How To Build Your Resume In College

College Student Resumes That Landed Jobs In 2022

Looking for your first job or internship while a college student is analogous to the old “chicken or the egg” problem.

Companies seem to demand that candidates for entry-level roles have experience, but how do you get that experience if you don’t have experience?

Getting the first job or internship of your career can be the most challenging. Luckily, as a college student, you’re in a great position to get that first break you need. After that, you’ll have the experience employers are seeking.

How can you build an effective resume as a college student when you don’t have much relevant experience? We’ve been working for the last few months to answer this question. After reviewing countless resumes, we’ve created free resume outlines for you to use, and right here, right now we’ve got nine college student resume samples for your use and benefit.

Why this resume works

• When you’re looking for your first full-time role while in college, you need to clarify exactly when you’ll be graduating. You can do that in both your resume objective and your education section.
• The golden rule on your resume is to lead with your strengths. If you have a relevant internship, it makes sense to use it to headline your college student resume as a marketing student. If you don’t have an internship under your belt, you might include a relevant class project or part-time work you had while in school.

Use Plenty Of Action Verbs In Your Rsum

The still, unmoving and boring forms of the verb to be rot after a while in the mind of the reader, especially when the reader is looking through hundreds of student résumés! Some alternative words to use are as follows:

• Administered

• I was a member of the poetry club
• I organized and managed various poetry club events

What To Include In The Skills Section Of A High School Resume

If you search for general resume examples online, you might feel overwhelmed and perhaps a bit discouraged when you look at sample Relevant Skills resume sections. But what youre probably looking at are sample resumes for mid-career professionals. When youre still in high school, youre not expected to have the same advanced career skills as someone in their thirties does. This leaves you with the question, What skills can a high school student put on a resume?

The answer is: more than you think! When evaluating what skills you might be able to add to your high school resume, its helpful to understand the difference between hard skills and soft skills.

Hard skills refer to a persons abilities gained through technical knowledge or training. These can range from technology or software skills to interpersonal skills such as public speaking or customer service. As a high school student, your hard skills may be limited, if you havent gained much work experience or training, but youve probably still acquired a few through school and extracurriculars.

Here are examples of hard skills you might be able to add to a high school resume. You should choose which skills to include based on the type of job, scholarship, or college youre applying to.

• Customer service

• Collaboration

• Leadership

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Include A Detailed Education Section

Your resumes education section provides essential details about your educational background.

When writing a resume for college, there are a few things that make a great education section.

To start, include the most important details first so an admissions member reading this section can easily access your information.

Also, keep the details in your education section short and concise so you can showcase your most relevant information.

For instance, try using resume bullet points to break up long lists of activities, honors, and awards into more manageable chunks.

If your grades are lower than expected, you may want to include your GPA closer to the bottom of your resume so that the committee can view your other top skills, activities, and experience rather than dismissing your resume because of your grades.

How To Format A High School Resume

Lets start with the basicsformatting your high school resume. The good news is, you dont have to start from scratch. Weve created a modern high school resume template for you thats perfectly suited to showcase your skills and experiences at any level. And if youre a creative type looking to add extra personality to your resume, you might consider exploring the high school resume template options on sites like Canva.

What makes a good high school resume template, anyway? Here are a few of the most important formatting rules your resume should follow:

• Limit your high school resume to one page.

• Ensure your resume is skimmable by using big headings, bullet points, and plenty of white space.

• Use classic and easy-to-read fonts, such as Cambria, Calibri, Georgia, Helvetica, or Garamond, to name a few.

• Save your high school resume as a PDF file so the formatting wont change when someone views or downloads it.

Once youre set with a great high school resume template following these guidelines, your first step is to add your contact information. Here are a few tips on what to include:

Once youve expertly added and arranged your contact info, youre ready to move on to the next part of the high school resumeyour objective statement.

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Get Started On Your College Resume With Scoir

If you’re a student that is currently using Scoir, we have a simple tool to help you build your resume. You can view our guide to creating a resume in Scoir here.

College resumes can be organized in many different ways to help you communicate your experience and skills. If you are not a current user of Scoir, or if you would prefer to organize it on your own, below is just a sample of one way to build your college resume. We hope it helps!

Tailor Your Resume To Each College

You might have come here looking for how to create a resume for college, but the truth is youll need to create several one for each college youre applying to. Why?

Because each college is different, and you should adjust your resume to reflect the requirements of each college.

So study the college you want to apply to by reading its requirements carefully. Look for what features stand out at the particular college and build on them.

For example, if youre applying to an arts-focused school, try starting your resume with a resume section called creative accomplishments or artistic talents.

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Ways To Boost Your Resume As A College Student

As a college or university undergraduate, how can you build skills that will impact your future job marketabilitywhen your work is still being evaluated by letter grade, and your food options are still largely limited to your school cafeterias daily specials?

Its never too early to start thinking about learning new skills, participating in volunteer opportunities, and earning certifications that you can add to your resume. With Gen Z set to make up 25 percent of the workforce, finding ways to stand apart from your peers now will pay off immensely when youre ready to showcase your qualifications in the post-graduate working world.

Join Professional Associations And Clubs

Professional associations and clubs are made up of people in the same or similar fields who meet regularly to network, host guest speakers, and discuss issues important to their professional community. Joining a professional association or club offers networking opportunities with people in your chosen major or intended career, and can lead to future internship or job offers, access to potential mentors and an intellectual community of like-minded people, career advisement, and a chance to learn more about changes in the industry.

Your major likely has a related pre-professional group on campus. Many of these groups are affiliated with regional or national associations that have on-campus branches, such as Public Relations Student Society of America or The American Medical Student Association. Ask your professors and department heads about which groups are available to you, and look into clubs related to your major such as debate club, the school newspaper, theater club, or the college radio program to name a few.

If a club you want to join doesnt exist, start one! The initiative, creativity and entrepreneurship you show will prove impressive to future potential employers.

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What To Include On Your Resume As A Student

Use the resume sections below as a guide to what information you should include in your resume writing. Feel free to add or delete things that arent applicable to you. If you dont have much work experience, build it up by highlighting your volunteer or leadership experience.

Your name and contact infoPut your name, email, and phone number at the top of your resume. If you have a website or social media account that showcases your skills or experience, include links to those too. You want recruiters to be able to reach you and find out more about you.

Work experience

The main section of any resume is the work history and job experience section. Whether its an internship, a summer job, or babysitting for your neighbors kids, include your experience and give a brief explanation of your role and responsibilities. Use action verbs to keep it positive and impactful, and focus on the positive results and lasting impression you made in that role.

Skills section

If youre applying to a specific college program or job description, talk about the relevant skills that make you an excellent candidate for that program or position. These can include soft skills, like good communication and interpersonal relationship building, or technical skills, like graphic design or programming. List them all. This is also a good spot to call out any foreign languages you speak.

Leadership experience

Extracurricular activities

Volunteer work

Education section

Relevant coursework

Resume Summary Example: Youre More Than Your Gpa

You will write your college admissions essay with an eye toward illuminating what makes you an excellent candidate for your chosen university, but your resume summary gives you another chance at it. Its likely there was something you wanted to say in that essay that did not fit in 500 words. You have 3-4 lines at the top of your resume, so say it here!

Try not to repeat information you offer elsewhere and remember that your goal is to answer the question: How will you contribute to the student body and academic environment at our university.

See the resume example text below for summary ideas.

Motivated and passionate student with the intention of gaining admission into your renowned University. Hardworking and driven, with goals of flourishing in your respected Liberal Arts program. Bringing forth a strong academic background with a steady GPA above 3.5, and a decorated Softball career resulting in a 2017 Championship for our school. Committed to working hard and serving my school, peers, and community.

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College Student Resume No Experience

Use this template

Why this resume works

• Hiring managers understand that your resume won’t be jam-packed with highly relevant work experience while you’re in school. The key is highlighting things you do include and why they make you a strong fit for the job or internship to which you’re applying.
• For example, it doesn’t seem like being on the club basketball team is highly relevant to being a business analyst. But by focusing on how you’ve organized practices and led a local volunteer effort, your college student resume can demonstrate qualities that might appeal to a hiring manager.
• The hiring manager may be a basketball fan, so including this type of activity could help you stand out! Don’t be afraid to highlight your interests and hobbies on your resume.

How Long Should A Resume Be For A College Student

One page.

Yes, thats rightyou have one page to make an impression to job recruiters and hiring managers and, hopefully, move forward in the hiring process.

If you have no prior work experience, the one page limit may even be a relief to you.

Even more so, having a one-page limit can help you showcase your most relevant experience and skills related to the job you are applying for instead of adding unnecessary fluffy that may hinder your job prospects.

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Start With Your Education

Unlike a professional resume, a college resume should feature your education at the top. Colleges understand that if you’re a first-year applicant, you likely don’t have much, if any, professional experience. Colleges are first and foremost educational institutions. As such, academic performance is the most important factor in determining who to accept.

How To Get Your Resume Noticed

• Include your achievements. Your resume can include more than the jobs you’ve held. Include awards, extra-curricular activities, leadership roles, and other activities to boost your candidacy.
• Focus on your most relevant skills.Take the time to tweak your resume for each job you apply to, so the employer can see how you’re qualified for the job.
• Get help with your resume. If you need more guidance, check with your college career office for advice on resume and cover letter writing.

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Write An Excellent Resume Objective Statement

A resume objective sits at the top of your resume and details your training, credentials, and skills.

Keep your resume objective clear and focused by targeting it to the colleges needs by using 24 concise sentences to explain why that particular college will help you accomplish your goals.

Use the rest of your resume to back up everything you write in your resume objective.

This is an example of a college applicants resume objective:

Example of an applicant’s college resume objective

An ambitious and conscientious high school graduate with a creative mind, seeking admission to Baylor University to further my skills in fashion. Great interpersonal skills, exceptionally stylish, and ready to take the fashion industry by storm.

College Student Resume For Internship

Use this template

Why this resume works

• Getting that first internship while you’re a college student can be instrumental in helping you get a full-time job once you graduate. Before that internship, however, you likely don’t have relevant work experience for your college student resume .
• That’s okay! What’s important is that you demonstrate to the hiring manager that you have the right resume skills and attitude necessary to succeed in the internship. You can do that through your projects and referencing relevant classes you’ve taken while in school.

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What Is A College Students Resume

Well, its just like a usual resume but in a summary form. It summarizes your studies and academic qualifications. It should give an overview of these experiences and explain how they will benefit you in your upcoming career.

Although, as a college student, you may have little professional experience. However, there are many other activities and skills that you can write in your cv which can impress your potential employer.

These could include summer camps, part-time jobs, freelancing gigs, volunteering positions, sports, cultural activities, or whatever relevant past experiences you may have.

Final Thoughts On How To Build A Resume As A College Student With No Work Experience

Creating a resume as a college student with no work experience can be a daunting task. However, you shouldt let your lack of work experience prevent you from applying to jobs in your field of choice.

In this blog post, we described and highlighted ways you can build your resume without work experience.

This requires you to dig into your education, volunteer, and relevant achievements and activities to curate a resume that shows off your abilities to perform the job you are applying for.

And if you need a more in-depth guide, check out this book written specifically for college students by college professors.

I truly hope this blog post has helped you see how possible it is to build a competitive resume as a college student with no work experience. And as always, good luck!

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References Are Not Included

As an entry-level professional, you only get one page of resume real estate don’t waste it by adding references or the phrase References available upon request. Employers usually won’t ask for this information until you make it to a face-to-face interview, and they know you’ll provide it if they request it.

Looking for more samples and advice? Click on the following links to check out a recording of our recent resume-writing webinar and take a look at another recent college graduate resume sample I wrote for Business Insider.

Need help with your post-grad resume? Learn more about our professional resume-writing services to get a resume like the one above.

Include A Complete Summary Statement

This is often termed as the overview orobjective statement and it plays a critical role in defining the rest of your resume.

This statement should provide insight into what you are aiming for as a budding professional, your skillset, and what you are going to bring to the position you are applying for.

It should only be a sentence or two breaking down what you are going to provide to the employer.

However, remember, the average employer is not looking to learn more about your aspirations. These details dont matter to them as much as you think!

Instead, they just want to know why you are a good candidate for the particular job listing. This is what you want to make clear in the overview or summary statement.

Here is a brief example taken from one of my resumes: Candidate for Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Georgia with strong communication, organization, time management, and computer skills.

You can find more awesome career objective statement examples by .

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