How to Write a Professional Student Resume (With Examples)

Show off your academic success on your student resume! Follow our guide and examples to succeed on and off campus.

It's essential to have a student resume, whether it's a high school student resume or a college student resume.

What is a student resume?

While you're a student, whether a recent college graduate, nearing your graduation date or a high school student, there are plenty of opportunities for you to add skills to your experience and experiment in different fields until you find the one you are passionate about and best suits your wants and needs. Not to mention, if you're still in high school, having an updated, professional student resume may be something colleges are interested in viewing, too.

As a student, you can add the following to your resume:

• Part-time jobs.
• Internships.
• Volunteer work.
• Relevant class projects.
• Honors and awards.

Even if you're not so experienced with creating resumes, we're here to help you land any opportunity that makes its way to you.

Before writing a student resume

Before writing, take time to consider what should go on the resume. Review the job description/job ad in detail.

Try to highlight key parts of the description that stand out. If easier, use a highlighter and print the description. Then, highlight key skills or relevant experience that could be required in order to land the interview.

From there, take time to consider all of the sections that your resume could include. And go through your achievements, experience, and education.

If required, spend time with a close family friend or mentor. Review the work and experience that you plan to list on the resume before writing one. Ask for their honest and open feedback. Show them the job ad and ensure they feel you're highlighting the right parts of your past.

How to write a student resume

With this guide, we're going to present to you 6 steps that will help you in creating the best student resume you can create that will best showcase your academic work. Here are the steps we will be following:

1. Styling your resume and selecting a resume format.
2. Writing an impressive academic resume summary or resume objective.
3. Listing your relevant skills as a student.
4. Detailing your education in the education section.
5. Listing awards and achievements.
6. Describing your work experience (and what to do if you have none, like listing any extracurricular activities, volunteer work and community service).

With that said, let's get into how to create an impressive student resume. And don't worry, we'll be including a few links that can help you get even further as well.

1: Formatting and styling your student resume like a professional

Your level of education does not dictate whether you should or should not have resumes and cover letters. Therefore, it's important to create a high school resume or college resume, depending on where you stand on the academic line, and formatting it appropriately.

Your resume format and style can say a lot about you. It shows a hiring manager, college, or recruiter that you're a respectable student, and this, in the end, could be the highlight to impress employers.

With that said, when creating your resume, don't forget to include the following sections:

• A contact information section.
• Resume summary and/or resume objective section.
• An education section.
• An achievements and awards section.
• An experiences section (including part time jobs and full time summer jobs).
• A skills section.
• An extracurricular activities section.
• Certifications.

Tip: Most students may not know this, but sometimes, depending on your achievements, including relevant coursework to the job you're applying for makes for a more compelling resume.

If there are sections above that you do not have experience in, don't worry! You can also include hobbies, interests, and specific skills that are relevant to what you're applying for. Just be sure to use bullet points for anything you list.

When it comes to the physical format of your resume, following a reverse chronological format works best. What this means is that, basically, your resume will follow reverse chronological order, which lists your latest achievements at the top rather than at the bottom.

Feel free to check out this guide to learn more about resume format and style.

2: Writing a well-written student resume summary or student resume objective

Like an elevator pitch, when on the job hunt or job search, including a resume summary or resume objective, which is a 1-2 sentence blurb highlighting your achievements and goals to a hiring manager, is something that showcases you've done a good job in creating a resume.

Employers understand that time is of the essence. So, having a resume summary or resume objective showcases that you care about their time.

As a high school student or college student, your resume summary or resume objective should include:

• The fact you're a student.
• Personality traits.
• Specific skills relevant to the job or opportunity you're applying for.
• Relevant experience.
• Achievements.

Tip: Every student resume is bound to be different as it is tailored to the specific student and what they are applying for. Regardless, a strong resume should always be proofread carefully and written with good writing skills.

Here's a resume summary example and resume objective example you can follow:

Student Resume Example: Passionate high school student junior with a culinary passion. Received academic achievements in Fitzgerald High School's culinary program and am looking to expand my knowledge in the field by working in the kitchen as a line cook.

Tip: Sometimes, it's easier to follow a resume template or resume sample in your respective field to see the format may vary.

Looking for your first job or first full time job? Check out a job ad, career blog or websites like LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter and Handshake to see what hiring managers are looking for.

3: List your relevant skills

Most students don't realize that they have a lot more skills than they think. Whether you're in high school or college, having a separate section for your skills list is crucial.

Here are some skills you should include in your student resume:

• Soft skills (like time management, organization, communication, etc.).
• Hard skills.
• Writing skills.
• Leadership skills.
• Interpersonal skills.

Depending on the industry you're planning on going into, whether you're a high school student or even recent college graduate, listing your relevant skills are what will take your resume to the next level.

Hard skills you can include will be relevant to the research and achievements you have done. These can be relevant to your professional experience, volunteer experience and internship experience.

Soft skills you can include in your resume are time management, listening, organizing, multitasking and adapting. Even your leadership skills can classify as soft skills depending on the field you go into.

Having trouble identify your skills? Check out this website that can help you to detail what you're good at.

4: Adding an education section to your resume

Regardless of whether your resume is a student resume or not, it is crucial to include an education section. This is because this is where you can detail many things about your college experience that you may have not included in your contact information. This includes if you're part of the dean's, list, if you're a recent graduate, and even if you're magna cum laude.

When adding an education section to your resume be sure to include the following:

• High school.
• College.
• School location.
• Program.
• GPA.
• Graduation date.

Tip: A hiring manager will always look at your education section before they have conducted interviews.

Career experts can tell you that, apart from having a cover letter, which cover letters are indeed important, having an education section is crucial, along with achievements and experiences, which we will get into next.

5: Including your awards and academic achievements

Apart from detailing your skills, it's important to list your achievements on your student resume. Whether you're a high school student or college student, this will help you to showcase to hiring managers that you're passionate and hard working.

Here you can include:

• Scholarships.
• Awards.
• Contests.
• Honors.
• Dean's list.

Tip: Just be sure to include in your resume where you are getting these awards from. Depending on what you're applying for, these don't just have to be on your resume. They can be on your cover letter too. It can even help you to get more interviews.

6: Describing your professional experience, extracurricular activities, and community service

Whether you're already had your first job or your first internship, whether you have had a part time job or a full time job, these are are important things to include in your resume, especially if you have relevant experience in what you're applying for.

Tip: This information should not only be on your cover letter, but also on your resume. Nowadays, given the importance of an online presence, most college students and high school students must realize the importance of using a resume builder and detailing their resume.

If you're applying for your first job, whether it's in business administration or even culinary, not only is it important to include your goals in your student resume objective, but it is important to list your experiences in your resume and cover letter.

Here are some details to include when listing your experiences on your student resume:

• The company you worked for.
• Job title.
• Dates worked.
• Location.
• Description bullet points.

Here are some resume examples of what that can look like:

Bear Builder, Build A Bear Workshop

Miami, FL • February 2019 — November 2019

• Assisted guests in choosing stuffed animals, sounds, scents, and accessories
• Added stuffing to the stuffing machine
• Performed Heart Ceremonies with guests
• Added stuffing to unstuffed animals) via the stuffer machine

Tip: Student resumes should always follow a resume template that can be updated as you achieve more skills and gain experience.

Key takeaways to take from building a student resume

Whether you're in high school or college, having a high school student resume or college student resume is essential. Therefore, following a resume builder, like this one, can help you to really create the best resume for whatever you need it for. In addition, you can check out a specific resume builder for whatever industry you plan to go into for more resume examples. Just be sure to include skills, your education, your relevant experiences, your contact information, and a summary or objective, and you're good to go!

Tip: Look up a high school resume example, student resume example, or college student resume example to truly shine like we know you can.

Like Dr. Seuss once said, you're off to great places so get on your way!

Student resume examples

Here are student resume examples to use as a guide.

A college student resume example with experience

Sunny Smith

[email protected]

(533) 746-8746

linkedin.com/s.smith32

Career objective

A student currently in the Computer Science program at Stanford University. I've made the Dean's List at least 3 times through 2015 and 2017. Built multiple side projects that had the opportunity to get acquired. Open-source software enthusiast who is highly passionate about working in the software industry.

Education

BA in Computer Science, Stanford

Expected graduation date in 2021

3.96 GPA

Favorite fields of study: Human Computer Interaction.

Thesis title: "An in depth look at how human computer interaction is going to evolve in 20 years."

Key achievement: Awarded a $15,000 prize for designing a computer system without the need of gold metals.

Work experience

Part-time Software Engineer

Apple, Inc.

2016-2017

• Worked closely with the engineering staff to design, build, and assess projects that were highly delayed and in need of assistance.
• Reported directly to the SVP of Engineering. Prioritized projects that needed to be built quickly. And were in need of Ruby, Rails, and NodeJS work.
• Served as a primary contact for other engineering teams who needed help with their work.
• Part of the SCRUM team.

Skills

• Ruby on Rails
• Interpersonal skills
• Verbal communication skills
• Writing skills

Certifications

• CSM (Certified Scrum Master)
• Amazon Web Services Certification

A college student resume example without experience

Brian Marks

Software Engineer

(665) 654-9487

linkedin.com/bmarks22

Career objective

A highly analytical student who is currently holding a 3.96GPA in the field of Computer Science. Currently a student at Columbia University, who is going to be seeking an internship, then deciding on either a full-time employment path or a Master's Degree in Computer Science.

Education

Columbia University

BA in Computer Science

2017-2021

Current GPA: 3.96

Favorite field of study: New software engineering code standards.

Thesis title: Advanced computer systems for a changing world.

Key achievement: Dean's List 2015 - 2017

Projects

Fantasy football software

• Built a fantasy sports betting prediction engine. Took multiple sources of data and built models that helped other enthusiasts better understand how their sports bets could pay off.

Movie recommendation engine

• Assisted in the build of a movie recommendation engine that helped other engineers better address predictive behaviors using weather, music, and other factors.
• Made visualization tools using JavaScript and other code languages.
• Built a recommendation model. And a user model that allowed one user to follow the other user.

Market analysis

• Through freelance work I was part of building a market analysis system that helped Business Analysts save about 10-15 minutes per hour. That accumulated up to multiple hours per week and days per week.
• Was part of a freelance group of engineers who assisted an SVP of Engineering.

Skills

Programming skills:

• SQL
• Python
• Logistic regression
• Ruby
• Ruby on Rails
• NodeJS
• MongoDB

Certifications

Key certifications:

• CSM (Certified Scrum Master) - Project Management Institute

Student resume template

Your full name

Email address

Phone number

LinkedIn Profile/Website URL

Career objective

A short summary of your career objectives. And your prior work experience, projects, achievements in your current education, or other. Write four sentences at the most. Ensure that this section does not dominate the entire resume.

Education

University Name, University Location

Field of Study

Years in School

Current GPA: Your current GPA

Favorite Field of Study: Your current favorite field of study.

Thesis Title: Title of your college/master's degree thesis.

Key achievements: Key college/university achievements that employers could find valuable.

Projects

Project Name

• At least two bullet points describing what this project is. And why it is relevant to the job.

Work experience

Job title

Company name

Years employed

• At least three bullet points describing the core job duties and responsibilities.
• Describe who you reported to.

Skills

Soft skills:

• At least three soft skills.

Technical skills:

• At least three hard skills.

Programming languages:

• At least three programming languages.

Certifications (Optional)

Certifications:

• Relevant certifications to the resume or job title.

Volunteer Experience

Experience:

• Volunteer title, company/organization - Dates

Student resume tips

Here are the top tips when writing a student resume.

• Choose a legible font. Many job seekers are going to try and stand out by choosing a font that doesn't make sense. It could look more appealing at first glance. Though, is it legible? The manager wants to read your resume. And comprehend your work or education history. Choose a professional font family like Georgia, Times New Roman, Arial, or Helvetica.
• Keep your font sizes professional. Choose a font size that is between 10 and 12 points. Try not to make your font size larger in order to fill more of your resume. This could result in the resume looking unprofessional. And could reveal that you have very little work experience.
• Keep your resume margins professional. Use the default page margins for business letter format. Do not adjust the page margins in order to make a longer resume or a shorter resume. Your resume margins should be professional. And make the entire resume legible.
• Make the resume legible. Always adjust what you put on the resume to make it legible. Consider how the entire letter is telling a story. And make sure that all work, experience, education, and other sections are placed together in a linear fashion.
• Use bold and italic. The use of bold lettering and italic lettering is a great way to emphasize key parts of the resume. Make sure to use these tools that you have at your disposal. Try not to make everything a resume headline or section. It's okay if your resume doesn't "stand out" from the other applicants through its visual aesthetic. Make the resume stand out using your words.
• Take photography off the resume. It's okay to include a small picture of yourself. Though, try not to add more than one image. It's best to use a professional headshot if you're going to include a photograph. Not a photograph that your friend took.
• Always keep it one-page. A two-page resume is only for professionals who have more than 1o to 12 years of professional experience. Since this is not you, it's appropriate to keep your resume to one-page at the most. A two-page resume will make you look unprofessional. And adds unnecessary words that could distract the manager.
• Review your resume. Proofreading your resume is one of the best ways to ensure you are presented professionally. A simple spelling mistake could make you appear as though you don't have any "attention to detail" or lack simple professional skills like proofreading. Ask a friend or mentor to read your resume for any feedback, too.
• Align the resume to the job. Always target your resume to the job you want. By reading through the description and highlighting keywords. You should have a sense of what the manager is looking for in an ideal candidate. Make sure to target your projects, certifications, volunteer work, and any other sections directly to this job. Research the company and ensure you're mentioning personal and professional values that align with their business, too.
• Don't use a functional resume format. A functional resume format is not ideal for college students. Unless you're entering into the science or arts industries. Generally speaking, avoid this resume format.