College Student Resume Example

The hardest resume you’ll write in your life will likely be your first. Whether you’re entering the workforce or writing a grad school resume to continue your career in academia, writing a convincing resume without work experience is tough, especially now with the lasting economic impact of COVID-19.

Luckily, you can still put together an offer-worthy application without professional experience — even if you’re writing a college freshman resume.

First, here are some related resumes and cover letters to help you in case this page doesn’t provide all the tools you need:

• College freshman resume sample
• Entry level cover letter example
• Recent college graduate resume sample
• Resume examples for teens
• Internship resume example
• Cover letter sample for an internship
• Scholarship cover letter example
• Scholarship resume example
• Student CV Examples

And here are some helpful tips for writing a resume for college students:

1. Emphasize your education

Getting a degree is a full-time job. Employers understand this – but it’s up to you to emphasize how your experience as a student qualifies you for the position you want to fill.

Writing the perfect education section on your resume is key for creating a successful college resume.

Here’s the education-related information you should include for your college and high school:

• School name
• Major and level of degree (i.e. Bachelor’s, Master’s)
• Location (city and state)
• Graduation date (month and year)
• Your GPA (but only if it’s above 3.5)
• Awards or honors

You should also include any relevant coursework you completed in your education section to show employers that you have background knowledge for the job or internship you’re applying for.

Also consider mentioning that you made the Dean’s list on your resume. However, only include this if you made the list more than twice during your college career.

Here’s an example of what a detailed education section looks like on a college student’s resume:

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science / GPA: 3.8

New York University, New York City, Graduated 2020

Relevant Coursework: International Politics, Economics, Public Polling, Data Analysis, Electoral Process

Honors: cum laude

2. Swap out “Work History” for “Relevant Experience”

While you may not have years of work experience to boast on your resume, that doesn’t mean you don’t have experience that employers will find valuable. Whether through volunteer activities, extracurriculars, or relevant coursework, you probably have some experience that you can include on your resume.

To make the most of your qualifications, swap out the traditional “Professional Experience” section for a “Relevant Experience” section. This allows you to provide a more accurate summary of your achievements and skills.

If you don’t have any formal work experience yet, you can use this section to highlight any of the following experience:

• Internships
• Relevant college coursework
• Volunteer work
• Study Abroad
• Extracurricular activities
• Hobbies and interests
• Clubs
• Sports
• Choirs, orchestras and other musical ensembles
• Fraternities or sororities

This section will likely fill up the bulk of your resume, so make sure to add bullet points that help illustrate how these experiences have prepared you for the position you want to fill.

For example, our candidate features her tutoring and study abroad experience on her resume. Furthermore, she adds hard numbers to illustrate her achievements during these experiences:

Improved freshman-level writing scores by 40% through group lessons as well as supplementary one-on-one tutoring

She even includes numbers to illustrate the extent of her research during her study abroad program:

Arranged and conducted interviews with 10+ individuals, ranging in profession from librarians to actors to historians

Including numbers on your resume is a great way to showcase exactly what you’re capable of achieving, and further impress employers. Mentioning any relevant research you’ve conducted, including the word or page count for the corresponding reports, or mentioning how many interviews you’ve done are all ideal ways to quantify your experience.

3. Include a diverse mix of skills

You don’t need to have work experience to have a strong resume skills section. Through your coursework and extracurriculars, you’ve probably accumulated a wealth of relevant hard and soft skills like:

Hard Skills

• Writing and editing
• Microsoft Office (Word / PowerPoint)
• Google Drive Suite
• Research
• Photoshop

Soft Skills

• Time management
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Communication
• Work ethic
• Flexibility and adaptability

These are just a few of the skills that most college students pick up through their studies.

Take it a step further by listing any specific technical skills you’ve picked up through a class (like learning PhotoShop in a design course, or Excel in a math class), skills you’ve learned through independent study (like getting an online certification from Code Academy), or skills you’ve exercised through extracurricular activities (like SGA).

Additionally, emphasizing your soft skills is a great way to improve your resume if you have minimal work experience. That’s because soft skills are valuable for nearly any job, and are difficult to teach.

College student resume template

Here’s a college student resume template that you can copy and paste into Microsoft Word or Google Docs and fill out. It includes an outline for each resume section, and a description of what type of information you should include:

1. Resume Heading

FIRST AND LAST NAME

Email: youremail@gmail.com | Phone: 895 555 555 | Address: 4397 Aaron Smith Drive Harrisburg, PA 17101 | Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/yourprofile

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2. Resume Summary

College student majoring in [major name]. Seeking to leverage my competence in [job-specific hard skills] to fill the [position name] position at [company name]. A [positive personality trait] worker aiming to contribute to [company name]’s goals and take on more responsibility as quickly as possible.

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Education

Degree level and major / GPA (if above 3.5)
College Name – City, State
Expected graduation: month and year
Honors and awards: [optional]
Relevant coursework: [optional]

Class of […] / GPA (if above 3.5)
High School Name
City, State
Graduation: month and year
Honors and awards: [optional]
Relevant subjects / coursework: [optional]

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Relevant experience

Most Recent Volunteer/ Internship/ Extracurricular Experience Title

Employer Name/ Location/ Start Date – End Date [you can just write ‘present’ rather than an end date if you are still carrying out this role]

• Include a bullet-point list of your main duties and achievements.
• Make sure you add numbers to these bullet points.

Earlier Volunteer/ Internship/ Extracurricular Experience Title

Employer Name/ Location/ Start Date – End

• Include a bullet-point list of your main duties and achievements.
• If you’re no longer carrying out this role, make sure you use past tense verbs in your bullet points (e.g. ‘Chaired a student committee on diversity’ / ‘Performed in venues around the world’ / ‘Created and executed lesson plans’, etc.).

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Skills

• List any relevant skills
• Include a range of hard skills and soft skills

Be as specific as possible. Mention the actual names of software or tools you’re able to use.