Student Resume Example and Free Template

When you are still studying, your degree program is the most relevant thing you are doing, so it goes near the top. Write the degree, school, and expected graduation month and year ("expected May 2028"). Add a GPA if it strengthens your application; including it is your choice unless the employer asks for it. Then list three to five courses that relate to the job you want. "Relevant coursework" lets a recruiter see quickly that you have studied the basics of their field.

Harvard's career office recommends listing headings in order of importance and, within each heading, reverse chronological order, with the most recent first. For students, that usually means Education, Projects, Experience, Activities and Skills. Switch Experience above Projects if your part-time job is closely related to the role.

Group projects, research papers, lab work and design assignments are real work done to a deadline. Present them like jobs: a title, where it happened (the course or the club), dates, and one or two bullets with what you did and what came of it. The strongest project bullets show that someone used your work: a client adopted your plan, a professor shared your analysis with the class, a club ran your event.

Harvard lists "not demonstrating results" as a top resume mistake and recommends quantifying where you can. Students can usually count something: survey responses, attendance, pages written, people on the team, or the budget you managed.

A campus job, a summer at a restaurant or a weekend shift in retail all show employers things they care about: you show up, deal with people, and handle pressure. Keep each to one or two bullets that point to responsibility, such as training new staff, handling cash, or busy periods you worked through. Club leadership and volunteering go in their own section, with the role, organization and an outcome. If you need help with experience gaps, the resume with no experience example goes deeper.

Most high school details can go once you are in college, unless you are in your first year or the achievement is exceptional. Leave out a photo, age and personal details; Harvard's guidance lists a picture and age among things not to include on a US resume, and UK careers advice from Prospects calls date of birth irrelevant. References are not needed on the page. Keep the format simple enough for software to read: single column, standard headings, text-based PDF. All free templates in the resume builder are built that way.

Applying for internships? Pair this resume with a tailored letter using the internship cover letter example. Graduating soon and applying for full-time roles? The first job resume example shows how to shift the emphasis.