leave a message and I will return your call as soon as possible, ” can help them feel confident they reached the right person and that you’re able to present yourself professionally.

Your physical location can be based either on your school’s address or your permanent home address. If you’re targeting opportunities in one location or the other, include the most local address so they know you’re familiar with the area (and likely won’t have a problem finding housing).

Pro tip: Save space by listing your email, phone, and location all on one line. If you have a LinkedIn profile , you can add that in your contact information section as well. The result might look like this:

Karla Perez Stillwater, MN ∙ (000) 765-4321 ∙ [email protected] ∙ www.linkedin.com/krperez

For college students, education should be right below the contact information on your resume. This immediately orients your reader to the fact that you’re a current student and conveys important information, like what you’re studying. What you include in your education section can also demonstrate that you’re a good match for the opportunity you’re targeting, increasing your chances of a recruiter call.

The basics you should always include are:

• Your school’s name
• Your expected graduation date
• The type of degree you’re pursuing: For example, you might write “Bachelor of Arts” or “Associate’s Degree.”
• Any majors, minors, or concentrations: If you’re applying to opportunities in these areas, this will help an employer see you already have some knowledge and a motivation for working with them.

Depending on your personal strengths and what jobs you’re applying for, you might also want to include:

• Your GPA: But only if it’s strong. (It’s usually good to include 3.5 and above.) If you stumbled through some of the general requirements you had to take but nailed all the courses in your major, consider adding two GPAs—your cumulative GPA and your major GPA—to show you have stronger grades in your chosen discipline.
• Standardized test scores: If you’re applying to opportunities in quantitative fields, like finance or consulting, you might consider listing standardized test scores like the SAT or ACT.
• Relevant coursework: Selecting and highlighting three to five classes that match closely with the specific opportunity you’re applying to is a really fast way to tailor your resume and make you a more attractive match. For example, if you’re targeting an internship in computer science, you can list your “Introduction to Python” and “Introduction to Algorithms” classes.
• Other colleges or universities you’ve attended: If you’re a transfer student or you studied abroad at another university, adding these schools can signal that you have other strengths, such as cultural awareness or language skills, or give you a chance to highlight key classes you took elsewhere.
• Your high school: If you’re shooting for an opportunity local to your high school or went somewhere well-known, then you may want to keep that as your last entry for educational experience. Otherwise, high school is the first entry to cut when you’re short on space. It has gotten you to where you need to be, but the focus should now be on the higher-level degree you’re working on and you should dedicate as much space as you need to boast about all of your amazing college accomplishments!

Here is an example of what a completed “Education” section might look like:

Candidate for Bachelor of Arts degree ,   St. Olaf College , Northfield, MN Double Major: Political Science and Economics ∙ Expected Graduation: May 2023 ∙ GPA: 3.7 Relevant Coursework: Introduction to Political Theory, Politics and Human Rights, Global Interdependence

The experience section is where the real substance of your resume lives. This is the chance to show a snapshot of the jobs and internships you’ve had (if any), the work you did, the skills you used, and your accomplishments. Let’s talk about what experience you can include, how to pull out skills and demonstrate your value, and what it should look like on the page.

Experience can cover a lot of things. It can be full-time jobs, part-time jobs, internships, or research. Unpaid work—like volunteer and community roles—counts too! Don’t discount the value these other kinds of experiences can add to your resume just because you didn’t earn money. You can leverage all of your experiences on a resume by pulling out transferable skills , or broader talents you’ve developed that will be beneficial even if you aren’t applying to the same type of role.

Take a significant class project, for example. That can be built out as experience as long as you’re clear it was for a class. If you worked on a group project, you probably collaborated on a team, organized, worked under deadlines, completed some independent tasks, presented your work to others, and had some kind of outcome. Even if you were doing something that might not seem widely applicable, like designing a rocket, many of those skills can transfer over to another role. Say you had to do cost comparisons for the materials you selected for your rocket, those same analysis skills could be useful to a business role or for a part-time job where you have to order supplies for a restaurant.

You can also create targeted headers for your Experience section(s) if there are themes that correlate with the internship or part-time job you want. Specific headers—such as “Research Experience,” “Marketing Experience,” or “Software Engineering Experience”—can immediately help your reader see that you’re aligned with the needs they have for their open role.

If you don’t have something that specific, it’s OK. You can still shift your experiences into categories like “Relevant Experience” and “Additional Experience.” For example, if you’re applying to research roles, you’d want to put any research related work under “Relevant Experience,” and your cashier job and website building side hustle would go under “Additional Experience.” These two headers are great for allowing you to bump the best of your experiences up toward the top of your resume.

Once you decide which headers to use, make sure each entry includes basic information—the title of your role, the organization’s name, the location, and the dates you worked there—along with bullet points describing what you accomplished. For example:

Intern , Minnesota State Senate , St. Paul, MN June 2019–August 2019

• Researched prior legislation and current bills, summarized content, and identified alternate actions
• Coordinated the schedule for Senator Harriet Maxwell and kept accurate minutes for all meetings
• Drafted memos for important interoffice updates outside of normal meeting schedule

A skills section is a great way to make your most valuable knowledge and expertise stand out—and be easily spotted by a recruiter. Which skills belong in your own skill section depend on the jobs you’re applying for, so be sure to read the job description carefully to figure out what skills are most relevant for each particular role.

Skills that might appear in this section include (but are definitely not limited to): technical skills; software or other tools you know well; languages you can speak, read, or write; other job-specific skills like using a POS system or cash register; and, for some jobs, even your ability to drive different vehicles.

From this range, you can see why it’s important to change things up based on what job you’re applying to! Some skills—for example, being fluent or conversational in a second language—might be relatively permanent fixtures on a college resume. If you’re looking for a part-time job waiting tables, you might add the fact that you can bartend, whereas you might list your mastery in JavaScript instead when going after that software engineering internship you have your eye on.

Once you’ve decided which skills are most important for this role, you can simply list them on your resume. If you have a few different types of skills, you can separate them into categories. For instance:

Languages: Spanish (Fluent); Russian (Basic) Software: JavaScript, Python, CSS

Note that just listing your skills in a separate section isn’t always enough. You also want to make sure to describe how you’ve used key technical and job skills elsewhere on your resume (usually in the bullet points of your experience section).

Other Optional Sections

There are some other sections you can consider adding depending on your experiences and what your target employer might be looking for. For example, a consumer product firm might be looking for examples of design work. In that case you could add a section called “Design Projects,” which might include significant assignments from some of your academic classes or independent projects that you’ve developed in your spare time. Don’t be afraid to include links to your work if you’re submitting your resume online! (Just avoid hyperlinking out from important words, as this could trip up the online systems that scan most resumes.)

Another popular section is “Leadership Experience” where roles like being the vice president for one of your student organizations or being a co-captain for your athletic team would be a good fit. Employers love to see leadership themes on resumes, as it demonstrates the transferable soft skills they’re looking for like communication, collaboration, and initiative.

An “Activities” section can also demonstrate skills. If you dedicate time to learning more about consulting cases with your consulting club, you likely increased your analytical skills in a team setting, which is valuable for many business roles. If you’re an athlete, you can showcase your ability to manage your time, create or be part of a cohesive team, or organize and motivate teammates during practices. These skills gained as an athlete can be ideal if you’re applying for a heavily collaborative role. Additionally, if the activities that you’re involved in are directly applicable to the job, these are powerful to include as it demonstrates interest and dedication. So if you’re majoring in healthcare administration, adding that you’re a member of the Healthcare Society on your campus can be a major plus for an employer.

Any optional sections like these will usually need to be set up similar to your experience entries. Include the organization (or class), your role, the location, the dates you participated, and your key achievements. Here is an example of an entry you might put under a “Leadership” heading:

Head Delegate , Model United Nations , Northfield, MN September 2019–April 2020

• Researched global topics such as human rights and sustainable energy and developed persuasive positions
• Represented Chile as a delegate in an education simulation at a conference with 2,000+ participants; negotiated with others and collaborated on common goals to deliver resolutions on political issues
• Liaised between the delegation and the Secretariat, serving as a first point of contact and resolving issues

6 Tips for Writing a Successful College Resume

From formatting to crafting strong descriptions, attention to detail can pay off when tackling your resume. Here are six tips to help you develop a great resume:

1. Choose the Right Resume Format for You

Your parents or other family members might share their resume and have you copy it because it has worked for them. But they’re at a different place in their career and their format may not be the best one for you.

There are three main types of resume formats for laying out your experiences, skills, and education—the functional resume , the combination/hybrid resume , and the chronological resume . The chronological format is almost always the best fit for college students.

With a chronological resume, you’ll list your experiences within each category/section in reverse chronological order (most recent to least recent, based on end date). Since this is the most traditional and common resume format, recruiters are familiar with it and can quickly see what you have to offer.

2. Be Clear and Consistent

In terms of resume formatting, there are a lot of small choices to make about things like font, style, and spacing. Whatever you decide, make sure it is easily readable, consistent, and not overly fancy. You could have the greatest content in the world, but if it’s too difficult or annoying to read, a recruiter is going to move on.

In order to make a document easy to scan, use clear headers for your sections. Maybe they’re bold and in all caps, or maybe they’re a couple font sizes larger, but they should be the same throughout your resume. The rest of your content should be consistent as well. For example, all your organization or previous employer names might be in italics, your dates all right aligned, your locations in plain text, and the titles of your roles in bold. Keeping things uniform helps the recruiter easily absorb all the relevant information you want them to have.

3. Make Sure It Can Pass Through an Application Tracking System (ATS)

Formatting is also important because your resume will likely pass through something called an applicant tracking system (ATS), a type of software that helps recruiters organize incoming candidate applications. Recruiters can apply filters or search for keywords, and the ATS will show candidates matching the desired criteria, making it easier to identify good candidates in large applicant pools.

In order for your resume to pass this first round and make it to the human who has the power to get you to an interview, the ATS needs to see you’re a good match. But there are formatting choices that can confuse an ATS—for example, some won’t read the content inside tables, text boxes, or graphics. And if the ATS can’t read your materials, your resume might be filtered out. (Read more about formatting your resume for an ATS here .)

This all means that using one of the fancy resume templates you see online isn’t necessarily the best move . Most basic formatting can be achieved with bolding, italics, and spacing, and you will still end up with a good-looking resume—meaning that starting with a blank document can actually be a better bet. (If you still want to use a template, we’ve curated 41 free ATS-friendly templates here .)

4. Create Impactful Descriptions

Give the descriptions you use for your experiences some TLC, as this is what recruiters will focus on once you’ve caught their attention. I often discover students undersell—or simply forget—all the things they’ve done that might be interesting and of value to an employer (including those transferable skills).

Here’s an exercise that can help. Reflect on an experience (such as an internship you had or volunteer work you completed) and quickly jot down what you did. You don’t need to have much structure for this—try it as a brainstorm. Think about answering some of these questions:

• What was your role?
• What were the goals for that position or experience?
• What tasks did you specifically do?
• What projects did you work on?
• Were there any side projects or tasks you completed?
• Who did you work with?
• What did you contribute?
• What did you accomplish? (Or what did/do you intend to accomplish? This can be a useful way to think about things especially when considering research or longer term projects that are still in progress!)
• Can it be quantified? Numbers can paint a clear and impressive picture of your accomplishments to someone reading your resume. You might write that you fundraised as part of the Student Government Association, and that will generally get your point across, but if you can say you increased SGA fundraising by 30% and were able to create two new social events attended by 100+ students each, that will make more of an impact. Look for ways to quantify your accomplishments wherever possible.

Once you have a good brainstorm, take the information you gathered and try crafting several statements using this formula:

Action Verb + Subject + Outcome/Purpose/Result (i.e. Accomplishment)

So you might say:

Organized a fundraiser event for 70 participants resulting in $1,000 in donations to a local hospital

Your descriptions are most valuable when leading with an action verb that reflects specific skills. For example, swap “Worked on” for “Collaborated on” and “Responsible for” with “Oversaw.” Other verbs I often recommend students use include:

• Communicated
• Facilitated

5. Tailor Your Resume for Each Opportunity

Always tailor your resume to each specific job you apply to. Making it easy for the recruiter to connect your skills to what they are looking for can increase your chances of success. The job description is your blueprint and key to doing this. A couple of these exercises could help you identify what you’ll want to highlight.

• Activity 1: Take the job description and go through and underline everything you’ve had some experience in. This might be specific tasks, software/programs/tools, or qualities. Write a quick note in the margin to highlight when you’ve done that. Underline things where you have transferable skills too. For example, if you’ve used a software that is similar to a software they’re looking for, underline it. A recruiter should be able to see on your resume that you used similar skills and would be a quick study.
• Activity 2: If you aren’t sure which skills to emphasize, take the entire job description and pop it into a simple online word cloud generator, like TagCrowd . It automatically shows you the words most used in the description, which are likely of highest importance to the company or role. If you have those skills, make sure you mention them in your descriptions and mirror the language as exactly as possible (our friend the ATS will be looking for precise keywords!).

These activities can help you identify the right action verbs, keywords, and tools—like software—to weave into your descriptions. They can also help you decide what past experiences to include or which of your college courses are relevant to this role and which direct and transferable skills to highlight to make your resume a stronger fit for your target job.

6. Keep a Few Other Tried-and-True Tips in Mind

Here are a few other parting tips to keep in mind as you build your document:

• Avoid writing in first person (“I,” “we,” “our,” and “my” statements).
• Bullet points will make your document more readable—usually two to three per entry works well. But it doesn’t have to be even: Give more description space to the most relevant entries.
• Attention to detail matters. Proofread—not just for typos, but to make sure formatting is consistent (like date dashes). Employers will use your resume to make assumptions about how detail-oriented you are.
• Review any headers you put in all caps. Some spell checkers are programmed to assume that they’re acronyms and skip them.
• Ditch jargon and acronyms wherever possible. Don’t assume the reader always knows what you’re talking about. Sometimes the first person reading your document is a general recruiter and not familiar with the technical side of a role.
• Be aware of tenses. If you’ve completed an experience, those descriptions will be in past tense, and current roles can be described in present tense. (If you’re still actively involved in a role you can list the role through “Present,” and if more than one entry has the same end date, make a strategic decision to put the most relevant experience first.)
• Acceptable margins are usually between one and 0.7 inches.
• Pick a readable font, like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman, and try not to go below font size 11.
• As a college student, stick to a one-page resume. However, you should consider keeping a longer version (called a master resume) for your own personal use. That’s where you keep a full record of your experiences to make it easier to pull out the relevant ones each time you tailor your resume for a specific job.

What Does a College Resume Look Like?

A college resume should showcase your education, experiences, and skills (direct and transferable!) in a clear way, while keeping in mind what is most relevant to your target employer. The resume below shows a student highlighting their relevant education and experiences specifically for internship opportunities in government and politics.

Download sample college resume

There are many ways to write and format a resume. Ultimately, you want one that best represents you and your accomplishments to recruiters for the job at hand. Try out some of these tips, and I hope they help you succeed in catching that recruiter’s eye!

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College Student

College Student resume examples & templates

Choosing the right resume format for car sales

Include your contact information, make use of a summary, outline your college work experience, include the relevant key skills that make you a great candidate (even as a college student), detail your education & relevant certifications, pick the right resume layout and design for a college student resume.

Stepping out into the professional world as a college student or fresh graduate can seem difficult and confusing, with so many options on the path to a good job. You can give yourself a winning edge with the right methods for creating an awesome college resume. You might actually get a dream job right out of the gate, with a little luck and a toolbox of insights. 

Writing a resume for a college student is different from one for an established professional. You’ll need to highlight varied experience from internships , academic positions, volunteer work , and more. Remember, other college students have the same coursework and degrees to show, so your resume is key to proving why you’re the best candidate for a competitive position.

Resume guide for a college student resume

Accelerate success with Resume.io. Our guides and resume examples cover over 500 professions, and our resume builder makes creating a compelling resume easier than ever.

This resume guide and corresponding college student resume example will cover the following:

How to write a college student resume

• Choosing the right resume format for college students
• How to add your contact information
• Using summaries
• Adding your college experience
• Listing education and relevant experience
• Picking the right resume design/layout
• What the job market looks like, and what salary you can expect

The very first step in writing your college student resume is understanding what sections to include. Your resume should contain the following elements:

• The resume header
• The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
• The employment history section
• The resume skills section
• The education section

Lack of work experience is what usually makes student or graduate resumes inherently different from most job seekers. 

But, you can still build a strong professional profile to impress anyone! To create a persuasive narrative, gather as much information as possible about the job you’re applying for, the skills needed, and the people doing the hiring. Identify the company’s needs and showcase how you’re the person who can fulfill those needs. To craft a great college student resume, stick to this winning formula:

• Remember to highlight accomplishments rather than responsibilities. All of your classmates were assigned similar tasks, but what unique value did you bring to the class or internship?
• It’s essential to customize each application you submit for the specific employer or opportunity. You should not only tailor the writing but also the formatting and tone of your resume.
• When submitting online, optimize your resume with appropriate keywords so it won’t be filtered out by ATS screening software . Read more about ATS below.

Optimize for the ATS

Automated recruiting technology is a reality in today's job market and hiring practices. You'll need to understand the nature of applicant tracking systems (ATS) to pass this technical barrier to getting an awesome position. 

ATS software is designed to help recruiters and hiring managers sort through hundreds of resumes. This is done by automatically processing, analyzing, and scoring your resume based on keywords. As a result, certain vital sections of your resume will require extra attention.

The terms that describe job qualifications and requirements are often the same ones that the ATS searches for when processing your resume. So, pay attention to what’s obvious and give yourself an easy advantage. Stay consistent with the employers' terminology in your resume wording. 

U.S. survey results show that, in general, 75% of resumes are never seen by human eyes. Automated screening technology can become a resume black hole. If you're sending your resume through an ATS channel, keywords may be the deciding factor whether a recruiter will actually get to see it. To learn more about conquering the ATS, check out our article Resume ATS optimization .

The most commonly used chronological resume format is designed as a straightforward way for job candidates to organize their experience and qualifications below employer headings and dates, in order from most recent to earliest. But, for college students or recent graduates who lack work experience, other resume formats may be more suitable. 

Like every consideration when preparing your resume, the format you choose should depend on the type of job and industry, and how best to present yourself as an ideal match. 

In cases where specialized knowledge and skills are just as important as where you have worked until now—if not more so—a functional resume may be your best bet. It offers greater flexibility to emphasize your most relevant strengths up front in a section labeled “Experience.” 

A hybrid, or combination, resume format offers even more versatility. Job seekers can integrate chronological and functional elements in the most applicable manner, and perhaps even put their education section higher up on the page. 

Never underestimate the importance of a distinctive resume header to set yourself apart from other candidates. An eye-pleasing header design gets your resume noticed for the right reason. Not only does it contribute to the document’s overall reader-friendliness but also readily identifies who you are and how you can be contacted for an interview.

The most important goal is that your contact information is easily accessible. Just as important, however, is that it’s professionally presented. 

• Full name & title . List your first and last name. Use the title of the role you are pursuing.
• Professional email address . Use a clean format like [email protected] . Don’t use a quirky, unprofessional email address or an .edu.
• Phone number . List a number where you can be readily contacted, with a professional voicemail greeting.
• Location . List only your city and state . Note 'Willing to Relocate' here if applicable.
• LinkedIn . Even as a college student, you should create a LinkedIn profile that is active , relevant, and aligned with your resume. Include the URL in your header.

Don’t include:

• Date of birth : Not necessary and could potentially lead to age discrimination .
• Personal details : Marital status, social security number, passport number , etc.

Jenna Smith

Research Assistant

090-080-0000

[email protected]

Rarely does a college student or new graduate have much to showcase in the way of rich work experience. But, what you can have is a college student resume that paints a picture of a determined, positive, and productive personality. 

This is what your summary is for . It's your personal story. In fact, it may be your best chance to stand out from hundreds of other applicants, including college students with similar educational backgrounds. 

So, make sure not to squander this valuable opportunity by merely copying and pasting a block of generic text. Instead, catch the recruiter's eye off the top, in the very first line of your resume summary. Show that you've done your homework and that you have what it takes to succeed.

The whole point of the resume summary is to project a certain character and image, which is relatively easy to do in this more flexible freeform resume section. Since we're dealing with first impressions and perceptions, that image needs to be purposefully crafted. Here are some examples of possible content:

• Describe the personal qualities you think are appropriate for the industry and position. Inspire the future employer's confidence that you're a good fit for the job.
• Use action verbs and energetic, positive language. Come across as an upbeat, vibrant, productive person who will be a joy to work with and employ.
• Sprinkle in one or two of the most valuable skills you bring to this job. For example, CRM software knowledge for an office manager job could be a crucial advantage.
• Mention one or two aspects of your work / life experience that show you are productive and determined.

Need inspiration for your summary? Check out our related resumes: 

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You can find adaptable college student resume example summaries below:

Eager and ambitious business administration student with a passion for innovation and entrepreneurship. Demonstrated leadership abilities through involvement in student organizations and extracurricular activities. Strong academic foundation in finance, marketing, and management, supplemented by hands-on experience gained through internships in the business sector.

Creative and empathetic sociology student with a keen interest in cultural studies and social justice. Proficient in critical thinking, research, and written communication, with a focus on exploring complex societal issues and promoting diversity and inclusion. Seeking opportunities to apply my interdisciplinary perspective and storytelling abilities in roles that foster social change and promote understanding across diverse communities.

Enthusiastic and driven computer science student with a passion for technology and innovation. Possesses a solid foundation in programming languages such as Java, Python, and C++, coupled with coursework in algorithms, data structures, and software engineering. Experienced in developing web applications, mobile apps, and software solutions through hands-on projects and internships.

Even as a student, your work experience section needs to shine. Luckily, “experience” can be defined as more than just transitional employment. Let’s look at how this resume section can give you an edge by reflecting your life experience and your vibrant, productive personality. 

• Internship experience . This is one of the most impressive substitutes for "full" employment experience. Recruiters pay special attention to this when considering student or graduate resumes .
• Summer / temp jobs . Experience as a waitress , clerk , or nanny counts for more than you might think in terms of transferable skills. Courtesy, patience, discipline, dependability, willingness to work long hours are just a few examples.
• Social initiatives / volunteer work . These are almost always impressive on a college student resume. Volunteering demonstrates altruistic traits and a cooperative team spirit .
• Self-directed or community projects . Cite examples of commitments and collaborations that extended from your personal interests and talents.

List your current (or most recent) job at the top of this section and work your way back to your first job. Only go back as far as you’ve been in college and stick to experience that is directly related to the role you are applying for. 

Under each employer and role heading, describe your contributions in concise bullet point statements, omitting “I.”  Start each bullet point with an action verb like led, motivated, orchestrated, collaborated, or managed.

Make sure to focus on results and concrete information that demonstrates tangible outcomes as opposed to generic duties. This will impress the employer and help them see why you’re a cut above other college students.

Take a look at the college student employment history resume sample below:

Sales Associate at Coffee Grinders, Boston  September 2015 - June 2018 

• Greeted customers and assisted them with purchasing products.
• Helped customers grind coffee beans and sample new products.
• Maintained a clean and welcoming store environment.
• Handled financial transactions.
• Monitored and recorded inventory records.

How to write a college student resume with no work experience

Remember, no employer is expecting to see a 10-year work summary on your college student resume. Concentrate on projecting a positive, productive image to make a strong first impression. 

If you have no experience, your summary can be a goal statement—perhaps a bit more imaginative but still relevant and focused. Just aim for a general description, combining a variety of past projects, personal qualities, and life experiences. 

In your employment history section, showcase your involvement in extracurricular activities such as clubs, organizations, sports teams, or volunteer work. Describe your roles and responsibilities within these activities, highlighting any leadership positions or notable achievements. 

Finally, include a skills section where you can list any technical skills , languages , software proficiency, or certifications that are relevant to the jobs you're applying for. By focusing on your academic achievements, skills, and extracurricular activities, you can create a compelling resume that demonstrates your potential as a college student with no prior experience .

The skills section of a college student resume should be defined by the job you're looking to attain. Even at this early stage of life, job seekers often have more relevant skills and professional qualities than they give themselves credit for. The trick is to choose and describe them correctly on your resume.

Start by creating a master list. The master list is a free-form document—electronic or even a piece of paper—where you write down every skill and quality you can think of. Keep your master list handy for reference whenever a new job opportunity arises. Grab it for easy cherry-picking to tailor each new version of your specific resume to the job application.

Once you've found an actual job application or opportunity, tailor your resume and skills section to the job listing. We've talked about keywords already, and the point of this step is to satisfy both the hiring specialist and the ATS. 

Pay attention to the skills terminology used in the job description and ensure your skills outline matches the same wording if possible. This may seem trivial but may become the difference between getting a job interview and being filtered out.

Make sure to understand the difference between hard skills and soft skills and how to assess their relative importance to specific jobs and employers. Hard skills are pragmatic tools used in daily duties (for instance, computer skills or math aptitude) while soft skills relate to social interactions , self-management, teamwork, and so on.

Check out a college student resume sample for the skills section below.

• Office Technology Skills
• Motivated Attitude
• Social Media Platforms
• Advanced Communication Skills

As a college student, your education is likely the most consequential experience you’ll have to show on your resume. That’s why it’s important to carefully complete this section with the right details to impress the hiring manager or scholarship committee.

As with your employment history section, you’ll want to list each degree from most recent to oldest. Create a subheading with the degree name, university, dates attended, and location. Since you’re likely still studying, you can add “present” instead of an end date.

Underneath the subheading, you should add 2-3 bullet points that describe your most impressive academic achievements, relevant coursework , and leadership roles. It’s also a good idea to include your expected graduation date if you’re still a student. Your GPA is also an essential piece of information, but only list it if it’s 3.5 or above. If your GPA for your major is significantly higher than your overall score, include that instead. 

If you’re still in college, you can add your high school education in much the same way as your college one. If adding a GED , simply include the date completed. Once you’ve completed a bachelor’s degree or higher, remove your high school details to make more room for professional experience on your resume. 

Check out our adaptable education resume sample below and learn more about adding your education to your resume .

Bachelor of Film and Media Studies, Boston University, Boston  August 2016 - Present 

• Working towards a Film and Media Studies degree

High School Diploma, Regis High School, New York  September 2012 - May 2016 

• Graduated with High Honors
• President of the Journalism Club

Layout, design and formatting considerations are vitally important for a successful college student resume. There are two main reasons for this: visual perception by humans and processing compatibility with automated systems. 

Make it easier on recruiters. Employ chunking, which makes the text more readable and digestible by breaking it into bite-sized pieces. This is achieved through the use of white space and graphical elements such as boxes, lines, images, and other formatting that improves legibility.

Recruiters are likely to pay a lot more attention to your resume if you apply a visually attractive, suitably-formatted template based on research-backed design principles.  Just as you should customize the content of your resume for each position you apply to, your layout and design should also match the image of the employer or opportunity. 

Professionally designed resume templates make it easy to create a perfectly formatted layout and give you the ability to switch between styles with ease.

Key takeaways for building a college student resume

You can get an awesome job as a college student. Your college student resume is a hugely important instrument for that. The summary section provides the best opportunity for your college student resume to stand out and show personality.

The education section is a focal point for most college student resumes. Your resume skills section will be defined by the job you are pursuing within a specific industry. Tailor it to the job description and your knowledge of the industry. 

Our online resume builder makes the process of college resume creation much easier and helps avoid hidden technical pitfalls.

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College Student Resume Examples and Templates for 2024

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Joseph Corbin (123) 456-7890 | [email protected] | Philadelphia, PA 12345 | www.linkedin.com/example

Motivated student with strong academic performance in high school, including an “A” average for Mathematics. Demonstrated success in a leadership role through multiple school athletics and work activities. Naturally curious and eager to explore and understand new topics.

Key Skills 

• Complex problem-solving
• Data analysis
• Group leadership
• Mathematics
• Microsoft Excel
• Team collaboration

Graduate, Benjamin Franklin High School, Philadelphia, PA | August 2018 to June 2022

• “A” average in all Mathematics classes, including AP Calculus

High School Athletics

Spring Track Team 

Co-Captain (Senior year)

• Voted into team leadership role; coordinated with the head coach to help organize meets and answer various questions from team members
• Served as a valued mentor and resource to underclassmen

Member (all four years)

• Gained and demonstrated a strong sense of dedication and teamwork
• Contributed to team’s placing in the top four out of 18 high schools in the region for three consecutive years

Work Experience

Host / Server / Team Lead, Domino’s Pizza, Philadelphia, PA | Summer 2018 and 2019

• Greeted visitors and took and served food orders in a fast-paced environment
• Proposed several changes to the order entry process for servers and delivery drivers, improving efficiency and collaboration among the two groups
• Helped restaurant place No. 3 in the region for customer satisfaction in July and August 2019

Hobbies & Interests

Avid reader (six or more books per month) | Painting | Running

Advanced proficiency in Spanish (A- average for classes taken in all four years of high school)

Rob Smith  (123) 456-7890 | [email protected] | Columbus, OH 12345 | www.linkedin.com/example

Efficient and hardworking student with a strong interest in computer science. Draw on technical knowledge base covering UX design, JAVA, MySQL, and HTML. Demonstrated success objectively measuring software performance while participating in a rapid development cycle.

• Efficiency improvement
• Group collaboration
• Independent research
• Technical troubleshooting
• User experience (UX)

Graduate, AAE High School, Columbus, OH | August 2018 to June 2022 3.7 GPA | Top 10% of graduating class

Tech Support, XYZ Company, Columbus, OH | June 2020 to present

• Quickly and professionally respond to various tech support tickets
• Install hardware and software as needed to maintain systems
• Work with managers to develop rapid response systems to major tech threats
• Co-design and deliver educational materials to staff on proper tech use

Retail Sales Associate, Smith Clothing Company, Columbus, OH | August 2019 to May 2020

• Gained strong foundation in positive customer relations
• Operated cash register and balanced the till at end of day (EOD)

Certifications

• Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) A+
• Nielsen Norman Group UX and UX Master

John Miller (123) 456-7890 | [email protected] | Columbus, OH 12345 | LinkedIn | Portfolio

High school student with a strong interest in marketing and advertising. Freelance graphic design professional with a growing portfolio and client relationships with major local nonprofits. Enjoy collaborating on a team to explore topics and solve complex challenges.

• Data visualization
• Graphic design
• Marketing strategy
• Task prioritization
• Writing and editing

Candidate: Diploma, Douglass High School, Columbus, OH | expected June 2023 3.8 GPA | SAT scores: 760 math, 680 verbal (1440 combined)

High School Athletics and Activities

Member, Debate Team | August 2020 to present

• Collaborate closely on a 10-person team to research debate topics and form and organize compelling arguments

Member, Cross-Country Running Team | Fall 2021 and 2022

Freelance Graphic Designer, XYZ Company, Columbus, OH | April 2018 to present

• Conceptualize and create diverse marketing materials to spec
• Engage and partner with marketing teams to design campaigns and track return on investment
• Design logos and event graphics for client nonprofits
• Make infographics using data provided by sales teams
• Developed an award-winning print ad for a local coffee shop

Library Materials Associate, Community Library, Columbus, OH | June 2014 to April 2016

• Greeted students and verified account status for check-out
• Helped students find and incorporate various research sources
• Set up display technology for individual and group use
• Managed schedules for meeting and study rooms
• Reshelved materials at EOD

Technical Skills

Adobe InDesign, Photoshop | Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint)

When applying to colleges, you may find some schools require a resume . You can write a great resume for your college applications by showing your relevant high school and other experiences and emphasizing how you’ve explored topics and pursued your interests. Incorporating this theme into each section of your resume can increase your chances of being accepted into your preferred college or university. The advice and examples provided below can guide you in achieving this goal.

1. Summarize your college student qualifications in a dynamic profile

Your resume profile should catch admissions officers’ interest by giving the top reasons they can expect you to engage actively in their campus community. Can you share some instances from your life where you have exhibited curiosity and dedication toward excellence? Your answer to this question can lead to your best profile points. For example, maybe you’ve earned an “A” average in the school subject likely to become your college major. Or perhaps you’ve done freelance work that’s helped you develop a hobby into a possible career track. With details like these at the top of your college resume, you can show your potential to thrive in a college setting.

Profile Example

Motivated student with strong academic performance in high school, including an “A” average for mathematics. Demonstrated success in a leadership role through multiple school athletics and work activities. Naturally curious and eager to explore and understand new topics.

2. Add a compelling section featuring your college student experience

Use your resume’s experience section(s) to give examples of exploring and pursuing topics that interest you. Colleges and universities generally want students who are engaged, diligent, and curious about the world. So view your experience from this perspective and write down anything that reflects your gaining or showing these qualities.

You aren’t limited to details about work experience, especially if the jobs you’ve held so far don’t speak to your career interests. On a resume for college applications, the strongest experience section will often come from a different area. For example, maybe you’re most proud of having been on the debate team or teaching yourself HTML outside school. Below is a list of possible experience sections you might develop on your resume:

• Community service
• High school athletics
• Internship experience
• Personal accomplishments
• School clubs and societies
• Study abroad experience
• Summer coursework

Experience Example

Spring Track Team

3. Include education and certifications relevant to college students

View your resume’s education section as another chance to show active engagement in learning. Give basic details about your high school. But also feel free to name study areas or materials that have sparked your interest and may become a focus for you at the college level. For example, if your English classes have let you choose from a reading list for each unit, you could name some of the books or texts you decided to read and why. Also note any AP classes you’ve completed, school awards you’ve won, or other distinctions you’ve earned, like a high GPA or class rank. These can all help admissions officers see your potential.

Below are templates and examples to help you format your high school education, along with any certifications you’d like to add to your resume. Note that optional template areas appear in [brackets].

• Candidate: Diploma, High School Name, City, ST | expected graduation date
• [Select study areas or materials of interest]

Certification

Certification Name or Title , [Awarding Organization] | [Year]

Service Excellence Certificate, VCU Advanced Solutions | 2023

4. List college student-related skills and proficiencies

Add a key skills section to show how you excel in a learning environment. For instance, maybe you like to research a topic independently, or you prefer the stimulation of working in a group. On the other hand, perhaps you’re open to learning by various methods. Whatever your learning style, you can highlight it in your key skills section so admissions officers see how you’d apply yourself at their school. Below are some common keywords for college student resumes:

5. Consider adding personal hobbies or interests

You may have heard that hobbies and interests should be left off a resume. While this is often true for regular job seekers, it doesn’t apply to aspiring college students. Hobbies and interests can be a strong feature of your college application resume because they help show your all-around sense of curiosity. Feel free to highlight them in a separate section, typically toward or at the bottom of your resume.

Hobbies and Interests

How To Pick the Best College Student Resume Template

For college applicants, a clear and straightforward resume template is usually best. Opt for a visual design that lets the admissions officer quickly review your most relevant information. Select a traditional resume font , and avoid any template with a colorful or elaborate design.

Frequently Asked Questions: College Student Resume Examples and Advice

What are common action verbs for college student resumes -.

For aspiring college students, good resume verbs will relate to the process of learning and discovery – think “explored,” “researched,” or “uncovered.” But there are various others you might use to describe your school, work, and other life experiences so far. The following list can help you find a good mix of action verbs for your college application resume:

How do you align your resume with each college application? -

The National Center for Education Statistics forecasts that total undergraduate enrollment will increase by about 9% (to nearly 17 million students) between 2021 and 2031. 

To optimize your resume for each college application:

1. Take cues from what you know about the school. 2. Refer to their website, brochures, notes from the campus tour, or any other information you’ve gathered on what the school is known for and what you’re most drawn to about it. 3. As you look over these materials, highlight words or phrases that are repeated or emphasized.

These terms can tell you what details you may want to feature in your resume profile or key skills sections (as long as they’re accurate to your experience).

For example, say you’re drawn to the college’s study-abroad program. Consider using your profile to showcase any travel or exchange programs you’ve done, along with your foreign language skills. With adjustments like these, you can make your resume more relevant to each college opportunity.

What is the best college student resume format? -

In nearly all cases, use a Combination (or Hybrid) resume because it’s easiest for admissions officers to learn about your pertinent skills and background. It’s also easiest for you to align with your goals.

With the Combination format, you focus on your most relevant skills and experience in your experience section(s) and an intro section. (This combination of experience and intro content is where the format gets its name.) Your resume intro should usually include a profile summary and key skills section, but you may also add a highlights or awards section. By carefully choosing the details for these intro sections, you can (a) position yourself for your desired school program and (b) give admissions officers a clear, quick view of what you offer.

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Jacob Meade

Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW, ACRW)

Jacob Meade is a resume writer and editor with nearly a decade of experience. His writing method centers on understanding and then expressing each person’s unique work history and strengths toward their career goal. Jacob has enjoyed working with jobseekers of all ages and career levels, finding that a clear and focused resume can help people from any walk of life. He is an Academy Certified Resume Writer (ACRW) with the Resume Writing Academy, and a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with the Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches.

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Best for candidates with 3+ years of experience

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Writing Your College Student Resume

Companies sometimes require that entry-level candidates have experience, but how do you get experience when even entry-level jobs make it difficult to apply?

Getting that first job or internship can be the most challenging part of your career. Fortunately, as a college student, you’re in a great position to get that first break you need. Once you get your degree, you’ll have the experience employers are seeking, but until then, how can you build an effective resume or write a cover letter as a college student?

After reviewing countless  resume samples , we’ve determined what types employers want to see from college students. Furthermore, we used that knowledge to create  22 college student resume examples to help inspire your resume in 2024 .

College Student Resume Example

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Why this resume works

• This lets employers know when you can work full-time. Whatever you do, be honest. Stretching the truth won’t get you any points with employers. It’s better to be upfront and willing to learn a skill rather than try to succeed by the skin of your teeth.
• The golden rule on your college student resume is to lead with your strengths. If you’ve got a relevant internship, add it. If you’ve done any related class projects, list them. No matter what you include, make sure to highlight transferable skills.

Undergraduate Student Resume

• To impress the recruiter, demonstrate the dedication you have had in your previous posts despite minimal experience.

University Student Resume

• In that case, your university student resume can capitalize on your analytical skills, which helped identify cost-saving opportunities and cut overall expenses by six percent.

College Student No Experience Resume

• Luckily, there are a host of  resume templates  you can use to format your experience well, so long as you adjust based on your qualifications.
• For example, you can add or remove sections based on the amount of work history you have (or don’t have).
• For example, being on the club basketball team may feel irrelevant to business analysis. But by focusing on how you’ve organized practices and led a local volunteer effort, your  college student no experience resume  can point to qualities that might appeal to a thoughtful employer.

Current College Student Resume

• A reverse-chronological format is still the most accepted, but if you want to highlight your skills, try using a functional format instead.
• Adding relevant metrics shows that you know what matters to your employer and you’ve positively impacted your previous workplace.

College Student for Internship Resume

• That’s okay—you can weave in other things, like projects and part-time jobs. Of course, if you do have internship or job experience, put that at the top.
• It’s as easy as checking the  job description . Then just list your relevant abilities according to what matches the keywords listed by the employer.

College Student Assistant Medical Laboratory Technician Resume Example

• Do you have a unique interest related to science? Are you involved in a sport? Do you volunteer? All of these hobbies are great additions to your resume.
• If you’ve just graduated, you can bulk up your education section.
• Feel free to add any college awards you won and your GPA (if it’s higher than 3.5).

College Student HR Executive Assistant Resume

• As a rule of thumb, we recommend including one if you’re light on experience or are going through a substantial career change. Otherwise, leave it out in favor of work experience. 
• Good skills to include on an HR executive assistant resume are “talent acquisition,” “conflict resolution,” “legal compliance,” and “compensation/benefits.”
• An even more effective way to breathe life into your skills is to weave them into your work history or project bullet points.

College Student Case Assistant Resume

• Show off your personality using contrasting colors, classic fonts, and well-organized layouts. Our ready-to-build  resume templates  or handy  Google Docs interactive resumes  can help you keep your resume both tasteful and personable.
• If you don’t have certification, then now’s the best time to get it. Better late than never!

College Student Resident Assistant Resume

• Though an objective isn’t required, it can help employers see your skills and experience straight away.
• Just make sure to tailor it for every job you apply for by including the name of the employer, the position you’re seeking, and some matching keyword skills (that are true about you) gleaned from the  job description . 
• You also shouldn’t feel limited by your work experience. If you’ve done any relevant projects or have volunteered, include them! Employers love to see transferrable skills like collaboration, a good work ethic, and organization.

College Student Warehouse Worker Resume

• If you’re struggling to get going, consider using a  resume outline  to help you structure your experience—just don’t forget to fill out all the sections thoroughly!
• While it’s not impossible to land an excellent job without internships or experience, having some kind of work history, even in the form of projects, will allow you to be more picky and skim from the top of warehouse positions.

College Student Teacher Assistant Resume

• Adjusting formatting details, like the layout and header colors, can make your resume pop and reveal a bit about yourself. (Red and pink are bold, daring colors, while blue and green are calming.)
• Adding a  hobbies and interests section to your resume  can also help catch the eye of employers, provided you list hobbies that are relevant to the desired job, such as creative pursuits, volunteering, or research.
• Even if you’ve never had experience as a teacher assistant, you can instill confidence by demonstrating the impact of your communication skills. Did you effectively resolve an issue using negotiation? Write something that added helpful clarity? Show how you used communication to affect others positively!

College Student Biology Lab Technician Resume

• Don’t get too carried away here; after all, it’s still a resume and not a flier for a Wednesday Night Disco. But, one to two colors can be appropriate for all but the most conservative working environments. 
• Numbers can be frustrating to calculate and add to your resume, but trust us when we tell you that they make a world of difference. Hiring managers are consistently more willing to interview people with metrics on their resumes, as they convey job competence and confidence.

College Student English Tutor Resume

• Breaking up each work experience into bullet points can make your resume both easier to read (with fewer blocks of dense text) and easier to write.
• Instead of writing one big chunk of cohesive text, you can focus on pulling out as many highlights about your work history at each job as possible. 
• A project can be anything. Seriously, your final group project from that writing seminar counts, or you could highlight a blog you’ve been working on in your free time.
• Hint: Projects also make great stories to discuss on your college student cover letter .

College Application Resume

• Suppose you’re applying for a Bachelor of Arts in education. Express your passion for teaching and eagerness to advance your knowledge of education theories and practices. Even better, emphasize your long-term ambition to shape future generations through innovative education methods.

College Admission Resume

• Take a leaf from how Brian narrates his stints as a restaurant server, project presenter, and volunteer. Well-described, such experiences paint a picture of a well-rounded character who can take on varied challenges of an engineering program, enhancing their appeal in the eyes of the college admissions committee.

College Freshman Resume

• Use past projects to advantage here even if they’re only a year long. Clearly state how you used skills such as Canva and Microsoft Teams to make specific impacts during this time. Another great addition to your college freshman resume is any work experience under your belt.

Harvard College Resume

• You see reputable (and free) spell checkers like Grammarly? They’re your backstage crew making sure that your Harvard college resume is polished—no typos, grammatical mistakes, or punctuation errors in sight. And getting a friend or family member to take a peek? It’s always a brilliant move.

College Level Resume

• It’s a piece of cake. Maybe you’ve been a superstar nanny or the quickest cashier around. Identify competencies from these gigs, whether communication, time management, or leadership, and then blend them into your work experience. Simply put, connect the dots in your college level resume, and you’re golden.

College Student Academic Highlights Resume

• Say you have some work experience, but it’s not relevant to the job. That’s okay—instead of trying in vain to match the  job description , focus on transferable skills like customer service, organization, event planning, public speaking, and computer literacy.
• If you lack much work history, adding projects, coursework, or volunteer experience is the next best way to showcase your potential. You can also list your involvement in clubs, organizations, or peer mentorship.
• Write them like you’d write work experience by using active verbs and incorporating metrics (numbers).

First Year College Student Resume

• Your time contributing to a project is tangible evidence of your skills and experiences. Depending on what you include, it could showcase your communication and organizational skills or more technical abilities, like your proficiency with Microsoft Office.

Freshman College Student Resume

• Do you love gardening or nature photography? Awesome, it shows you’re inherently passionate about biology. Do you spend your time baking as well? It’s a sign that you know how to follow instructions and observe changes over time—skills that will come in handy as a lab assistant.

Related resume guides

• College Graduate
• Grad School
• Entry level

Before we dive into the difference between a  resume objective  vs. a  resume summary , let’s get some definitions out of the way:

• Resume objective : A statement of your qualifications, interests, and skills that make you a good fit for the role to which you’re applying.
• Resume summary : A summary of your past experience detailing your high-level accomplishments and projects.

When you’re applying for a job or internship as a college student, you likely won’t have extensive work experience. So, we’d recommend including a resume objective instead of a resume summary.

The goal of your resume objective is to set the stage for your resume. It should highlight your skills applicable to the job at hand, and it should be specific for each job to which you’re applying.

Most resume objectives are boring and generic. By taking the time to craft a customized and effective resume objective, you give yourself an edge over other applicants and increase your chances of getting an interview.

Before we dive into the rules for creating a strong resume objective, let’s look at some examples.

Sample college student resume objectives

• “Recent college graduate with a degree in marketing looking for a full-time role where I can utilize my experience in social media and paid advertising to help an up-and-coming brand like Club Z! Inc. spread awareness and acquire more users.”
• “Diligent college student at the University of Pittsburgh who is equally committed to academic excellence (3.8 GPA) and service (student leader at the local food shelter) looking for an opportunity at Unidos as a part-time employee to utilize these talents to improve customer satisfaction.”
• “Recent graduate with a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) seeking an opportunity within an established management organization to utilize my organizational and quantitative abilities. Epic seems to have a culture of empowering employees to have ownership over their problems, and that culture fits my work style perfectly.”

You can see that all of these resume objectives specifically mention the company that the student is applying to. Tailoring is the golden rule of resume objectives.

Here are some other rules to make your objective the best it can be:

• Again, take the time to  customize your resume objective for each company to which you’re applying .
• Don’t be afraid to inject your personality. Making an impression will help you stand out among the hundreds of other applicants.
• Keep it to two to three sentences.
• Mention any relevant skills or certifications you have for the role to which you’re applying.

College Student Resume Formats

One of the hardest parts of using a resume maker  as a college student is the blank page. The “getting started” part is overwhelming—you’re unsure what your resume should look like, let alone what should be in it!

When it comes to formatting your resume, the best advice is to keep it  simple . You need to convincingly make the case that you deserve an interview for the role to which you’re applying.

In short, your resume should likely contain the following sections:

• Header: This is your name and job title. Have your job title match the job title to which you’re applying.
• Resume objective: We talked about this above, a quick summary of your skills and what you’re seeking.
• Education: As a college student, this should include your anticipated graduation date, the field of study, and relevant classes.
• Skills: List six to ten technical skills relevant to your career.
• Work experience: If you have any relevant internships or part-time jobs, mention them here.
• Projects: Did you do any side projects that demonstrate your competency? Include them!

Not all of these sections need to be included in your resume.  Your resume should focus on your strengths.

If you don’t have much relevant work experience, you can omit that section in favor of discussing your projects or classwork.

However, no matter what format you choose, there are a few writing guidelines you should adhere to throughout your resume.

Formatting guidelines for your resume

• Keep your resume to one page! Your resume should only extend to a second page when you have 10+ years of experience.
• Avoid any spelling or grammar errors by double-checking your text and having a friend review your resume. Don’t let typos be the reason why you don’t get an interview.
• Break up your work experience into small, consumable bullet points. Nothing is harder to read than a big wall of text.
• Use reverse-chronological order to keep your most recent experience/projects at the top.
• Don’t include fancy images or graphics. It’s highly likely a computer will read your resume before a human ever does, and images are hard for computers to scan.
• Don’t list more than ten skills on your resume. (We’ll expand on this below.)

Skills to pay the bills

When building your skills section, it can be tempting to list any and every skill you know. You’ll have to resist this temptation.

Before a human reviews your resume, an automated system called an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) will score your resume based on whether or not it includes the “right” keywords. These filters are largely screening for specific skills.

Doesn’t this mean that you should include as many skills as possible to beat the ATS? Unfortunately, you need to make your resume appealing to both the ATS and a human, and nothing is a bigger red flag to a hiring manager than a candidate with a laundry list of skills!

You’re much better off focusing on  six to ten skills you’re an expert in  than including more that you kind of know. Generally, if you wouldn’t be comfortable being interviewed on a given skill, don’t include it on your resume. 

Work Experience and Projects

In any resume, no matter the career stage, your work experience and projects should take up at least 70 percent of the overall space. These will decide whether you get an interview or not.

Once you have a few years of experience, then the size of your projects section will decrease as the size of your work experience section expands.

If you have an internship relevant to the job you’re applying for, this should be listed in your “work experience” section. As a college student, your work experience can also contain any part-time jobs you had while in school, even if they don’t seem relevant to the position to which you’re applying.

It’s not easy to balance work and school, so having a part-time job demonstrates responsibility and drive.

When talking about your work experience, there are a few key tips you should follow:

• Mention the skills you demonstrated on the job.
• Quantify the impact of your work whenever possible.
• Talk specifically about your role; avoid being too general.
• Use action verbs like “owned” or “led” to highlight your leadership abilities.

Numbers truly speak louder than words, especially on your resume. By providing numerical context around your work, you show your ability to contribute meaningfully to your workplace.

Compare these two descriptions of an internship. Which do you think would be more compelling to a hiring manager?

WRONG – general work experience descriptions

Marketing Science Associates April 2020 – Current, New York NY Digital Marketing Intern

• Created testing plan for Facebook ad copy
• Built key reports for the executive team around KPIs
• Oversaw the creation of the blog for SEO purposes
• Worked closely with clients to understand their product positioning to incorporate into ad copy

RIGHT – specific, quantified descriptions

• Created A/B testing plan for Facebook ad copy, improving ROI by 15%
• Built key reports for the executive team around KPIs such as marketing spend, new leads, revenue generated, and ROI
• Oversaw the creation of the blog for SEO purposes which grew from 1,000 to 5,000 monthly organic visitors
• Worked closely with clients to understand their product positioning to incorporate into ad copy, leading to client satisfaction of 99%

Projects can be anything

If you don’t have much (or any) relevant work experience for your resume, don’t fret. You can still  create a highly effective resume  by showcasing your projects.

As a college student, you’ve likely done a lot of class projects that are relevant to the job or internship you’re looking to get. This is the perfect place to talk about those projects. You can even mention projects you completed outside of class. Talk about your goals, the methods/skills you used, and the project’s outcome.

The key is to include anything that will convince the hiring manager you have the drive, skills, and ability to translate your academic knowledge to the real world and contribute to the roles for which you’re applying.

Here are some potential projects you can work on for different majors:

Project ideas for college students

• Are you a business student? Detail a case study that you analyzed and presented in a class.
• If you’re a marketing student, you can write a short blog post about how you’d improve the paid marketing strategy for a company you admire.
• As a graphic designer, this is a great opportunity to talk about some of the projects in your portfolio.
• If you’re looking for a data analyst role, talk about how you analyzed stock data to determine areas of opportunity.
• As a human resources major, you’ve likely created processes for companies as part of a class, so talk about that.
• Software engineering students complete meaningful coding assignments all the time. Discuss one of those or talk about your side project.
• If you’re looking to break into product management, discuss a hackathon you were part of or create a case study for a feature your favorite product is missing.

Basically, the projects you include on your resume can be just about anything. They simply have to demonstrate you know what is required of the kind of role you’re applying to, and that you can meet those requirements.

Your Education Section

As a college student, it should go without saying that you need to include an education section on your resume.

Here’s what you need to include in your education section no matter what:

• The school you’re currently attending (or recently graduated from). You do not need to include your high school.
• Your graduation date (or expected graduation date). You can give just the month and year.
• The kind of degree you’re working toward (bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, master’s, etc.).
• Your field of study.

Once you include all that, there’s more flexibility. If you have a strong GPA (greater than 3.5), you should include it, too.

If you don’t have much experience yet, then you can add relevant courses or awards to your education section, provided they’re relevant to the job for which you’re applying.

For example, if you’re applying for a role as a data scientist, then it makes sense to include any math, economics, or programming classes you completed.

Here’s an example of an effective education section for a college student looking for a marketing role:

If you received any awards or honors during your time in college, list them here. These can include getting on the Dean’s List, any department-specific awards relevant to your major, or formal recognition for your work or volunteer efforts.

Resume Builder for College Students

There you have it—we’ve discussed the building blocks to help you land a job or internship as a college student!

In summary, here are the keys to making an effective resume as a college student:

• Inject your personality into your resume objective and customize it for each company to which you apply.
• Your resume format should include a header, resume objective, skills section, education, and work/ project experience.
• Include any relevant internships or part-time jobs you’ve had during college and quantify the impact of your work.
• If you don’t have much working experience, include relevant projects you’ve completed either in the classroom or on your own time.
• Your education section is your chance to highlight classes you’ve completed that will convince the hiring manager you have the right tools for the job.

Finding a job or internship as a college student can be incredibly stressful. Building an AI resume  is a huge first step, so pat yourself on the back. After you’re done with the writing, you can  check your resume  against our AI-powered tips to see how your resume matches up.

Just remember, it does get easier after you get some experience first. We can’t wait to see where you’ll go!

• We’ll show you how, step-by-step • Real, practical tips and tools • 100% free

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How To Write A College Student Resume (With Examples)

• General Resume Examples
• Resume With No Experience
• Student Resume
• College Resume
• Entry Level Resume
• Military Resume
• Internship Resume
• First Resume
• College Application Resume
• 2 Page Resume
• Blank Resume Template
• College Freshman Resume
• Work History
• Resume Templates

As a college student, a resume may seem daunting because you may not have much experience, but there are a lot of other opportunities to make your resume stand out to employers. The opportunities that you can showcase include any volunteering you did, studying abroad, any specialized classes, or internships you’ve done.

To help you write your college student resume, we’ll go over how to write a college student resume, provide a resume example, and go over some tips to keep in mind.

Key Takeaways:

Emphasize your education and honors/awards received in college.

Take advantage of the many opportunities college gives to you and use those to spice up your resume.

Make your resume job/ internship application-specific.

Include extracurriculars, volunteer experiences, certifications, publications, interesting projects, or impressive leadership experiences if you have any.

What is a college student resume?

How to write a college student resume, current college student resume example, college student resume template, tips for writing a college student resume, college student resume faq, final thoughts.

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A college student’s resume is a document that summarizes your academic qualifications and your time spent in college. You probably had to write a brief resume for your college applications. Writing a resume as a college student is similar to that, except with a more professional edge.

Since you don’t have years of professional experience, hiring managers will understand when you don’t have that, which is why they will be looking at your academic history. They will be wondering how you have applied yourself in college both inside and outside of the classroom.

As mentioned above, college is full of opportunities to have enriching experiences. Take advantage of them — they will greatly help you not only by filling out those blank spots on your resume but also by giving you something to stand out from the rest of the competition .

Hiring managers and recruiters will be looking for signs of maturity, self-motivation, and work ethic . Keep these elements in mind as you decide how best to sell yourself based on your college experiences.

To write a college student’s resume, you should start with a resume header that includes your contact information and then go into your resume objective statement. Your top claim to fame is your educational experience and the extracurricular activities you were involved with.

Here’s a more detailed list of what each section of your resume should include:

Resume header . Your resume header should include your contact information. Open with your first and last name, which should be a slightly larger size or otherwise emphasized above all else. Include your location ([City, State] is fine), phone number, and professional email address. If you have a LinkedIn or an online portfolio , feel free to include a link to those here as well.

Important tip: Never put your contact information into an actual header on your word processing software. Some applicant tracking systems (robots that parse resumes to weed out unqualified candidates) can’t read the information in a header.

If the ATS can’t find your contact information, your resume will be thrown out before it even reaches a human reader .

Resume objective statement . We normally steer job-seekers away from resume objectives toward resume summary statements .

However, it’s perfectly appropriate for a college student to use a resume objective instead. Be sure to keep it short (1-3 sentences), include keywords from the job description, and state your relevant skills and career goals.

That being said, if you have substantial or impressive work/internship experience under your belt that truly makes you perfect for the position, opt for a resume summary statement that emphasizes your qualifications and expresses your value to the employer.

Education . Depending on how valuable you find your education section as compared to your experience section, you can swap the order around. We put education third based on the assumption that it’s your most valuable asset at the moment.

Your education section should always include the following information:

Name/Location of the school you attended

Dates attended, date graduated, or anticipated date of graduation

Name of your major/degree

The rest of the information is optional, but more is usually better (especially if the rest of your resume is light):

GPA (if it’s over 3.5)

Minor (if relevant)

Academic honors (Latin titles, Dean’s List , Honors Programs, etc.)

Merit scholarships

Publications and/or research

If you really want to beef up your education section, you can also include more details about relevant coursework . This can be a great way to incorporate keywords from the job description and showcase that you have solid foundational knowledge.

Experience . Once you’ve progressed in your career, this will be a history dedicated to your work history, but for now, keep the heading more open-ended by calling it something like “Relevant Experience.” The reason why this heading works is because it allows you to put down a whole host of experiences in just one section. Items you can put here include:

Work experience (summer jobs, part-time work, etc.)

Internships

Volunteer work

Freelancing experience

Relevant coursework (if you didn’t include it in your education section already)

Study abroad

Club membership/leadership positions

In general, you should keep things in reverse chronological order (the most recent stuff first). Always be sure to quantify your accomplishments whenever possible. Make it easy for a reader to see what value you added to each experience you were a part of.

Extracurriculars. If you’re a part of one or many extracurricular activities, it might be worth including a separate section detailing your involvement with each. Be sure to highlight the key skills you picked up from each experience to show how it relates to the job you’re applying for.

Skills . You’ve certainly acquired some skills during your time in college. Try to give a healthy mix of hard skills and soft skills . Hard skills are those you must be taught, and be tested or measured in some way. Soft skills refer to the intangible, interpersonal qualities that make you great to work with.

Where you can, add a bit of detail to flesh out each skill more fully. For example, if you put down “HTML” as a skill, give a brief description like “wrote webpages during a 3-month internship with XYZ Inc.”

Also, try to make sure that each soft skill you list comes with a correlating piece of data in your experience section. For instance, if you write that you have excellent communication skills , there better be some proof of those skills in action elsewhere on your resume.

Hobbies and interests . If you’re still not at a full page , you can consider adding relevant hobbies and interests. Even something seemingly irrelevant, like a love of working on miniature models, can paint a picture of a candidate who regularly hones her attention to detail in her free time.

Remember, every resume should be job-specific . You should b e tailoring it to each job you apply to. This will help you get noticed by hiring managers.

With that in mind, check out this current college student resume example:

Prateek Student

102 University Blvd. | University, CA 33409 | (555) 555- 5555 | [email protected] CAREER OBJECTIVE Dedicated outdoor education student with extensive teaching experience seeking hands-on internship opportunities.

PRE-PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE The Pool Pros, University, California Lifeguard Senior Manager and Educator (June 2015-May 2018

• Managed over 100 lifeguards at three public pool locations.
• Completed 20 training classes for lifeguard certification and recertification each season.
• Organized and implemented water conservation and education classes for 50 students per season.

Outdoor Leadership Liaison and Leader, (August 2017- May 2018)

• Organized outdoor excursions for 200+ university students.
• Led training workshops for outdoor skills monthly to 20 students per workshop.
• Kept communications between outdoor nonprofit leaders and university officials to ensure the safety of university students while on excursions.

National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), Lander, Wyoming Wilderness Medicine and Rescue Semester Team Leader, (August 2018- May 2019)

• Led 15 students on two semester-long wilderness immersion school expeditions.
• Trained students in wilderness safety, leave no trace principles and each student completed Wilderness EMT certifications.

EDUCATION CERTIFICATIONS California State University , University, California Bachelor in Outdoor Education and a minor in emergency medical response GPA: 3.90 Graduated May 2018 Received NOLS scholarships for a semester abroad in India. Dean’s List all semesters.

Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) , California Licensure Wilderness EMT certificate expiration date May 2020 EMT certification expiration date May 2020 BLS Healthcare responder expiration date August 2021

Here is a college student resume template to help you get started on yours. Be sure to tailor your resume to fit your needs and the position you are applying for:

Your name [Address, City, State ZIP code]| [Phone Number] | [Email Address] | [LinkedIn Profile (optional)] CAREER OBJECTIVE Dedicated and motivated college student seeking [Internship/Part-time] EDUCATION [Degree Pursuing, e.g., Bachelor of Science in Computer Science] [University Name, City, State] [Expected Graduation Month, Year] [GPA: X.X/4.0] Relevant Courses [Course Name] [Course Name] PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE [Job Title] [Company/Organization Name, City, State] [Dates of Employment] [Brief description of responsibilities and achievements] [Job Title] [Company/Organization Name, City, State] [Dates of Employment] [Brief description of responsibilities and achievements] EXTRACURRICULAR [Club/Organization Name, Position held, Dates] [Brief description of your role and contributions]

When writing a college student resume, you should include action verbs to help show what you did and be sure to keep your resume relevant to the job you are applying to. Here are some more tips to keep in mind when writing yours:

Use action verbs. Action verbs help you show a potential employer what you did. Some example action verbs to use are:

Proofread. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is sending your resume in without proofreading it first. Take an extra couple of minutes and read through your resume for any spelling or grammar mistakes. You can even have a friend or a professor look over it to catch anything you might have missed.

Choose the right format. You want your resume to be easy to read so make sure you choose a format that won’t get tossed aside because it has a million different fonts and colors. The top resume formats to use are chronological, functional, and combination.

Keep it relevant. You only want to add the relevant information. They won’t want to hear about your pottery club if you are applying for a tech company. Rereading the job description is a great way to know what relevant information you should include. This will

Get help. If you are completely stuck, ask for help. They have centers at most colleges that help with this kind of thing. They won’t judge you for having the wrong format or too much information. The entire point of college is to learn and get prepared for the workforce, and getting help is doing that.

Getting help will also give you feedback on how to improve your resume. Career centers are the best places to get help with resumes and cover letters .

Keep it to one page. Since you don’t have much experience, your resume should be one page long. If your resume is too long, potential employers will pass yours over. Keeping your resume to one page will also help you keep it relevant and concise.

Select the right font. The font that you use should be professional and easy to read. The most professional fonts are sans-serif or serif fonts and examples of those include Calibri, Helvetica, and Georgia .

What should be on a college resume?

A college resume should include education history, relevant jobs, extracurricular activities, leadership experience, and any skills relevant to the job.

Since college students may not have much work experience, it’s important to emphasize your education history and any relevant jobs that may have armed you with skills for the job you’re applying for.

You can also demonstrate your abilities by including volunteer work, internships, or extracurricular activities.

How do you write a resume for a college application?

The five things you need to write a resume for a college application are:

Your relevant contact information

Detailed education history and test scores

Experiences

Awards/honors

Any additional skills you’d like to share

These are the different sections required for a resume for a college application. Most sections are self-explanatory, but your experiences section might be a little tricky for some.

In this section, you have the opportunity to differentiate yourself because you’ll want to articulate more than your responsibilities. Focus on your accomplishments and provide numbers for context and scale.

Do you need a resume for college?

No, you don’t need a resume for college, unless a school specifically requests one. The items typically requested on a college resume are typically things that are asked on your college application.

However, resumes can be used to streamline this information and can be advantageous for those with extensive leadership achievements in and outside of the classroom.

A resume can also be used to tell a story, rather than just a list on an application, and can allow applicants to expand on experiences not mentioned in other places.

How can a college student make a resume for a first job?

A college student should include contact information, a resume summary, education, experience, skills, and any additional achievements on their resume for a first job. The candidate should have the relevant experience to draw on for an entry-level job by including all of this information.

Many managers hiring for entry-level jobs understand that college students may not have extensive work experience and will be looking for certain keywords throughout the resume that highlight education, experience, and skills.

Education can include your degree or any special training, experience may include work, volunteer, or internship experience, and skills may include anything that highlights a good fit for the open position.

How long should a college student’s resume be?

A college student’s resume should be one page. Resumes should be this length so that employers and hiring managers can review them quickly. Typically those looking to hire a candidate only have a few minutes to review a resume, so you should make sure it’s relevant and succinct, with all of your impressive information listed early.

Once you gain more experience, your resume may become longer but is typically only recommended for those applicants with over ten years of experience in the workforce.

How do you write a resume for college with no experience?

When writing a resume for college with no experience, be sure to emphasize your education instead. Your education and experiences in school will be key in helping you craft an effective resume for college. Be sure to include relevant internships, any soft or hard skills you possess, and projects you may be proud of.

You may also want to include hobbies, interests, certifications, languages spoken, or any additional achievements you may have received, whether they were in or outside of an academic environment.

What makes a college resume stand out?

Any relevant experience you have will make your college resume stand out. Your relevant experience may include any internships, volunteer positions, or extracurricular activities. To get an idea of what relevant experience you should include, reread the job description. This will include any keywords that you can add to help make your resume stand out more.

Adding any relevant awards or achievements can help your resume stand out. Awards and achievements help show any potential employer that you have the skills and abilities to do the work.

Writing a resume as a current college student is exciting because of the flexibility you have in crafting it. Every college student will have a unique resume and that’s a great thing because it helps you stand out from each other.

When writing a resume as a current college student, keep in mind that the best way to make your resume stand out is by taking advantage of the many opportunities being in college gives you.

Try new things: take on a new project or volunteer opportunity. It not only will help your resume but will also give you great pre-professional experience that will help you decide which career path you should take .

Harvard Extension School – Resume and Cover Letters

University of Pennsylvania – Undergraduate’s student resume samples

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Heidi Cope is a former writer for the Zippia Career Advice blog. Her writing focused primarily on Zippia's suite of rankings and general career advice. After leaving Zippia, Heidi joined The Mighty as a writer and editor, among other positions. She received her BS from UNC Charlotte in German Studies.

Don Pippin is an executive and HR leader for Fortune 50 and 500 companies and startups. In 2008, Don launched area|Talent with a focus on helping clients identify their brand. As a Certified Professional Resume Writer, Certified Digital Career Strategist, and Certified Personal Branding Strategist, Don guides clients through career transitions.

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The Complete Guide to an Irresistible College Student Resume (Resume Examples Included)

• Martin Poduska , 
• Updated July 10, 2024 9 min read

Are you a college student looking for your first internship? Or perhaps a fresh graduate who’s about to apply for her first real job?

If so, then you’ve probably already tried to write your first resume — and became painfully aware of your lack of work experience.

Yet, even if you had a few moments when you felt useless (even the best soon-to-be graduates feel that way), you should remember that every person has skills and knowledge to show off.

The main challenge is discover and transcribe these skills and experiences into words in the right way.

In case of a college student resume, you can look to relevant courses or volunteering experiences. Or perhaps you were wise enough to do an internship during your studies.

In any case, we’ll show you how you can write a fantastic college student resume even if you’ve never worked a day in your life.

Table of Contents

Click on a section to skip

CHAPTER 1: Before You Start Writing

Chapter 2: how to write a great college student resume in 6 easy steps, 1. personal details, 2. professional summary / objective statement, 3. education summary, 4.  skills summary, 5. work history, 6. testimonials.

• Final tips to consider before you press "Send"

Like all things, a good resume starts with having the right mindset. The mindset you adopt during writing will reflect in the impression your resume will give off once it's finished.

Yet, the most important thing about writing powerful resumes might sound a bit counter-intuitive at first: Your resume shouldn’t be about you, it should be about the employer.

Instead, it needs to present you as a capable candidate who'll be an asset to the company you're approaching. Do you still have no idea how can you be an asset to a great company with your current skill level?

Why would anyone want to hire a fresh graduate?

There’s no reason to feel intimidated. Even if you have no experience under your belt, there are people out there who’ll be glad to employ you.

Still, you might be asking, why exactly would an employer want to hire someone who has next to no experience?

There are several reasons. Keep these things in mind and make sure at least some of them reflect in your resume.

• Quick learning and adaptability. You’re a blank canvas. Since it’s probably going to be your first work experience, your employer will be able to shape you role however they see fit within the business.
• Saving on employee salaries. As an entry level employee, you’re probably willing to work for significantly lower salary than seasoned professionals.
• Comfortable with new technology. Recent graduates have grown up around technology and have developed the ability to pick up new tools rapidly.
• Investing into someone who shows potential. Talented people are scarce and far in between. If you invest into someone who shows potential early, your investment will return later.
• Enthusiasm. Everyone is excited about their first job and will work their hardest in order to make a good impression. Graduates bring bounds of creative energy and are more competitive than employers later in their career.

6 Tips to Remember Before You Start Writing Your Resume

Managers are expected to solve hundreds of tiny problems every day. Making the decision as for whether to hire you or not is going to be one of those problems.

You want to help them solve it as painlessly as possible.

• Be relevant. A hiring manager wants to know whether you’re going to bring value to the company and be a good fit for their company culture. Your resume should give them a clear answer to that question. Asking the ‘so what’ question witch each bullet point will help you achieve that.
• Follow the 6 seconds rule. Most recruiters only spend about 6 seconds reading each resume. Make sure your strongest points immediately discernible to make a recruiter give your resume a second look.
• Pack your resume with keywords. Take a closer look at the job advertisement and scan it for a number of words that best describe the position. Include them in your resume. Incorporating keywords will help you get through these applicant tracking systems so your resume gets to a hiring manager.
• Avoid using buzzwords. Some phrases have been used so much in resumes they became meaningless. Avoid words such as “thinking outside the box”, “creative” or “problem solver.” For a more complete list, check this article .
• Use action verbs. While buzzwords are highly discouraged, there are some power words you might want to use. These include expressions such as “achieved”, “advised”, “delegated” and others. Check out this list  for more.
• Fit your resume on a single page. As a college student, you certainly don’t have enough experience to fill 2 pages.

The format of your resume will heavily depend on the information you have to work with. If you have a lot of of internship experience, you’ll want to highlight it just bellow your summary and education sections.

On the other hand, if you didn’t have any jobs related to your desired career, you can play up your education.

If the job requires technical skills like C# or Ruby, consider putting it just below the education section and right above your work experience.

In any case, always make your resume revolve around your greatest strengths and adjust its structure accordingly.

Looking for your first job?

Stand out from your peers with a cool resume.

You don’t have to fret too much about this section. It only becomes relevant once your resume catches an employer’s attention. For this reason, you also don’t want to give it too much space on the page.

Insert it into the header of your resume and follow these simple guidelines:

• Contact details. Put your name at the beginning of your resume. Don’t forget to include your email address and telephone number. Make sure your email address sounds professional. It’s nigh impossible to be taken seriously with an email address like [email protected].
• Address. If your address is close to the workplace you’re applying to, include it in your resume as it could be seen as a positive. This can be an address of your student accommodation , college, or home address. Just put the one that’s closest to the job. Usually, it’s enough to provide your city and state, e.g. Kent, Washington.
• Links to your online profiles. This includes your LinkedIn profile, personal website and/or your web portfolio. Don’t forget to customise your public LinkedIn URL so it looks something like this: “www.linkedin.com/in/yourname” (default version is pretty difficult to read or transcribe as it contains special characters and numbers). Just click the “Edit your public profile” button in the top-right corner of the page.
• Don’t include your photo. Be careful with this one! In some countries, including your photo is a common practice, in most others just an awkward faux pas . A great majority of experts agree that it’s better not to include a photo on your resume (and a college student resume is no different) unless you’re explicitly asked otherwise.

Example: Personal Details

YOUR NAME Email:  [email protected]  |  Phone:  +1-202-555-0157 LinkedIn:  linkedin.com/in/yourname  |  Portfolio:  behance.net/yourname

Your resume should never focus on what YOU want. On the contrary, it should tell a potential employer why THEY want to hire you. What’s the best way to do it?

Write a professional summary that clearly summarises the key qualifications you have to offer a potential employer. Also, don’t forget to include any relevant experiences or skill that can set you apart from other candidates.

Let’s say you worked your way through college financing your own education. This demonstrates your dedication and work ethic. Receiving a scholarship proves your academic excellence. Or perhaps you had a great internship experience. Take your time to pick those accomplishments that are closely related to the job you’re applying for. Most importantly, keep it short and relevant . Avoid anything vague.

Example: Professional Summary

• MA English graduate with five years of experience in academic and creative writing.
• Superior skill in communicating complex ideas in a clear and concise manner. 
• Achieved high academic honours while maintaining part-time employment.
• ICT background and closely familiar with SEO and the intricacies of writing for the web . 

As a fresh graduate or college student, you should put the education section above your work experiences . After all, your degree is probably still one of the strongest cards you can play at this point.

Therefore, every college student resume should list their academic distinctions such as summa cum laude, scholarships, honours such as dean’s list, and other awards.

Only list your GPA if it’s higher than 3.0 on a 4.0 scale . If your overall GPA is lower than that, mention your major GPA. Highlight your accomplishments and consider adding those of your courses that are related to the job you’re applying for. If you’re yet to graduate, include your graduation date.

Example: Education Summary

University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland BA in Business and Marketing, Expected Graduation June 2017

• Academic accomplishments: GPA 3.8 / 4.0, Dean’s list, Received second place in the university’s business plan competition
• Relevant coursework: Marketing Management, Survey Research, Strategic Internet Marketing, Integrated Marketing Communications, Marketing Analytics

Depending on the information you have to work with, it will be either the work experience or the skills section that will take up most space. If you’ve done several internships and have acquired some experience to speak of, you can simply follow regular resume guidelines .

Yet, the approach that most experts recommend in case of a college student resume is to focus on your skills . This is what they call a “functional resume.”

Read through the job description again and select skills that are crucial for the position. See how they overlap with your own skills and group your experience under each of the respective skills headings.

Notice that no company names or job titles are mentioned here. These will be listed in the work history section. However, don't hesitate to mention any class projects, volunteer work or extracurricular activities that demonstrate your ability and are related to your target job.

Example: Skills

Writing and Communication:

• Degree with an emphasis on clarity and structure in written and oral communication.
• Wrote blog posts, news features, technical documents and marketing copies. 
• Former editor-in-chief of the university newspaper.
• Experience writing business and grant proposals, pitch documents and advertising copy.
• Translated documents and interpreted conversations in Spanish, German and English.

Creative and Analytical Thinking

• Analysis of audience, purpose and style of documents. 
• Strategic choice of wording, tone, format and source of information.
• Ability to take fact-based materials and make them interesting.

Software and Social Media

• Knowledge of social media, blogging and digital marketing.
• Experience with Google Wave, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, WordPress and Blogspot. 
• Managed social media accounts with more than 30.000 followers in total.

In the end, employers want to see those dates and positions. Now that you’ve done most of the work in the previous section, all there’s left to do is to list your work experiences chronologically. Include dates, company names, and job positions.

Don’t forget to list your volunteering positions too. It might not be a paid work experience but it’s an experience nevertheless.

At the same time, volunteering looks insanely good on any college student resume. It speaks volumes about your character, work ethic, and social engagement.

Example: Work History

• Marketing Intern — Wayne Enterprises, Inc., Gotham City — Summer 2014
• Editorial Assistant — Daily Planet, Metropolis — Summer 2013
• Cleaning Officer — LexCorp, Metropolis — Dec 2012 –  Jun 2013
• Soup Kitchen Volunteer — Martha Wayne Foundation — 2010 – Present

Don’t be afraid to insert testimonials at the end of your college student resume. They say more about you than you could ever explain yourself. First, when you describe yourself, it can easily sound like bragging. Second, as a student, you have no authority yet. Let your mentors, supervisors, and professors do the bragging for you.

Witch each testimonial, include the person's name, title and position. If they only gave you a full-blown recommendation letter, extract 1-3 sentences and make sure you don’t take them out of context.

Example: Testimonials

• “Sally was always well organised and punctual with her work and her intelligence was evident. I hope you will consider giving her a place.” —  Professor John Doe, University of Gotham City
• “I have no hesitation in recommending Sally for the job. She is a very good student, a hard worker, and will, I am sure, be an asset to your company and team.” — Dr Suzanne Smith, University of Gotham City

Final tips to consider before you press "Send"

• Use off-peak hours for maximum attention , especially if you’re reaching out to an employer directly. Hiring managers are busy people and you want them to receive your resume when they have enough time to read through it.
• Always follow-up. If you receive no answer within several days after submitting your resume, don’t hesitate to send a follow-up email to remind the company of your application.
• Break some rules. Don’t be afraid to adjust the resume structure we’ve outlined above. Always think about how can your college student resume best communicate your strengths.
• Tailor your college student resume for every role. A generic resume will always miss the mark. It’s impossible to keep your resume relevant if you don’t consider particular demands of every job. Review the job description and modify your resume accordingly.
• Your formatting needs to be consistent. All typefaces should be the same and sizing should be consistent throughout a resume. The same applies to spacing and capitalising.
• Check your resume for typos. Having typos in your resume means an instant death for your application. It portrays you as careless and even incompetent for not using the spellcheck feature in your text editor.
• Attach a cover letter.  Your resume should never go unaccompanied. Write a short cover letter and insert it into the body of your email. If you don't know how to write one, check out our Complete Guide to Writing Powerful Cover Letters .

Give your learning a boost, explore our wide array of resume samples . Get inspired to create a resume that paves your way to a promising career.

Martin Poduska is a resume expert and career advice writer at Kickresume. He leads Kickresume’s team of writers and is the main person responsible for upholding the standards of expertise and quality on the blog. In addition to having written nearly 100 in-depth, painstakingly researched resume advice articles, as chief editor he has also edited and revised every single article on this blog. Tens of thousands of job seekers read Martin’s resume advice every month. Martin holds a degree in English from the University of St Andrews and a degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Amsterdam.

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• Resume Tips for Recent College Graduates

If you’re looking to get your foot in the door for a job interview, we put together some resume tips for recent college graduates to get you started. Essentially, a resume and cover letter are marketing documents to secure an interview for a job, internship, or graduate program. Recruiters often spend only about 15 seconds on an initial review. Therefore, a resume must concisely highlight an applicant’s qualifications.

Building a resume may be challenging for those coming straight from college due to limited professional experience. However, there are several strategies to create a strong resume.

Emphasize Education

For recent graduates, prominently place the Education section at the top of the resume. Include details such as your degree, major, minor, and relevant coursework. Highlight any honors or academic achievements.

Include Internships and Part-Time Jobs

You should include internships, part-time jobs, and relevant volunteer work under Work Experience. Focus on how these experiences have prepared you for the role you’re applying for. Highlight transferable skills like teamwork, communication, and problem-solving.

Showcase Involvement in Campus Activities

Involvement in campus organizations, clubs, or leadership roles can demonstrate essential skills. List these under a separate section, such as Activities or Leadership, and describe your role and accomplishments.

Highlight Projects and Research

Consider including this type of section in your resume if you have completed significant projects, research, or a thesis. Explain the scope of the project, your role, and the outcome. Doing this can be particularly relevant if the projects align with the job you are applying for.

Use a Skills Section

Create a Skills section to highlight both technical and soft skills. Include specific software, tools, or languages you are proficient in and interpersonal skills like leadership, teamwork, or adaptability.

Tailoring a Resume

A generic resume is less effective than one tailored to a specific job. Each job has unique requirements. Tailoring a resume to match the job description shows that the applicant understands the role and has the necessary skills. This alignment increases the chances of being seen as a suitable candidate.

Steps to Creating a Resume

Step 1: gathering information.

Begin by compiling a list of all work experiences, volunteer activities, courses, and skills. This list acts as an inventory. Select relevant information from it to add to your resume.

Step 2: Identifying Relevant Skills

Next, review the job description to identify key skills and qualifications. Highlight experiences and skills that match these requirements. Using the exact keywords in the job description can help human recruiters and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) notice you.

Step 3: Organizing Information

Organize the resume into sections for Education, Work Experience, and Skills. This makes the resume easier to read. Fonts should be between 10.5 pt. and 12 pt., with section headings slightly larger. Set margins between 0.5 and 1 inch to ensure readability.

Step 4: Writing Bullet Points

Each bullet point in the experience section should begin with a strong action verb. Avoid using pronouns like “I” or “my.” Instead, focus on what you achieved in each role. For instance, instead of writing “I managed a team,” use “Managed a team of 3 to complete project X ahead of schedule successfully.” Current roles should use the present tense, while past roles should use the past tense.

A well-crafted resume is often the employer’s first impression of a candidate. It should be clear, concise, and tailored to the job. By following these steps and considering the additional tips for recent graduates, applicants can create a resume that effectively communicates their qualifications and increases their chances of being invited for an interview.

UMBC’s Career Center

Be sure to check out the resources and services provided by UMBC’s Career Center . They aim to empower all students and graduates to create their own success stories. 

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Craft a Strong Resume

A resume is a tailored document highlighting your skills, education, goals, and experience. It is a summary of qualifications for a job, internship, scholarship, or other opportunity. Employers will often spend far less than 30 seconds looking at each resume, so yours needs to stand out. The resources below will help guide you through the process.

Get Started with Your Resume

Use these resources curated by the Career Center to help you craft a strong resume.

Resume Writing Editable Worksheet

Use this worksheet to help you plan and develop your resume content.

Resume Editable Template in Word

Download this template and tailor your content to specific opportunities.

High School to College Resume Sample

Learn how to transition your resume format to make it career ready.

Sample Resumes by Career Cluster

Review three different sample resumes from each of our career clusters.

• Communication, Arts, and Marketing
• Consulting, Finance, and Business
• Education, Nonprofit, and Social Impact
• Government, Law, and Public Policy
• Healthcare, Nursing, and Counseling
• Science, Technology, and Engineering

Why Do You Need a Strong Resume?

• Your resume is a tailored document that conveys to a potential employer the skills, experiences, and qualifications you have for a position you are interested in pursuing.
• In most cases, your resume will be part of every job, internship, or graduate school application you submit.
• Your resume—along with your cover letter—is what will determine whether you are invited for an interview.
• Your resume is one of the few parts of the job search process over which you have 100% control. The effort you put into your resume also sends clues to potential employers about the level of effort you put into your work. If your resume looks like it was put together quickly with little attention to detail, what message might you be sending? Make sure your resume is excellent!

Drop-in Sessions

Once you have a draft of your resume, stop by our office for a 15-minute resume review.

Get immediate feedback on your resume as a supplemental resource to drop-ins.

Get Started

• Content and formatting matter. If you have great content, but your reader can’t easily make sense of it or find it, you won’t get invited for an interview. Likewise, if you have a beautiful document, but don’t articulate your skills and experiences effectively, you won’t get invited for an interview. 
• If you're an advanced graduate student, you may, at times, submit a resume of no more than 2 pages.
• Learn more about Applicant Tracking Systems here . 
• Use this article to learn how to write an resume that gets through applicant tracking systems. 
• Your resume is a dynamic document.  Continue to add to and edit your resume on a semesterly or annual basis as you gain more experience. If your career interests change, it is recommended you rethink how you convey your experience on your resume to align with your new field of interest.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as ChatGPT, can be used to enhance your resume. Read our best practices for appropriately leveraging AI in your application materials.

How to Write a Strong Resume

Start with a blank document or our ATS-friendly, editable template . We don’t recommend using templates from sites such as Pinterest or Canva as they become restrictive when you are trying to adjust formatting later. Then add each of the sections detailed below.

Use this worksheet to help you plan and develop your resume content. 

1. Contact Information

First, add your contact information at the top of the page

Your name should be large (e.g. 14 pt font or larger)

Your contact information should include your email address, phone number, city and state (street address is not needed), and a personalized link to your LinkedIn profile.

To personalize your LinkedIn profile link, click on ‘Edit Public Profile & URL’ in the top right corner of your profile page. Edit your custom URL to your name.

Baldwin Eagle

Chestnut Hill, MA | 617-552-XXXX | baldwin@bc.edu | linkedin.com/in/baldwineagle

2. Education

Next, as a current student, your education section should be listed at the top under your contact information.

Information that should be included: 

• Institution name, city, and state
• School or college, including study abroad institutions and graduate schools, where relevant
• Date of graduation (month and year)
• Major, if known
• GPA, if above a 3.0 or if required by an employer

Other optional information:

• Relevant coursework: You can share up to 5 classes that are relevant to the position to which you are applying. This is a great way to tailor your resume to a specific position and to show content knowledge that may not be reflected in your major or elsewhere on your resume.  
• Academic honors or awards: e.g. Dean’s list (with dates) or other academic recognition can be included here
• High school can be included through your second year of college if space permits unless there is a compelling reason to keep it there (e.g. for networking purposes). 

3. Experience

For most students, your experience section(s) will come after Education. An exception would be if the position description calls for key technical skills.

• Keep in mind that your experience is not just your paid experience. It can include jobs, internships, research, volunteer work, leadership, or campus involvement. You can choose how you title your experience section(s). Some ideas include: Relevant Experience, Volunteer Experience, Leadership & Involvement. 
• Since you want your most relevant experience closer to the top of your resume, consider how you want to represent your various experiences. What experiences are most relevant in terms of skills gained and content learned to the positions to which you are now applying? 
• Within each section, list your experiences in reverse chronological order by end date. 

How to write strong bullet statements for each experience:

Great bullet statements will describe your achievements rather than tasks.

Start each bullet with an action verb, then demonstrate the value you added to your work by stating what you did (Project), how you did it (Action), and why you did it (Result).

• What was the project or task?
• What actions did you take? (think specifically about your individual contributions)
• What was the result or outcome of your contribution?

Cite numbers whenever possible to demonstrate the scope of your work (e.g. number of people supervised, number of children in classroom, size of event, budget you oversaw, etc.).

• Example Action Verbs

4. Additional Sections to Consider

Following are some additional sections you may include on your resume:

Objective or Summary: For most students, this is unnecessary and simply takes up space. However, if you are looking to enter a field in which you have very limited experience, it can be helpful to include a short objective that articulates what you are seeking and can show that you are applying to a role with intent and purpose. 

Skills/Interests: It is strongly encouraged to include a section on skills such as computer skills, languages, laboratory skills. For most students, this section will appear at the bottom of your resume, but for students interested in science and technology, see specific tips in the next section. Personal interests such as hobbies can be included if space permits.

Career Field-Specific Resume Tips

Creative fields.

• When applying for a creative position, such as a graphic designer, web designer, or creative manager, it can be appropriate to have a creative resume designed in a program like Adobe InDesign.
• While a creative resume can include graphics and colors, it should still look professional and be easy to read. 
• It’s a good idea to have a traditional version of your resume along with the creative one. Applicant Tracking Systems cannot always pull information from graphics or heavily designed resumes, so use a traditional resume when applying for a position online and save your creative resume to be emailed directly or to give to someone in-person.
• See more information here about how to design a resume for the creative fields.
• When applying to positions in the federal government, it is appropriate to submit a federal resume. Federal resumes are generally 2-5 pages in length and include more required information, including U.S. citizenship status, veteran status, the address and contact information for prior employers and supervisors, and specific USAJobs.gov job identification number.
• As the large majority of federal jobs are posted on USAJobs.gov, we recommend using the website’s resume builder for a step-by-step guide to craft your federal resume.
• List the number of hours worked during clinicals.
• List any non-clinical work or volunteer experiences you have had. This shows the recruiter that you are well rounded.
• It is critical to keep your Nursing resume to 1 page only.
• Additionally, if you have worked with any data entry system such as EPIC, list it under the skills section.
• Prioritize key technical skills, such as laboratory (e.g. PCR, gel electrophoresis, western blot, etc.) and statistical analysis software (e.g. R, SPSS, STATA, etc.), in the top half of the resume. This is especially important if the position description explicitly calls for them.
• Include a research experience section that outlines any on- or off-campus research you have been involved with. Be sure to include relevant achievements in the bullet statements.
• If applicable, include a publications section following the citation style most commonly used in that field of research.
• For teaching in the public schools, create a Licensure and Certifications section, just below your Education section. The title and contents of this section depend on the norms for the state in which you are seeking work. For Massachusetts, include your SEI Endorsement; your 51A Mandated Reporter Training; your MTEL results (if you have passed all of them, you do not need to list each one); and any other endorsements or certifications you have achieved. 
• Create a category for Teaching and Related Experience, or break it up between two categories, such as Practicum Experience and Other Teaching Experience.
• Emphasize experiences with children with special needs; with English Language Learners; communicating with parents; using technology in the classroom, including remote teaching; using assessments to modify your teaching and improve student learning; and/or developing curriculum.
• Emphasize positive outcomes for your students - e.g. “collaborated with teachers to design and teach math units with an emphasis on encouraging students to build a strong foundation, explore the topics, and enjoy math.”
• View sample resume one and sample resume two .
• Prioritize key technical skills, such as programming languages (e.g. Python, C++, JavaScript, etc.) and analytical software (e.g. SQL, Spark, Hadoop, etc.), in the top half of the resume. This is especially important if the position description explicitly calls for them.
• Include a projects section that outlines any personal or group projects you have been involved with to develop your coding skills. Be sure to include relevant achievements in the bullet statements.
• If applicable, include a link to your GitHub in the contact information section.
• In your heading beneath your name, include any theatre-related professional organization memberships such as SAG and AFTRA.
• For actors, include your physical description—height, weight, hair and eye color, and vocal range. Actors should also include a color 8 x 10 headshot with their resume. Singers should specify their notes.
• Column One: Name of play or movie.
• Column Two: Role you played.
• Column Three: Name and location of the theatre, the director’s name. You can save space by abbreviating "director" to Dir."

Action Verbs and Keywords

Can one word make a difference? Yes! Choose your words carefully when writing a resume. Strong action verbs provide power and direction. Start each line of your resume with an action verb instead of more passive words. Use keywords to make sure your resume gets noticed. 

Management Skills

• administered
• consolidated
• coordinated
• prioritized
• recommended
• strengthened

Communication Skills

• corresponded
• interpreted

Clerical or Detailed Skills

• implemented
• systematized

Research Skills

• interviewed
• investigated

Technical Skills

Teaching skills.

• communicated
• facilitated

Financial Skills

Creative skills.

• conceptualized
• established
• illustrated
• revitalized

Helping Skills

• demonstrated
• familiarized
• rehabilitated
• represented

Keyword Strategies

• When you’re applying for a position, be sure to include keywords or skills from the job listing in your resume.
• Browse online job listings in your field. Words that appear consistently in a variety of ads are your "key" words. Company pages on LinkedIn are another good resource.
• Talk to professionals in your industry.
• Include at least four industry- or job-specific keywords in your resume. The ideal number is 12.

Keyword Examples*

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY: Award-winning corporate controller with more than ten years’ experience in two $500 million corporations. Impressive record implementing financial record database architecture that saved over $2 million annually. Proficient in Oracle, Prism, Red Brick, and SAP systems, as well as MS Project, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and FrontPage.

SKILLS Languages: C, SQL, C++, Assembler, Pascal Software: Oracle Developer 2000, Informix NewEra, FoxPro OS: UNIX, Windows NT/95/3.11, MS-DOS RDBMS: Oracle7, Informix 7

*Pam Dixon,  Job Searching Online for Dummies

Resume FAQs

What are the exceptions to the “one-page resume” rule.

Undergraduate students should keep their resume to one page, although there are some career fields for which a two-page resume is acceptable (e.g. teaching and federal government). Longer resumes (up to two pages) are acceptable for graduate school applications as well. 

What is an applicant tracking system? How do I know if a company is using one?

Because companies receive so many resumes for each job, applicant tracking systems (ATS) that screen resumes electronically are commonly used. Over 98.8% of Fortune 500 companies use ATS while 66% of large companies and 35% of small organizations rely on them ( Jobscan ). Given that so many companies use this technology, assume that your resume will be screened by an ATS and create an ATS-friendly resume.

The ATS will screen your resume and cover letter for keywords that match the job description, so make sure to use keywords from the job description in your resume and your cover letter.

What will make my resume stand out to employers?

• Putting keywords on your resume that match the job description (as long as they make sense). 
• Making sure your resume is readable, neat, and free of typos and spelling or grammatical errors.
• Dividing your experience into Relevant Experience and Additional Experience with Relevant coming first.
• Using bullet points rather than blocks of text to describe your experiences. Start each bullet point with a strong action verb, and show the result or purpose of what you did in each bullet point.
• Using numbers to quantify achievements when possible (e.g. served over 100 customers per day during a three-hour shift).
• Having a well-rounded variety of experiences and activities.

Should I use a resume template?

While it might be tempting to use a resume template from sites such as Pinterest or Canva because it is predesigned, it is best to stay away from resume templates and create a Word document from scratch. Resume templates are often not compatible with ATS and could render your resume unreadable by many employers. See our editable resume template for ATS-friendly formatting. 

You should avoid using graphics and colors in your resume unless you are applying for a creative position, such as a graphic designer, web designer, or creative manager. For these roles it may be appropriate to have a creative resume designed in a program like Adobe InDesign, however you should still avoid using a template. See more information here about how to design a resume for the creative fields.

Can ChatGPT write my resume? How should I use it?

ChatGPT and other AI tools can be used to enhance your resume, but should not be used to write one for you! AI should not replace your own creativity and perspective and the results generated are meant to provide suggestions rather than to be copied and pasted word-for-word. Think of these ChatGPT resume prompts as a supplement to your own ideas and insights, not a replacement.

When using AI to help with your application documents, submit prompts that are specific to the role for which you are applying. This will help you create materials that are tailored to the position and demonstrate your relevant skills and experience.

Just like any other writing, edit and proofread anything generated by AI before submitting. Make sure the content flows well, the wording is typo- and error-free, and the metrics are accurate. You should be able to speak to every bullet point on your resume if asked about it in an interview.

Should I include things I did in high school on my resume?

Yes, you may include extracurricular activities, sports, jobs, internships, and volunteer roles on your resume up through your second year in college or until you start replacing your high school involvement with activities you are involved in at Boston College. You may still keep work experiences from high school on your resume if you have space and/or they are relevant to your future career interests.

What document format should I use when applying for jobs online?

There are pros and cons to submitting your resume either as a PDF or Microsoft Word document. Read more here . Either way, follow the format instructions on the employer’s website or in the job description, if they provide them.

Should I include my pronouns on my resume?

Some people choose to put their personal pronouns at the top of their resume after their name. This is entirely optional. Do what feels most comfortable for you.

What is a CV? How is it different from a resume?

A curriculum vitae (CV) contains significantly more information and is more detailed than a standard resume. Unlike the one-page rule for resumes, there is no page limit for a CV. The CV includes your career history as well as your education, awards, special honors, grants or scholarships, research or academic projects, and publications. You might also include professional references, coursework, fieldwork, descriptions of dissertations, and a personal profile that lists your relevant skills and attributes. 

Check out the Ultimate Guide to Writing a CV  and a video overview of putting together your first CV .

Is there a difference between an undergraduate CV versus a graduate CV?

There are no formatting differences between an undergraduate and graduate CV except that a graduate CV might be longer because graduate students typically have more experience.

When would I use a CV? When would I use a resume?

CV’s are primarily used when applying for faculty positions in higher education or high-level positions in the sciences. CV’s are also often used in countries other than the U.S., but they can vary by country so make sure to research each country’s specific guidelines ( Interstride’s country insights can be helpful here). Resumes are used when applying for most other types of positions in the U.S.

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Creating a standout resume might seem daunting, but it’s your key to landing that dream job. Your resume is more than just a list of jobs; it’s your personal marketing tool that highlights your skills, experiences, and achievements in a way that attracts potential employers. Nowadays it’s everyone’s concern how to make a resume that is ATS friendly and reflects your skills and knowledge.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the essential steps to build a resume that gets noticed by hiring managers and recruiters. We’ll cover resume templates , effective resume formats , and tips for writing powerful resume bullet points. Building your resume is crucial for different job applications, how to highlight your professional experience and the best ways to list your education and certifications.

Table of Content

What is a Resume

Why a resume is important.

Before, moving on to how to write a resume even if you’re a fresher and have no experience, let us understand what is resume and why it is important.

A resume is a concise document that summarizes your skills , experiences , and achievements to showcase your qualifications for a job. Understanding resume writing how to is essential for creating a compelling resume that stands out. When learning how a resume is written, it’s important to focus on formatting, clarity, and relevance. Effective resume writing involves choosing the right structure, highlighting your most significant accomplishments , and tailoring the content to the job you’re applying for. By mastering how to write a resume, you can create a powerful tool that captures the attention of potential employers and helps you advance in your career.

If you want paychecks, you’ve to sell yourself first and a resume is that one tool or document that lists out your features and USPs that will help you to sell yourself in the job market. Within one or two pages, a resume convinces recruiters if they want to call you for a job interview or not. (That much power your resume holds)

So, if you want to bag your first interview or want to interview at your dream company or for a dream job role , it’s very important for you to write a strong and power-packed resume with correct keywords and relevant skills that will persuade recruiters to hit “I want to interview you” button. 

How to Make a Resume (Full Guide)

Choose your desired resume format.

• Reverse chronological resume format
• Functional or Skilled Focused resume format
• Hybrid Format
• Dos and Don’ts of Resume Layout 
• What resume format is best for ATS

Most people have two options when it comes to getting an interview call – A++ top-tier level resume or an “I know someone here” referral. No matter which group you belong to, it’s important to up your resume game and understands the strategies that are used to land an interview from your dream company within a week, if not days. Before you dive into the resume-building process, you have to decide on the right resume format that will take you up the ladder. If you’ve already decided to write your resume on a text editor like MS Word, it’s highly recommended you should keep your HANDS OFF from them. 

Formatting your resume on a basic text editor will not waste your time but also your effort. We recommend that you should use a resume builder tool like GeeksforGeeks Online Resume Builde r – Free. Our resume builder is fast, simple, and free to use. Moving onto resume formats that you can use to format your resume. 

There are three types of resume formats: reverse chronological, functional or skills-based, and hybrid. You should choose the format that suits the type of job you are applying for and your level of experience.

Types of Resume Formats

1) Reverse chronological Resume Format – This highlights your career advancement and emphasizes the relevant job experience. It’s an absolute fan favorite of recruiters. However, it doesn’t show your skills much so if you’re someone with highly relevant job experience, you can opt for this resume format.

Reverse chronological Resume Format

2) Functional/skills-based Resume Format – Are you a fresher with no job experience? Opt for a functional or skill-based resume format if you have skills to brag about but no relevant work experience. 

Functional/skills-based Resume Format

3) Hybrid Resume Format – Now, this resume format is preferred by most recruiters and loved by job seekers with diverse skillsets and job experience. It combines the best elements of both reverse chronological and functional resume format and provides space for the right keyword. 

If you’re wondering which resume format is best for ATS, go for the reverse chronological resume format. When it comes to resume layout, you need to mind these tips while formatting your resumes:

• Page Count: Keep your resume to one page. Max 2 if you’ve 7+ of experience and it’s relevant to your job role. Recruiters get 1000+ resumes every day and it gets tough to go through resumes with more than 2 pages. 
• Heading Tag: If you’re choosing an H1 tag or an H2 tag to write your headlines in your resume, then ensure that all headlines have the same tag.
• White space: Keep enough white space in your resume. Negative space is needed to make your resume look professional.
• PDF or Word: Download your resume as a PDF document as it can be read by most ATS. If the job description mentions that you need to send the doc file as a .doc, then send your resume like that as old ATS can’t read PDF files.

 Add your contact information

The most important and overlooked section of your resume is the contact information section which is right under your name. Even if you write everything correctly but haven’t provided your contact details, HRs can’t reach out to you even if they want to contact you. Ensure that everything on your contact information is up to date and triple-check the details if needed. 

Things that you should include are: 

• First Name / Last Name – Mention the name that is provided on your social security card or if you’re in India, it should match the name that’s provided on your PAN card or Aadhaar card.
• Phone Number – Only provide the phone number that is reachable.
• Email Address – Don’t provide an unprotected email address. Your email address should be like this: “[email protected]”. Avoid providing email addresses like [email protected], [email protected]
• Location – Your residential address should be the same as the one where you stay or relocated.
• Social Media URLs – If you’re a software developer, mention your Github profile. If you’re a designer, then Behance profile and if you’re a writer, provide your personal blog that showcases your abilities. Don’t forget to include your LinkedIn account as most recruiters go through LinkedIn to see your online presence. 

Write a Resume Headline that Can Stand You Out From the Crowd

A resume headline is a short, one-line statement that conveys who you are as a candidate. It is important to write a headline that grabs the recruiter’s attention and encourages them to read your qualifications in more depth. Your resume headline is often the first thing recruiters read so impress them within seconds by writing a short and concise headline. Keep it relevant to your job skills and make sure that you put the right keywords that are relevant to the job posting .

Some resume headlines examples for you to check out:

• Goal-Oriented Senior Accountant with 6+ Years of Accounting Experience in XYZ Company.
• Successful Manager of Dozens of Online Marketing Campaigns
• Award-Winning Video Editor Skilled in Web Design and Video Editing
• Detail-Oriented History Student with Curatorial Experience

Include a professional summary

The first impression is your last impression. This phrase stands true to date. An effective resume introduction can make or break you no matter what type of job you’re applying for. Your summary or objective can give the opportunity to impress the recruiter so carefully write your resume summary/objective. Don’t know where to write a resume summary or objective? We got you covered.

A resume summary is a 2-3 sentence summary of your working experience. Unless you’re a recent college grad or changing careers, you should use a resume summary in almost any scenario.

On the other hand, a resume objective implies the goal of your resume. It conveys why you want to work in that particular field and the motivation behind it. When writing a resume summary, include an objective of 2-3 lines. If you’re changing your career or have no significant work experience, make sure to write a resume objective.

Add your work experience

• If you’re a fresher, keep the education section at the top, and if you’re an experienced person or did work in FAANG companies or big coming, then put work experience at the top.
• If you’re a backend intern, make sure you’re writing the designation as a software engineering intern. 
• Make sure you’re covering up your tasks in 2-3 points.

Now we’re down to the most important part of the resume – work experience . If an add sells a product with just a few words, your resume does the same with you by selling you on the basis of your past work experience and achievements. Learning to write this section is a bit tough but once you master writing the perfect work experience section, 80% work is done here and after this you will know how to write and resume. So, let’s see how to list your work experience: Your work experience should be written in reverse chronological order as ATS can scan reverse chronological resume format easily.

It should be something like this:

Job title | Company Name | Date of employment 

Accomplishments & Achievements

• Job title: Keep it on top of your resume so that recruiters can easily see what position you’re applying for.
• Company name: Mention the company you are working in or working for.
• Date of employment: Mention the timeframe of your employment in all the companies you worked for. Ensure that format is like this – dd/mm/yyyy. It is important to mention as ATS parses it only then.
• Accomplishments and achievements: This is where you mention your core achievements that will in turn bag you – your dream job. List your achievements or responsibilities according to your job role.
• If you’re a fresher, keep the education section at the top and if you’re an intern or worked in FAANG companies or big companies, then make sure to put the work experience section at the top.
• If you’re a backend intern, instead of writing your job title as “Backend Intern”, write it as a “Software Engineering Intern”. You should always write the job title mentioned in the job description.
• Don’t write 10-15 points covering your job responsibilities. Recruiters don’t have the time to go through all of the responsibilities. Keep it to 2-3 points max.
• Mention achievements in terms of how exactly you helped the company grow, reach quarterly quotas, and so on. Numbers play a big role when it comes to convincing your future employers what exactly you achieved.

Mention your Soft and Hard Skills

Now that you mastered writing your work experience section, it’s time to dive into your skills section. There’re 2 types of skills:

• Soft Skills: These are your personal skills like social skills, communication skills, personal traits, career attributes, leadership, critical thinking, and management.
• Hard/Technical Skills: Hard Skills are measurable skills that you can measure like how proficient you’re in that particular skill. The use of technical skills frequently requires specialized tools and the technologies needed to use them.

A good resume should cover both. However, it’s highly advisable that you should mention those skills in which you’re fluent and not just at a beginner level. To know more about how to list your key technical skills, read our article 7 Key Technical Skills to List on Your Resume in 2022 .

Once you list your hard skills with your experience level, double-check your skills section and remove any skill you feel you’re not confident in and don’t LIE even if your life depends on it. Lying about skills can get you in serious trouble later on and can get you blacklisted too.

Include your education

The next section is all about your educational background, achievements, and projects. We’ll keep it short and concise for you. List your educational background in this way:

• Program Name. E.g.: “MBA in Marketing”
• University Name. E.g.: “Mumbai University”
• Years Attended. E.g.: “06/2019-05/2021”
• (Optional) CGPA. E.g.: “CGPA: 8”
• (Optional) Academic achievements. If you have written any interesting papers or excelled in any courses, do describe them.

Let’s move on to some tips that will help you perfect your educational background, achievement, and project section:

• Only keep the last 2 educational qualifications or examinations you’ve given.
• Only add those projects which are relevant to your job opening – projects which have more number of features.
• Projects to list- API-based projects, Portfolio-based projects, and Full-stack projects.
• Add as many numbers as you can while listing achievements – add your highest ranking in CP or the highest number of problems you solved on GeeksforGeeks or XYZ. 
• Don’t add intra-college achievements as it put forth a negative impression on recruiters.
• Don’t add “President of the xxx club” if you’re applying for tech roles. 

Mention Other Sections (Optional)

All the sections we’ve covered are must-haves but there are a few more sections that are optional and don’t hold much significance. These are like booster sections that can give you an extra wow effect.

The following sections can be added to your resume:

• Languages – If you’re multilingual and can be handy with different languages, do mention that in your resume. However, avoid mentioning language that you’re not proficient in as it can get you in trouble later on if you’re not able to help your colleagues when they require your help with the said language.
• Hobbies and Interests – Have extra space in your resume? Add up your hobbies and interests. It shows how you’re as an individual.
• Volunteering Experiences – Some studies show that volunteering has a greater impact on hiring. It shows that you’re an empathetic person by nature and can be loyal to the company. 
• Courses, Certifications, and Awards – Do you have any certifications or awards that can show you off and is relevant to the job position you applied for? Note them down in the resume as it shows your expertise in the said field.

Customize Your Resume According to the Job Posting

We’re almost at the end of the article. It’s time to format your resume in such a way that ATS can scan your resume smoothly. To understand the term ATS better , you should know ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System . It is software used to manage the entire application process for employers. This system compiles, scans, and ranks all of the applications.

According to a survey done, 98% of Fortune companies are using ATS to scan their resumes. ATS segments resume into various sections: Work Experience , Education, Skills , etc. Next, it looks for precise keywords and qualifications to see if you fit the job description. So it’s important to tailor your resume as per the job description and for how to resume writing. Resumes that don’t comply with the basic requirements are automatically discarded. A job candidate’s resume is ranked based on its relevance (the best resume appears at the top of the recruiter’s pipeline).

Proofread Your Resume With Correct Formatting

Now that you’re done with your resume writing task, it’s time to do the most important task – Proofread your resume. Here’s the checklist we’ve for you:

• Resume fonts – Stick to Ubuntu, Roboto, Overpass, or traditional fonts like Helvetica, Garamond, or Georgia. Your font should be 10-11 and don’t ever go with Comic Sans (only if you want to look like a joker)
• Check tenses – Describe the current work you are doing in the present tense, and use the past tense to describe jobs from the past.
• Resume action words – Use resume action words like “Chaired”, “Controlled”, “Executed”

Also Read: Free Online Resume Builder By GeeksforGeeks – Create Your Resume Now! 10 steps to write an Effective Resume Resume Building – Resources and Tips

In conclusion, learning how to write a resume resume is a crucial step in advancing your career and landing your desired job. Start by selecting a clean and professional format , then focus on highlighting your key skills, experiences, and accomplishments. Tailor each section to the job you’re applying for, ensuring that your qualifications align with the employer’s needs. Building your resume is very beneficial for you so remember to use clear and concise language, and proofread your resume to eliminate any errors. By following these steps, you can create a resume that effectively showcases your strengths and sets you apart from other candidates, increasing your chances of success in the job market.

How to Build a Resume – FAQs

How can i write resume.

You can write your resume by following the methods given above or you can also use any resume templates that will help you a lot.

How to Resume Writing?

Resume writing can be done by some of the points given below: Choose the Right Format Start with a Strong Header Craft a Compelling Summary or Objective Detail Your Work Experience

How can I write a simple resume?

To write a simple resume, use a clean format with clear headings. Include your contact information, a brief summary, your work experience, education, and relevant skills. Keep it concise and focused on your most important qualifications.

How to write a resume for a job?

To write a resume for a job, tailor it to the specific position by highlighting relevant experience and skills. Start with your contact details, followed by a strong summary, detailed work history, education, and a skills section. Use action verbs and quantify your achievements where possible.

What are the 7 basic steps to writing a resume?

Here are the basic steps: Choose the Right Format Start with a Strong Header Write a Compelling Summary Detail Your Work Experience Highlight Your Skills Include Your Education Proofread and Edit

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3 strategies to help college students pick the right major the first time around and avoid some big hassles

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Educational Psychology at the United States Coast Guard Academy, University of Connecticut

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Rachael Cody does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Not long after new college students have finished choosing the college that is right for them , they are asked to declare an academic major. For some students, this decision is easy, as their majors may have actually influenced their choice of college. Unfortunately, this decision is not always an easy one to make, and college students frequently change their minds.

For instance, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, 30% of undergraduates changed their major at least once.

While it may be common for undergraduates to change their major, it can cause them to lose time, money and opportunities . Students who experience the loss of these resources may be at risk for dropping out of college altogether .

While earning a Ph.D. in educational psychology , I conducted a study that highlighted students’ experiences upon changing their majors. I wanted to know why students made the switch and what that experience was like.

The results of my study showed that students became disoriented about their majors during their undergraduate education. Oftentimes, they were influenced by professors and advisers who were dismissive of their aspirations and abilities . These students experienced failure , which sometimes ruined their motivation. Failure may be commonplace in certain majors, but these students believed themselves to be outliers, viewing failure as a hit to their self-esteem .

So, what is a college student to do when faced with such an important decision? It is tempting to give into fear, indecisiveness or worry. But rest assured, using the following strategies to select the right major will also help sustain your motivation when the going gets tough.

1. Make a career plan

Creating a career plan is one of the ways that students can bolster their chances of success in their chosen majors. When creating a career plan, think about the career that you want to have in the future and consider the academic and professional paths that could lead to that career. Researchers have found that students who made career plans were more likely to persist in their academic majors.

When making a career plan, you should reflect on your beliefs about work, your interest in various academic subjects and your abilities. Exploring these factors may be one of the reasons why students who complete career plans are more likely to stick with their majors . Use your reflections to guide you as you search for careers that you would enjoy. Then, identify a specific career and outline the steps that you will have to take during your time at college that will help prepare you for that career.

2. Do your research

College students sometimes drop out of their selected majors because they have become disenchanted with the academic area they have chosen . Or they may find themselves more attracted to a different academic major altogether. For others, the desire to switch majors may occur after they get a taste of what it is like to work in that field, particularly during work-placement opportunities. One study found this to be true for some nursing majors , who shared that their first clinical placements showed them that they were not well suited to perform the duties of a nurse.

To avoid these sorts of outcomes, it is important to do your research about the job that you are interested in pursuing, as well as any related jobs. Is there one that would be better suited to your abilities and your preferences? Is there someone you can talk to who can tell you more about what an average day looks like at a particular job? Ask yourself which aspects of the job you could see yourself enjoying, as well as the parts of the job that you think you might dislike. While it is possible to switch out of your major once your interests become more apparent, you will save a good deal of time and energy by initially choosing a major that is aligned with your interests and abilities.

3. Brace yourself for challenge

It may come as a surprise when you are presented with incredibly challenging material during your first semester at college. Students who were at the top of their class may be particularly shocked when they receive their first low grade on an exam. You should not assume, however, that you have made the wrong choice of academic major simply because you performed poorly on one test. Negative feedback from college advisers and instructors can influence a student’s choice to switch out of their major.

The possibility of failure can be so discouraging to students that they can lose their ambition on the first day of class , before they have experienced any academic failure at all. Hold on to the confidence that guided you to select your major in the first place, and prepare yourself for the academic challenges that await you in whichever major you choose.

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Republicans have leveled inaccurate or misleading attacks on Mr. Walz’s response to protests in the summer of 2020, his positions on immigration and his role in the redesign of Minnesota’s flag.

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By Linda Qiu

Since Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota was announced as the Democratic nominee for vice president, the Trump campaign and its allies have gone on the attack.

Mr. Walz, a former teacher and football coach from Nebraska who served in the National Guard, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006 and then as Minnesota’s governor in 2018. His branding of former President Donald J. Trump as “weird” this year caught on among Democrats and helped catapult him into the national spotlight and to the top of Vice President Kamala Harris’s list of potential running mates.

The Republican accusations, which include questions over his military service , seem intended at undercutting a re-energized campaign after President Biden stepped aside and Ms. Harris emerged as his replacement at the top of the ticket. Mr. Trump and his allies have criticized, sometimes inaccurately, Mr. Walz’s handling of protests in his state, his immigration policies, his comments about a ladder factory and the redesign of his state’s flag.

Here’s a fact check of some claims.

What Was Said

“Because if we remember the rioting in the summer of 2020, Tim Walz was the guy who let rioters burn down Minneapolis.” — Senator JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican nominee for vice president, during a rally on Wednesday in Philadelphia

This is exaggerated. Mr. Walz has faced criticism for not quickly activating the National Guard to quell civil unrest in Minneapolis in the summer of 2020 after the murder of George Floyd by a police officer. But claims that he did not respond at all, or that the city burned down, are hyperbolic.

Mr. Floyd was murdered on May 25, 2020, and demonstrators took to the streets the next day . The protests intensified, with some vandalizing vehicles and setting fires. More than 700 state troopers and officers with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ mobile response team were deployed on May 26 to help the city’s police officers, according to a 2022 independent assessment by the state’s Department of Public Safety of the response to the unrest.

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