Quick answer: Use a plain, single-column student resume template with education at the top, then projects, activities and skills in order of relevance to the job. Keep it to a single page.
Layout is only one part of a strong application, so pair this template with early career job search tips for the wider process. This guide covers layout, section order and bullet wording.
Choosing a resume format
Three things decide your format: how much formal work history you have, whether software will read your resume before a person does, and what your field expects. Most students should start with a reverse-chronological layout and change only if a section stays empty.
- Work history: Recruiters prefer reverse-chronological format for anything beyond a blank slate, according to Novoresume’s student template guide. A functional layout is the fallback when you have no formal work experience at all.
- Software screening: Fancy graphics, text inside images and non-standard section headings get filtered out by applicant tracking systems, so a decorative design can hide your content.
- Field expectations: In a tech resume, the University of Chicago’s career advancement office advises focusing on technical projects and the specific software tools you have used, and linking a portfolio.
| Format option | Suits | Watch for | Planning use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reverse-chronological | Students with any internship, job, project or leadership role to list | Empty experience sections near the top | Default choice; lead with education, then list newest items first in each section |
| Functional (skills-first) | Students with no formal work experience | Standard headings still matter for software screening | Use only if a work-history section would be empty; keep headings conventional |
| University-published template (left- or right-justified) | Students whose career center offers a layout | Copying sample wording instead of your own details | Start here if your school publishes one, and choose the alignment that reads cleaner for your content |
| Graphic-heavy designed template | Portfolio-style submissions where a person will open the file | Graphics and text in images can be filtered out by applicant tracking systems | Avoid for online applications |
The format comparison draws on Novoresume’s template guide, and the University of Chicago’s resume guides and templates provide two layouts, one left-justified and one right-justified.
Font and spacing
Choose a plain, widely available font and use it throughout, with one consistent style for section headings and dates. Keep the layout to a single column so software reads the text in the order you intend. Use standard headings such as Education, Projects, Activities and Skills rather than creative labels, because unusual headings are what screening software tends to drop.
Section order for a student resume
A student resume should open with contact details and education, then add whichever of projects, experience and activities is strongest. Novoresume advises that your strongest section belong in the top third of page one, which for most students means education.
Education section
The education section lists your school, degree, expected or actual graduation date and any honors. Put it directly under your contact line so a recruiter sees it immediately. As you gain experience, you can move it lower, but only once another section is clearly stronger.
Class year changes the balance. Tufts’s career center notes that experience matters less for freshmen and sophomores and more for juniors and seniors, so younger students should not worry if education carries the page.
Coursework and projects
Relevant coursework and class projects fill the space a job would normally occupy. MIT’s career office publishes an undergraduate sample that includes a projects section, which shows how a project can be formatted like a role: a title, then bullets on what you built and with which tools. Name the course only when it helps the reader understand the project.
Activities and leadership
Clubs, sports and campus activities belong in their own section. Tufts says recruiters look at these entries to see whether you can balance good grades with an active campus life, and leadership roles are noticed in that second scan. List the role first, then the organization and dates.
When you have no work experience yet
Lead with education, then projects, activities and a short skills list. Novoresume reports that recruiters say the most common reason they reject student resumes is not lack of experience but poor signaling of relevance, so tailoring matters more than filling space.
Skills section
NACE’s analysis of its Job Outlook 2025 survey found that nearly 90% of responding employers seek evidence of problem-solving skills and nearly 80% want strong teamwork skills. The survey had 237 respondents, 162 of them NACE members and 75 nonmembers, collected from Aug 5 to Sep 16, 2024. NACE advises students to indicate those skills and attributes on the resume itself, so show them through bullets in projects and activities as well as in a skills list.
Before-and-after bullet rewrites
Strong bullets put the important detail first. Tufts advises placing any important data, concepts or details at the beginning of each bullet, because readers often stop after the first few words. Bracketed items below are placeholders for your own details.
- Class project. Before: “Worked on a group project for my marketing class.” After: “Built a [type of deliverable] for a [course topic] project with a team of [number], presenting [result] to the class.” The rewrite names the output and the teamwork employers say they want.
- Campus club. Before: “Member of the debate club.” After: “Researched and argued [topic] positions as a debate club [role], coordinating [task] for the team.” The role and action come before the club context.
- Technical work. Before: “Used various programming tools in class.” After: “Developed [project name] using [specific tools], with a link to [portfolio or repository].” Specific tools and a portfolio link match the University of Chicago’s advice for tech resumes.
- Volunteer role. Before: “Helped at community events.” After: “Organized [task] for [event type], solving [problem] when [situation] changed.” A short problem-and-fix detail demonstrates problem solving without a separate claim.
Check each rewrite against the job posting you are targeting, and keep only the bullets that show relevance to it.
Getting a career center review
Your school’s career center is the quickest way to test a draft against what employers in your field expect. Tufts tells students to make an appointment with a Career Advisor in the Career Center to have a resume reviewed, and many schools offer the same service.
Bring a complete draft and the posting you are applying to, so the advisor can judge relevance as well as layout. Ask specifically whether your section order fits your class year and field.
Revise after the appointment rather than accepting every suggestion at once, and keep the changes that make your strongest section easier to find.
Final formatting check
Before you send the file, print it or view it at full size and mark anything that crowds the page. Trim the weakest bullets until the content fits a single page without shrinking the margins or font to squeeze it in.
- Consistency: Dates, bullet style and heading format should match from top to bottom.
- Plain structure: No text boxes, images of text or unusual headings that could be dropped by screening software.
- Relevance: Each bullet should connect to the role you are applying for.
- File check: Open the saved file once more to confirm nothing has shifted.
Experience can still be added after the template is set. If your resume looks thin, read how to find an internship, and once the resume is ready, look at entry level cover letter examples to build the matching letter.
Frequently asked questions
How long do recruiters spend on a student resume?
Tufts’s career center says a recruiter initially spends 6-8 seconds looking at a resume, and candidates have 30-60 seconds to capture enough interest to earn a second look. A vendor survey of 203 HR professionals reported by Novoresume found that 74% skim a resume in 20 seconds or less.
Should I put my GPA on my resume?
Tufts reports that most employers say they require a minimum of 3.0 but often screen out candidates above that figure in practice. Because of that gap, ask a career advisor whether to list yours, particularly if it sits near the threshold.
Where can I find sample student resumes?
MIT’s career office publishes sample resumes ranging from first-year undergraduate to PhD level. Your own school’s career center may also publish samples that reflect local employer preferences.
Do applicant tracking systems read student resumes?
Novoresume cites a vendor survey in which 82% of recruiters use an applicant tracking system to screen resumes before a person sees them. A simple single-column layout with standard headings is the safest way to be read correctly.
